HSC MaintainBalance

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Biology
HSC Course Stage 6
Maintaining a balance
er b to T S c O EN g in D M t a r EN o p or AM c n
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BIOHSC43204
P0025937
Number: 43204
Title: Maintaining a balance
This publication is copyright New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET), however it may contain material from other sources which is not owned by DET. We would like to acknowledge the following people and organisations whose material has been used: Photograph of lizard, courtesy of Jane West Drawing of a platypus from Grant, T and Fanning D (1995) The platypus: a unique mammal, NSW University Press Photograph of human blood under microscope, courtesy of Jane West Photograph of red and white blood cells taken with an electron microscope from Porter, K R and Fonte, G (1996) Biological science, University of Colorado Photographs of arteries, veins and capillaries, courtesy of Jane West Photographs of bull ants, prickly pear and salt crystals on mangrove leaf, courtesy of Jane West Diagram of cross section through rolled leaf of porcupine grass from Web of life (3rd ed, 1981) Australian Academy of Science Part 1 p 18 Part 2 p 29 Part 3 p 12 Part 3 p 12 Part 3 p 38 Part 6 pp 11, 14, 16 Part 6 p 26
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969
WARNING This material has been reproduced and communicated to you on behalf of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (Centre for Learning Innovation) pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act.
All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain copyright permissions. All claims will be settled in good faith. Published by Centre for Learning Innovation (CLI) 51 Wentworth Rd Strathfield NSW 2135 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _ Copyright of this material is reserved to the Crown in the right of the State of New South Wales. Reproduction or transmittal in whole, or in part, other than in accordance with provisions of the Copyright Act, is prohibited without the written authority of the Centre for Learning Innovation (CLI). State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2008.
Contents
Module overview ........................................................................iii

Objectives ............................................................................................ iii Indicative time...................................................................................... iii Resources............................................................................................ iii Icons .....................................................................................................v Glossary............................................................................................... vi
Part 1: Enzymes..................................................................127 Part 2: Homeostasis and temperature regulation ................133 Part 3: Mammalian blood ....................................................139 Part 4: Transport in plants...................................................124 Part 5: Excretion..................................................................124 Part 6: Maintaining water balance .......................................133 Module evaluation ................................................................... 35
Introduction
ii
Module overview
From the molecular and organelle levels in cells, through the specialised organ systems of multicellular species to whole ecosystems, biological processes are balanced by a range of internal coordination mechanisms. Some organisms maintain a constant internal environment while others tolerate a much greater variation in internal conditions. However, all species have a range of external conditions under which they can survive and reproduce. The nature of control mechanisms in plant and animal species, including humans and native Australian species, is considered in this module.
Objectives
This module increases students understanding of the applications and uses of biology, implications for society and the environment and current issues, research and developments in biology.
Indicative time
This module should take 30 hours to complete. There are six parts to the module and each part should take approximately five hours.
Resources
During this module there are some activities that require you to gather and process information. There is some information provided with the module and there is more at the end of each part in the Additional resources section. As well as this information, there are Internet sites
Introduction
iii
supplied by the LMP Science Online website(www.lmpc.edu.au/science). A visit to your local library should turn up some useful books too. There are also practical activities to complete within this unit. You will need the following equipment. Part 1 test tube-sized containers of the same size made of glass or heat-resistant plastic glass or heat-resistant plastic containers into which two of the test tube-sized containers will fit 1 junket tablet (You will need to buy a packet.) 1 small container of full cream milk 1 tray of ice blocks 1 eye dropper or pipette 1 medicine measure 13 thermometers (0100C range) powdered milk
Part 4 fresh stick of celery single sided razor blade glass or container with water food dye
Part 5 sheeps kidney cutting board scalpel or knife knitting needle rubber gloves
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Icons
The following icons are used within this module. The meaning of each icon is written beside it. The hand icon means there is an activity for you to do. It may be an experiment or you may make something.
You need to use a computer for this activity. Discuss ideas with someone else. You could speak with family or friends or anyone else who is available. Perhaps you could telephone someone? There is a safety issue that you need to consider. There are suggested answers for the following questions at the end of the part. There is an exercise at the end of the part for you to complete.
