9.5 Flashcards
Contractile vacuole
A structure in a single-celled organism that maintains osmotic equilibrium by pumping excess fluid out of the cell.
Mentanephridium
An excretory organ in some invertebrates that is used to reabsorb and eliminate wastes.
Malpighian tubule
The main organ of excretion in insects is used to carry wastes to the intestines.
Nephron
The tiny functional unit of the kidney that filters waste from the blood.
Bowmans capsule
A small folded structure in the human kidney that encircles the glomerulus.
Glomerulus
A network of capillaries within the Bowman’s capsule that performs the first step in the filtration of blood.
Afferent arteriole
A vessel that supplies blood to the nephrons in the human kidney.
Efferent arteriole
A vessel that carries away filtered blood from the nephrons in the human kidney.
Peritubular capillaries
A net of capillaries in the nephrons that reabsorb essential ions and minerals from filtered blood.
Proximal convoluted tubule
The duct portion of a nephron that connects the Bowman’s capsule to the loop of Henle.
Loop of Henle
The U-shaped part of the duct that connects the proximal convoluted tubule to the distal convoluted tubule.
Distal convoluted tubule
The duct portion of a nephron that connects the loop of Henle to the ducts that lead to the renal pelvis.
Filteration
The process in which blood and fluid pass through a selectively permeable membrane.
Reabsorption
The transfer of water, ions, and nutrients back to the interstitial fluid via passive and active transport.
Aquaporin
A membrane protein that passively transports water molecules.
