ORGANISMS EXCHANGE SUBSTANCES WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT Flashcards
What happens during digestion?
Large biological molecules are hydrolysed into smaller molecules that can be absorbed across cell membranes
How do mammals digest carbohydrates?
- In the mouth, teeth chew the food which increases the surface area. Your salivary glands release amylase which hydrolyses the 1-4 glycosidic bonds in starch into smaller chains and maltose
- Aesophaegus squeezes the food to the stomach- peristalsis
- the food is then transported to the Geodenum, where pancreatic amylase hydrolyse starch into maltoses
- In the ileum maltase hydrolyse the maltose into a glucose, where it is absorbed into the blood stream
How do mammals digest lipids?
- In the geodenum fat digestion occurs, resulting in fatty acids and monoglycerides, these are emulsified by bile salts
- lipase hydrolysis then forms micelles, which are absorbed by the epithelial cells (endocytosis)
- The soft ER reconstructs the micelles into lipids, the bile salts are sent to the liver
- the Golgi apparatus combines the fatty globules with proteins to form CHYLOMICRONS (more soluble)
- they fuse with the basil membrane and are exocytosis into the lacteal or bloodstream
How are proteins digested in mammals?
- pancreas releases endopeptidases and exopeptidase to the stomach
- The stomach releases peptic juice which contains hydrochloric acid to maintain pH two and kill pathogens, and endopeptidases
- in the stomach endopeptidases hydrolysed bonds within the polypeptide chains , the exopeptidases then hydrolyse the bonds at the terminal end of the chain
- In the ileum dipeptidases hydrolyse dipeptides into amino acids
What is the co-transport mechanism for the absorption of amino acids and disaccharides?
- sodium potassium pump actively transport, sodium ions out of the cell and potassium ions into the cell
- This maintains a diffusion gradient for sodium into the cell
- sodium can only use facilitated diffusion through a carrier protein which requires sodium to cotransport with amino acids or monosaccharides in order to be transported into the cell
- The high concentration of monosaccharides in the cell means that facilitated diffusion into the bloodstream occurs readily
What is the basic structure and function of the villi?
- they have a large capillary network which increases the surface area for absorption, a capillary is one Cell thick and therefore have a short diffusion pathway, blood is continually flowing through capillaries maintaining the concentration gradient
- the Villi is surrounded by epithelial cells, they have microvilli, this increases the surface area, embedded enzymes e.g. dipeptidases, sucrases, this insures that the enzymes don’t get lost in the bloodstream, they also contain many mitochondria for active transport
- goblet cells are also present around the epithelial cells to produce mucus
- The lacteal transport lipids
- blood flows from capillary to liver to be stored, the vein is called hepatic portal
True or false? Bigger organisms have a smaller SA:V ration than smaller organisms
TRUE
Why is a large SA:V ratio important in organisms?
- Increases metabolic rate
How do organisms with smaller SA:V ratios adapt to facilitate exchange?
- Short diffusion pathways - capillary walls only one cell thick
- Folds in the membranes of cells eg. villi and microvilli
- Maintained concentration gradient - heart pumps blood around the body so that blood in the lungs have a low concentration of oxygen, encouraging diffusion
- Proteins - protein channel and carriers facilitate diffusion and active transport
What are the five adaptations for gas exchange across the body surface of a single celled organism?
- Lagre SA:V
- short diffusion pathway
- Thin exchange surface
- Exchanges directly with the environment
- Maintenance of concentration gradient
What are the adaptations for gas exchange across the gills of fish?
- Large SA:V - many gill filaments covered with many lammellae
- Short diffusion distance - inside every lamellae is a network of capillaries and the walls of lamellae are very thin
- Maintained concentration gradient - counter current flow, water flowing over the gills is flowing in the opposite direction of the blood in the capillaries
What are the structures and adaptations for gas exchange across the tracheal system of an insect?
- Lots of spiracles join to trachea(network of internal tubes), which join to even smaller tubes called the tracheoles
- Simple diffusion, respiration maintains a concentration gradient for O2 and CO2
- Mass transport, muscles contract and release to transport gases around the organism
- When insects fly they use anaerobic respiration, this produces lactate which in the cells which lowers their water potential, so water moves via osmosis out of the trachea into the cells, lower pressure in the trachea leads to air moving into the trachea
What are the adaptations and structure for gas exchange across the leaves of dicotyledonous plants?
- Gases diffuse into the leaf via the stomata, where they enter the spongy mesophyll, which has a lot of air spaces for gas and to maintain the concentration gradient, so they can diffuse into the palisade mesophyll where photosynthesis occurs
- Stomata closes at night to reduce water loss
How are xerophytes adapted to reduce water loss?
- Curled up leaves - water evaporated gets trapped, increased humidity outside plant
- Hairs trap moisture- more humid
- stomata sunken in- also trap moisture and increase humidity
- thick cuticle to reduce evaporation
- Large network of roots to reach more water
How do terrestrial insects reduce water loss?
- waterproof exoskeleton
- Spiracles can close to reduce water loss
- Small SA:V ratio