Introduction
Glossary
The following words, listed here with their meanings, are found in the learning material in this module. They appear bolded the first time they occur in the learning material. activation energy active transport ambient ammonia angiosperms artery Bowmans capsule buffer the energy necessary to start a chemical reaction movement of substances across a membrane by a process requiring expenditure of energy environmental or surrounding (eg. ambient temperature) main nitrogenous waste product of bony fish; excreted diluted in large amounts of water flowering plants blood vessel which carries blood away from the heart the capsule at the end of the vertebrate kidney which contains the glomerulus a solution of two or more chemicals which prevent marked changes in hydrogen ion concentration (pH) when either an acid or base (alkali) is added to the system group of cells which divide to form new xylem and phloem cells microscopic blood vessel with walls one cell thick, across which materials are exchanged between blood and tissues smallest unit of life capable of reproducing itself structure made up of genetic material (DNA) and protein found mainly in the nucleus attraction between molecules of water the amount of a substance in a specific amount of a mixture or solution. Normally expressed as weight per unit volume (eg. 25 grams of salt per litre of water; 25 g/L) or as molarity structural change in proteins movement of particles in gases, liquids or solutions from where they are more concentrated to where they are less concentrated
cambium capillary
cell chromosome cohesion concentration
denatured diffusion
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distal tubule DNA
part of the nephron where water is extracted abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid; the molecule which makes up the genetic material of the chromosomes part of an organism which produces a response (eg. heart, diaphragm) organism that changes its body temperature by using heat from the environment; plants and most animals except for mammals and birds are ectothermic the maintenance of metabolic and physiological functions in response to variations in the environment hormonal system that produces internal secretions which act upon organs animal that regulates its body temperature using heat generated by its metabolism; mainly birds and mammals are endothermic a highly specialised cellular protein that reduces the amount of energy required to initiate a chemical reaction, thereby increasing the speed of reaction; the names of enzymes often end in -ase eg. cellulase enzyme digests cellulose cells which have their genetic material (chromosomes) inside a nucleus bounded by a membrane and which have other membranebound organelles; includes cells of protists, fungi, animals and plants the system of glands that secretes hormones removing heat from the body by changing liquid water to water vapour using heat from the skin surface (eg. sweating) or from respiratory surfaces (eg. panting) the elimination of harmful and unwanted products of metabolism organs involved in the removal of wastes (eg. kidneys, lungs, skin) a unit of inheritance, usually part of a specific DNA molecule (chromosome) a bunch of capillaries found in the vertebrate kidney
effector ectotherm
enantiostasis
endocrine system endotherm
enzyme
Eucaryotic (eukaryotic)
endocrine system evaporative cooling
excretion excretory organs gene glomerulus
Introduction
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gymnosperms haemoglobin herbaceous homeostasis homeothermy
cone-bearing plants a complex protein molecule found in red blood cells which transports oxygen Characteristic of a soft plant; having no woody tissue the tendency in an organism towards maintenance of physiological stability maintenance of a stable body temperature independent of changes in environmental temperature area in the brain which acts to integrate the endocrine and nervous systems in homeostatic control of many body functions (eg. temperature regulation) Having equal osmotic pressures
hypothalamus
isotonic
kidney lignin lymphatic system
an organ involved in excretion and osmoregulation a material which strengthens and keeps xylem vessels open; the major component of wood system of thin-walled vessels and groups of tissue (lymph nodes) which drain the fluids from around cells back to the bloodstream (as a fluid called lymph); the system is also involved in the immune response and with transport of the breakdown products of fat digestion excretory organ found in insects a series of step-wise chemical reactions, each of which is governed by an enzyme. Cellular respiration and photosynthesis are metabolic pathways all of the biochemical reactions occurring in the cells of the body; heat is produced as a by-product of metabolism microscopic tubules which make up the functional units of the mammalian kidney the system of nerves and nerve centres in an animal
Malphigian tubules metabolic pathway
metabolism
nephron nervous system
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nitrogenous wastes
waste products from metabolic activities involving nitrogen-containing compounds (eg. proteins, amino acids) conditions at which enzymes work best; includes temperature and pH functional and structural unit of most multicellular organisms, consisting of at least two types of tissues eg. in plants roots, stems, leaves; in animals heart, kidney, liver any part of a cell which has a specific functional role; in eucaryotic cells, organelles are normally bound by a membrane the movement of water from where it is in high concentration to where it is in low concentration through a selectively permeable membrane the control of body water and salt levels tissue which transports products of photosynthesis (translocation) in ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms small structure in the brain which secretes hormones, including ones which control the functions of other endocrine glands (eg. thyroid gland) liquid part of the blood, making up around 55% in humans, in which materials are dissolved (eg. carbon dioxide, sugars, amino acids) and formed blood elements are carried (red cells, white cells and platelets) fragments of cells found in the blood which are involved in the clotting process cells which do not have their genetic material (chromosomes) bound by a membrane and do not have other membrane-bound organelles in their cells; includes Archaebacteria and Eubacteria convoluted tubule between the loop of Henle and Bowmans capsule measure of heart rate (beats per minute) taken by palpating a position where an artery crosses a bone the speed at which a reaction proceeds. It is normally measured as the amount of substrate(s)
