3-7 Mass Transport Flashcards
What is the structure of haemoglobin?
Quaternary protein structure
Each polypeptide is associated with a haem group- contains a ferrous Fe2+ ion
Each ferrous ion can bond with one O2 molecule
What is the role of haemoglobin?
to transport oxygen, readily associate where gas exchange takes place, readily dissociate at required tissues
What are oxygen dissociation curves?
The oxygen dissociation curve is a graph with oxygen partial pressure along the horizontal axis and oxygen saturation on the vertical axis, which shows an S-shaped relationship. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are transported in the blood as a result of changes in blood partial pressures
What is an open circulatory system?
Open circulatory systems are systems where blood, rather than being sealed tight in arteries and veins, suffuses the body and may be directly open to the environment at places such as the digestive tract.
What is a single closed circulatory system?
single circulation systems consist of blood, blood vessels and a heart. The fluid contained within the network of vessels must be moved around the system in the correct direction by heartbeats
What is a double closed circulatory system?
The human circulatory system is a double circulatory system. It has two separate circuits and blood passes through the heart twice: the pulmonary circuit is between the heart and lungs. the systemic circuit is between the heart and the other organs.
What do the heart valves do?
prevent backflow
What is the aorta?
connected to the left ventricle, carries oxygenated blood to the body
What is the vena cava?
connected to the right atrium, brings back deoxygenated blood from the body
What is the pulmonary artery?
connected to the right ventricle, carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs
What is the pulmonary vein?
connected to the left ventricle, brings back oxygenated blood from the lungs
What is an artery?
carry blood from the heart to arterioles, thick muscle, thick elastic, no valves
What are arterioles?
smaller arteries that control blood flow to capillaries, thicker muscle than arteries, less elastic
What are capillaries?
tiny vessels linking arterioles to veins, very narrow, mostly lining layer
What are veins?
carry blood back to the heart, thin muscle, thin elastic
How is tissue fluid formed?
pumping blood creates hydrostatic pressure, causing tissue fluid to be released from blood plasma, only the smallest molecules can flow out
How is tissue fluid returned to the system?
the loss of tissue fluid reduces hydrostatic pressure, therefore the hydrostatic pressure outside the capillary is higher and so the fluid goes back in
How does water move across the cells of a leaf>
lose water due to evaporation from the sun, this is replaced as water comes up the leaf by cohesion, this is the transpiration pull and puts negative pressure on the xylem, which is the cohesion-tension theory
How is the xylem specialised?
dead hollow cells with no organelles
What is the apoplast pathway?
The apoplast is the space outside the plasma membrane within which material can disperse freely.
What is the symplast pathway?
The symplast is the inner side of the plasma membrane in which the water and low-molecular-weight solutes can freely diffuse.
What is translocation?
Translocation is the movement of sugar produced in photosynthesis to all other parts of the plant for respiration and the other processes described above. This occurs in phloem cells.
What is the mass flow hypothesis?
Mass flow hypothesis is the theory that translocation of sugars in the phloem is brought about by a continuous flow of water and dissolved sugars between sources and sinks.
What were the mass flow experiments?
ringing experiments - take bark, bulbs at at bottom
tracer experiments - radioactive substance traced through plant
Why are there different haemoglobins?
Different affinities of oxygen allow for different uses across the different needs of species which survive in different environmental conditions
What is the explanation of the oxygen dissociation curve?
- shape makes first oxygen molecule hard to bind, at low oxygen concentrations the gradient is shallow
- first binding oxygen changes the molecule shape, this makes it easier for three extra oxygen molecules
- positive cooperativity where it takes a smaller increase in partial pressure for the 2nd oxygen to bind, gradient of the curve steepens
- after 3rd binding, binding site is harder to find because of probability, gradient reduces, graph flattens off
How can different oxygen association curves be interpreted?
The further left it is, the greater the affinity for oxygen so it loads readily but unloading isn’t as easy
And vice versa
What is partial pressure?
The pressure that the amount of gas contributes to the total pressure of the gas mixture
Measured in kiloPascals
How is haemoglobin affected at the gas exchange surface?
Concentration of CO2 is low because it diffuses across
Oxygen affinity is increased
High concentration of oxygen in lungs
Oxygen is readily loaded by haemoglobin
Reduced CO2 concentration shifts the oxygen dissociation curve to the left
How is haemoglobin affected at rapidly respiring tissues?
CO2 concentration is high
Affinity for oxygen is reduced
Oxygen is readily unloaded from the haemoglobin into muscle cells
Oxygen dissociation curve is shifted to the right
Why does an increased CO2 concentration cause the release of oxygen?
Dissolved CO2 is acidic and low pH cause haemoglobin to change shape
What is the process for loading, transport and unloading of oxygen by haemoglobin?
At gas-exchange surface, CO2 is constantly being removed
pH is slightly raised due to low concentration of CO2
Higher pH changes haemoglobin shape, it loads oxygen readily
Shape also increases affinity so it isn’t released while being transported to tissues
In tissues CO2 is being produced by respiring cells
CO2 is acidic so the pH of the blood in the tissues is lowered
Lower pH changes the shape of haemoglobin into one with a lower affinity for oxygen
Haemoglobin releases its oxygen into respiring tissues
What is the relationship between the activeness of tissue and the loading, transport and unloading of oxygen by haemoglobin?
The more active a cell is, the more oxygen is unloaded
What is the mammalian system of transport?
A mass transport system due to the large distances
Specialist exchange surfaces to absorb nutrients and respiratory gases and remove excretory muscles
What are the common features of the mammalian transport system?
Suitable medium in which to carry materials
A form of mass transport in which the transport medium is moved around in bulk over large distances
A closed system of tubular vessels that distributes the transport medium
A mechanism for moving the transport medium within vessels
How do mammals move the transport medium within vessels?
Muscular contraction, either of body muscles or a specialised pumping organ
What is the atrium?
Thin-walled, elastic, stretches, collects blood
What does the right ventricle do?
It pumps blood to the lungs
Has a thinner muscular wall than the left
What lies between the atrium and the ventricle?
Valves that prevent backflow to blood into the atria when ventricles contract
Left is the left atrioventricular (bicuspid) valve
Right is the right atrioventricular (tricuspid) valve
What does the aorta do?
It carries oxygenated blood to all parts of the body except the lungs
It is connected to the left ventricle
What does the pulmonary artery do?
It carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs where oxygen is added and carbon dioxide is removed
It is connected to the right ventricle
What does the pulmonary vein do?
It brings oxygenated blood back from the lungs
It is connected to the left atrium