Question

What is protoplasm?

Answer 1

Hint: Protoplasm exists in two forms: a liquid-like sol state or a jelly-like gel state. The plasma membrane of a cell surrounds the protoplasm.

Complete Answer:
The protoplasm contains the living material of the cell. It consists predominantly of biomolecules such as nucleic acids, sugars, proteins, and lipids. It has inorganic salts and molecules of water as well. The cell membrane encloses the protoplasm.

(I) In prokaryotes, the protoplasm refers to the materials found within the cell membrane, that is, the prokaryotic cytoplasm, because the prokaryotes do not have a separate nucleus and other cytoplasmic organelles.
- The protoplasm spreads to the periplasmic region between the cytoplasmic membrane and the outer membrane in some prokaryotes. This area includes a gel-like substance called periplasm, which, in Gram-negative bacteria, is part of the protoplasm.

(III) In eukaryotes, the protoplasm contains two primary segments: the cytoplasm and the nucleoplasm or nucleus of the cell.
- The cytoplasm of the eukaryotic cell is a jelly-like substance. Except for the nucleus, it is made up of the cytoskeleton, the cytosol, organelles, the vesicles, and inclusions. Thus, the cytoplasm in a eukaryotic cell is the region between the cell membrane and the nuclear envelope of a cell.
- A nucleoplasm is the material enclosed within the nuclear framework. Thus, the nucleoplasm is the protoplasm of the nucleus.

Note: The cytoplasm in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes is where cell formation, growth, and metabolic processes are carried out. In eukaryotic cells, cellular organelles are present in the cytoplasm. Special functions are carried out by these organelles.