optimum organ
organelle
osmosis
osmoregulation phloem
pituitary
plasma
platelets procaryotic (prokaryotic)
proximal tubule pulse rate
rate of reaction
Introduction
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used up or the amount of product(s) formed in a given amount of time receptor sensory cell responding to some internal or external environmental variable (eg. cells in the brain responding to CO2 level or temperature of the blood) the aretery bringing blood to the kidney the vein taking blood from the kidney an enzyme found in the stomachs of mammals (especially young), which makes milk go solid (coagulate). It is found in junket tablets used to make a dessert out of milk and flavouring (sort of yoghurt dessert) a special surface for gaseous exchange change in an organism produced by a change in its internal or external environment an environmental factor (inside or outside the body) which is detected by a receptor (eg. CO2 levels in the blood, temperature of the blood) structure found in marine birds and turtles which permits excretion of excess salts holes (pores) in the leaves of plants. These pores are controlled by two guard cells which regulate the loss of water from the leaves (transpiration) difference in temperature. Heat energy flows from an area of higher temperature to one of lower temperature endocrine gland in the throat area which produces thyroid hormones hormones involved with regulating the level of body metabolism TSH; hormone released by the pituitary gland which controls the functioning of the thyroid gland part of the transpiration-tension-cohesion theory of water movement in xylem tubes; it refers to the 'pulling' of water molecules from the roots to the leaves by negative pressure a group of cells, usually of similar type, found in a multicellular organism having a specific
renal artery renal vein rennin
respiratory surface response stimulus
salt gland stomates (stomata)
temperature gradient
thyroid gland thyroid hormones thyroid stimulating hormone tension
tissue
structure and function (eg. in plants epidermis, xylem, phloem; in animals epithelium, blood, bone) Trachaeophyta translocation transpiration transpiration stream urea uric acid vascular plants movement of products of photosynthesis in the phloem of plants evaporation of water from the leaf surfaces of plants movement of water in the xylem tissue breakdown (deamination) of excess amino acids; diluted by water and excreted in urine main nitrogenous waste product of insects, reptiles and birds; largely insoluble and excreted as a paste with little water a waste product containing 2% urea a group of phloem, xylem and cambium tissue in a stem plants which have conducting vessels, xylem and phloem, including the plants ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms, which belong to the phylum Trachaeophyta increase in the diameter of blood vessels to increase blood flow decrease in the diameter of blood vessels to decrease blood flow blood vessel which returns blood to the heart tissue which transports water and minerals upwards from roots to leaves in ferns, conebearing and flowering plants (Trachaeophyta)
urine vascular bundle vascular plants
vasodilation vasoconstriction vein xylem
Introduction
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Biology
HSC Course Stage 6
Part 1: Enzymes
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 2 Enzymes ................................................................................... 4

The role and chemical composition of enzymes.................................4 Enzyme models....................................................................................6 Enzymes and temperature...................................................................7 Enzymes and pH ..................................................................................9 Enzymes and substrate concentration ..............................................10 Some questions about enzymes ......................................................11 Investigating an enzymes activity ....................................................13 The enzyme catalase and hydrogen peroxide .................................18
Suggested answers................................................................ 21 Exercises Part 1 ................................................................... 25
Part 1: Enzymes
Introduction
During your study of the Preliminary you learnt that DNA is the genetic material of most living organisms. DNA makes up the chromosomes found in the nucleus of eucaryotic organisms and forms chromosomes not bound by a nuclear membrane in procaryotic cells. Genes are sections of specific DNA molecules making up the chromosomes that determine cell function, and therefore ultimately the functioning of whole organisms, by determining which proteins will be produced in cells. Some proteins form part of the structure of cells (for example, part of the cell membrane) but many are enzymes, which control the functioning of cells by speeding up chemical reactions that would not normally occur under conditions found in cells. This part of the module looks at the action of enzymes. You will need the following equipment for an experiment: test tube-sized containers of the same size, made of glass or heat-resistant plastic glass or heat-resistant plastic containers into which two of the test tube-sized containers will fit 1 junket tablet (You will need to buy a packet.) 1 small container of full cream milk milk powder 1 tray of ice blocks 1 eye dropper or pipette 1 medicine measure 13 thermometers (0100C range).
