Friday 21 August 2015

Different types of cells in multicelluar organisms

A multicellular organism is composed of numerous cells. The cells are of three main types:-

1) Undifferentiated cells:- Undifferentiated cells and stem cells have power of division. they are unspecialised cells and they divide to form new cells e.g. stem apical meristem , root apical meristem, vascular cambium, cork cambium, germinal epithelium, bone marrow etc. Zygote is an also undifferentiated cell. Basically these cells helps in growth of an organism.

2) Differentiated cells:- These cells are specialized to perform particular function. These cells have lost the power of division. They are derived from the undifferentiated cells. Differentiation leads to better organisation, division of labour ( it is the typical character of multicellular organisms in which group of cells perform one particular function this group is called tissue ) and higher efficiency.

3) Dedifferentiated cells:- These cells are derived from differentiated cells. Under normal condition differentiated cells fail to divide, but under exceptional circumstances they start dividing. the process by which they lose their specialization is called dedifferentiation. Cork cambium of plants is always produced through dedifferentiation.  

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