Describe the structure of skeletal muscle

Muscle consists of several muscle fibres lying parallel to one another and held together by connective tissue Single skeletal muscle cell is known as a muscle fibre (10-100 microns) Myofibrils -contractile elements of muscle fibre – About 1 micron in diameter (one-millionth of a meter) The appearance of striations – Displays alternating dark (the A bands) and light bands (the I bands) Sarcomere – functional unit of skeletal muscle (2 μm wide) and found between two Z lines (connects thin filaments of two adjoining sarcomeres)