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In this part you will have the opportunity to learn to: identify the role of enzymes in metabolism, describe their chemical composition and use a simple model to describe their specificity on substrates identify the pH as a way of describing the acidity of a substance
In this part you will have the opportunity to: identify data sources, plan, choose equipment or resources and perform a firsthand investigation to test the effect of: increased temperature change in pH change in substrate concentrations on the activity of a named enzymes.
Extracts from Biology Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, originally issued 1999. The most up-to-date version can be found on the Boards website at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/index.html. This version October 2002.
Part 1: Enzymes
Enzymes
The role and composition of enzymes

Enzymes are organic catalysts. They cause chemical reactions to proceed which would not normally occur under the conditions found in most cells.
An example of an enzyme sucrase

Sucrose, which is the sugar used in sweets and cakes and to sweeten tea and coffee, is normally extracted by crushing out the contents of the phloem tissue of sugarcane plants. This carbohydrate consists of two simpler sugar molecules one glucose and one fructose molecule. Sucrose is too large to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream from the digestive system. It is broken down in the small intestine into its two component sugars by an enzyme called sucrase. The molecules of glucose and fructose are small enough to be directly absorbed through the membranes of the digestive system into the bloodstream. The reaction can be summarised as follows, where the sucrose molecule (the substrate or reactant) is digested to form glucose and fructose (the products).
SUBSTRATE PRODUCTS sucrase enzyme present glucose + fructose
sucrose molecule
The sugar in your sugar bowl does not break down into glucose and fructose and will only do so when the enzyme sucrase is present. This enzyme will only break down sucrose sugar.
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Another example
Maltose sugar, also found in a lot of sweets, is made up of two glucose units. Like sucrose, this sugar needs to be digested using an enzyme before it can be absorbed into the bloodstream. Here is the overall reaction for the breakdown of maltose:
SUBSTRATE maltose molecule PRODUCTS glucose + glucose
Predict the name of the enzyme that causes this to happen in the small intestine. _____________________ Yes, maltase. Many enzyme names end in -ase. You might remember from the Patterns in Nature module that bacteria in the stomachs of cattle, sheep and kangaroos digest the high fibre in their diets. Fibre is mainly a material called cellulose. Cellulase enzymes in the stomachs of these species digest cellulose. This demonstrates that enzymes are very specific. Each enzyme changes the rate of one kind of chemical reaction only. This means that there are many different enzymes within each organism to control all the reactions that are part of the organisms metabolism.
Chemical composition
Enzymes are proteins. The building blocks of proteins are amino acids. There are only 20 types of amino acids which make up proteins but they can be joined in various ways to produce different proteins. As well as the type, number and arrangement of the amino acids (their primary structure), protein molecules also have a three-dimensional structure as well, which gives each protein molecule a particular shape. The shape of each enzyme molecule makes it able to take part in a specific kind of chemical reaction. Do Exercise 1.1 now.
Part 1: Enzymes
Enzyme models
Why is the shape of each enzyme important? Here are two models to explain how the shapes of enzymes are involved in speeding up reactions.
