6 Response To Changes In Environment Flashcards
Stimulus
A detectable change in the internal or external environment of an organism that leads to a response in the organism
Coordinator
Acts like a switchboard, connecting information from each receptor with the appropriate effector
Stimulus and response sequence of events
Stimulus -> receptor ->coordinator -> effector -> response
Taxes
A simple response whose direction is determined by the direction of stimulus. As a result, mobile organisms respond directly to environmental changes by moving its whole body either towards a favourable stimulus (positive taxis)or away from an unfavourable one(negative taxis)
Kineses
A form of response in which the organism doesn’t move towards or away from a stimulus
Instead it changes the speed at which it moves and the rate at which it changes direction
Why is response to stimuli advantageous?
Organisms increase their chance of survival by responding to changes in their environment
Tropisms
A tropism is the growth of part of a plant in response to a directional stimulus
In most cases the plant part grows towards (positive response) or away from (neg response) the stimulus
-Plant shoots grow towards light (pos phototropism) and away from gravity (neg gravitropism) so that their leaves are in the most favourable position to capture light for PS
-plant roots grow away from light (neg phototropism) and towards gravity (pos gravitropism) to increase probability that roots will grow into the soil, where they are better able to absorb water and mineral ions
Indoleacetic acid (IAA)
Plant growth factor
Belongs to a group of substances called auxins
Controls plant elongation
Phototropism in flowering plants
- Cells in the tip of the shoot produce IAA, which is then transported down the shoot
- The IAA is initially transported evenly throughout all regions as it begins to move down the shoot
- Light causes the movement of IAA from the light side to the shaded side of the shoot
- A greater conc of IAA builds up on the shaded side of the shoot than on the light side
- As IAA causes elongation of shoot cells and there is a greater conc of IAA on the shaded side of the shoot, the cells on this side elongate more
- The shaded side of the shoot elongates faster than the light side, causing the shoot tip to bend towards the light
In roots a high conc of IAA inhibits cell elongation. As a result in roots the elongation of cells is greater on the light side and so the root bends away from light - negatively phototropic
Gravitropism in flowering plants
- Cells in the tip of the root produce IAA, which is transported along the root
- The IAA is initially transported to all sides of the root
- Gravity influences the movement of IAA from the upper side to the lower side of the root
- A greater conc of IAA builds up on the lower side of the root than the upper side
- As IAA inhibits the elongation of root cells and there is a larger conc of IAA on the lower side, the cells on this side elongate less than those in the upper side
- The greater elongation of cells on the upper side compared to the lower side causes the root to bend downwards towards the force of gravity
In shoots the greater conc of IAA on the lower side increases cell elongation and causes this side to elongate more than the upper side
So shoots grow upwards away from force of gravity
Shoot tip removed
No response
Tip must either detect the stimulus or provide the messenger or both as its removal prevents any response
Light proof cover placed on over shoot tip
No response
Light stimulus must be detected by the tip
Thin, impermeable barrier of mica inserted on light side
Movement of chemical down shaded side
Shoot bends towards light
Mica on light side allows hormone to pass only down the shaded side where it increases growth and causes bending
Mica inserted on shaded side
Movement of chemical down shaded side is prevented by mica
No response
Tip removed, gelatin Block inserted and tip replaced
Movement of chemical down shaded side
Shoot bends towards light
Gelatin allows chemicals to pass through it, but not electrical signals, the bending which occurs must be due to chemical passing from tip
Tips removed and replaced but displaced to one side
Shoots bend towards side where no tip is present
Central nervous system
Made up of brain and spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system
Made up of pairs of nerves that originate from either the brain or spinal cord
Divides into sensory nervous system and motor nervous system
Two major divisions of nervous system
Central nervous system
Peripheral nervous system
Sensory neurones
Carry nerve impulses (electrical signals) from receptors towards the CNS