A simple lock and key model

At a molecular level, the shape of an enzyme permits it to bind at a particular site (active site) to the substrate molecule (or molecules), causing a reaction to occur. This can be thought of as a key (the substrate) fitting the lock (the enzyme). Unless a key is right for a particular lock, it wont open the door! It is thought that the enzyme only fits particular molecules to cause them to react. The enzyme is not used up in the reaction and can be used again. This model of enzyme function is sometimes called the lock and key model. It works a bit like this:
substrate + enzyme enzyme/substrate complex products + enzyme
The complex between the enzyme and the substrate (or substrates) molecules reduces the energy required to get the reaction to happen (activation energy). In normal chemistry, heating to high temperatures provides this energy but, of course, this is not possible in cells.
An induced fit model

A more refined explanation or model for enzyme function is that the shape of the enzyme on its own does not quite fit the substrate molecules shape but the shape of the enzyme is changed so that it becomes an exact fit. This is referred to as the induced fit model of enzyme function. It is like a glove being roughly the shape of your hand but not fitting completely until it is pulled on.
substrate product
enzyme
enzyme-substrate complex
enzyme resumes original configuration
Induced fit model of enzyme function.
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Use the following explanation to interpret the diagram of the induced fit model. The enzyme has an active site in its structure into which the substrate (or substrates) fit (left picture). The formation of the enzyme-substrate complex induces a change in the shape of the enzyme molecule so that it fits the substrate perfectly at the active site (middle picture). Once the substrate is broken down (or the substrates are joined) into the product, the enzyme is released from the complex and resumes its original shape (right picture).
Do Exercise 1.2 now.
Enzymes and temperature

Temperatures affect all proteins. Think about the white of an egg it mainly consists of protein. If you cook it (raise it to high temperature), it changes from being a clear liquid to become a white solid. Its properties have changed and this change is not reversible even if you cool the egg white down again it remains a white solid! However, if you put the uncooked egg white into the freezer, it becomes solid and goes a little milky in colour but returns to being a clear liquid if you thaw it out. The change brought about by cooling is reversible. Because enzymes are proteins, they are also affected by changes in temperature. If you heat them above the temperature at which they work best (their optimum temperature), they stop working. If you cool enzymes down, they slow down in their activity and eventually they no longer make the specific reactions work. But if you warm them up once more they work again until the temperature goes past their optimum. This can be represented in a graph, which shows a slow increase in enzyme activity as temperature increases to the optimum, followed by a rapid fall in activity to zero above that temperature. The fall occurs because the enzyme is said to be denatured irreversibly. The graph is on the following page.
Part 1: Enzymes
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maximum activity at optimum temperature increasing activity as temperature increases enzyme denatured (damaged) by too high a temperature
Percentage maximum activity
80 60 40 20 0
low activity at low temperature activity falls to zero because enzyme has been irreversibly changed
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Temperature (!C)
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30
40
50
60
The effect of temperature on enzyme activity.
At low temperatures there is little activity but this increases as the temperature is raised to the optimum (temperature at which the enzyme works best). Above this optimum temperature the activity rapidly drops to zero. Change with cooling occurs because the lower temperature changes the shape of the enzyme molecule. Above the optimum, the shape of the enzyme is changed rapidly so that it no longer fits the substrate. The change brought about by cooling is reversible but that caused by excess heating is irreversible that is, the change in shape of the enzyme is permanent the enzyme is said to have become denatured. You might realise now why having your body temperature above the normal of 37C can be considered quite serious. Your enzymes work best at around 37C and are denatured above this temperature. However, there are other species whose enzymes can function over a greater range of temperatures. So why does denaturing happen? Well, going back to the egg white example, the number, type and sequence of amino acids does not change when you heat it but the three-dimensional shape of the molecule does change. For an enzyme this means that its shape no longer fits the substrate and so the enzyme can no longer work. This shape change caused by heating damages the enzyme molecule permanently. Cooling also changes the shape of the molecule but this change does not permanently stop the enzyme from functioning.
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Enzymes and pH
Each enzyme also has a specific pH at which it works best (optimum pH) but enzymes are rapidly denatured either above or below that optimum. The following graph shows the relationship between pH and enzyme activity for two digestive enzymes.
Relative activity
pepsin
trypsin
6 pH
10
12
The effect of pH on enzyme activity.
An enzyme has a pH at which it works best (its optimum). This can be different for different enzymes. For example, pepsin is an enzyme found in the stomach, which has very acid conditions, while trypsin is found in the small intestine, where conditions are slightly alkaline. Enzymes are denatured both above and below their optimum pH. Use the graph to answer these questions. 1 What is optimum pH for pepsin and trypsin? _____________________________________________________ 2 Could pepsin continue to work when it moves with food from the stomach into the small intestine? Why? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Check your answers. It should be remembered that many species have very narrow ranges of pH over which they function. Humans, for example, maintain their blood pH at 7.4 and will die if it goes above 7.7 (less acid) or below 7.0 (more acid).
Part 1: Enzymes
So what is pH?
pH is a figure given for acidity or alkalinity of a solution. It rises in jumps of 10. For example, a solution with a pH of 2 (such as stomach acid) is 10 times more acidic than one with a pH of 3 and 50 times more acidic than one with a pH of 7. A pH of seven is called neutral because it is neither acidic or alkaline. With a pH 7.4, human blood is very slightly alkaline. Here are some examples of substances along the pH scale.
rain water detergent vinegar battery acid celery blood milk cloudy ammonia caustic soda
Mr
OVEN Cleaner
lemon juice
Top
tea
Glo
MILK
Pure
DISTILLED
pure water
Cream Cleanser & Ammonia
stomach
BRASSO
Metal Polish
Water
2.0
2.9
3.8 5.2 5.5 5.6 5.9 6.0 6.8
7.0
7.4 8.8 9.5
10.0
11.0 11.9
12.5 13.0
Complete Exercise 1.3 now.
Enzymes and substrate concentration

In any chemical reaction, increasing the concentration of substrate tends to make the reaction occur more quickly the rate of reaction is increased. So you would expect that the rate of any reaction would keep on getting faster if more substrate is made available; for example, more substrate could be taken into the body as food or produced by other chemical reactions in cells. However, in living organisms, the rate of a reaction is controlled more by the concentration of enzyme available than by the concentration of substrate. The graph on the next page shows a typical response in the rate of reaction to the increase in substrate concentration in a living organism. The graph shows that the rate of a reaction will increase as the substrate concentration is increased, but only to a certain level.
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Rate of reaction
Substrate concentration
The effect of substrate concentration on rate of reaction. The concentration of substrate is increased but the amount of enzyme held constant. After an initial rise in the rate, the rate of reaction becomes constant.
The reaction rate slows then becomes constant because there are not enough enzyme molecules to combine with each substrate molecule to make the reaction work any faster. The available active sites on the enzyme molecules become saturated. However, remember that the enzyme molecules can be reused. As a reaction proceeds, enzymes released from their complex with substrate molecules are used again. This tends to keep the rate of reaction constant unless the enzyme concentration changes or conditions of temperature or pH are modified. The rates of reactions in living organisms are therefore determined by: temperature pH substrate concentration the amount of enzyme available.
Some questions about enzymes

Answer the following questions to check your comprehension of the role of enzymes. 1 Which statement below best describes the role of an enzyme in cells? A B C D It speeds up the rates of all reactions. It speeds up the rate of a specific reaction. It breaks down larger molecules into smaller ones only. It builds up small molecules into complex ones only.
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Combination of a substrate with an enzyme is necessary to permit the enzyme to function. This is because the enzyme-substrate complex: A B C D increases the energy of the reaction reduces the amount of energy produced by the reaction reduces the amount of energy necessary to start the reaction increases the amount of energy necessary to start the reaction. temperature but not pH and are not used up in the reaction pH but not temperature and are used up in the reaction temperature and pH and are not used up in the reaction temperature and pH and are used up in the reaction. specific amounts unchanged proteins
Enzymes are affected by: A B C D
Fill in the missing words using the following word list temperature pH speed up Enzymes: are chemicals called _________________________________ ___________________ the rate of chemical reactions in cells are involved in chemical reactions but are _______________ at the end of the reaction and can be reused are needed only in very small ____________ are _____________ to particular reactions or groups of reactions are affected by ________________ are affected by ________________ may need other chemicals as coenzymes (often containing vitamins) or cofactors (often minerals) to help them function.
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Draw a graph which represents the change in the activity of an enzyme from the stomach of a human as its temperature is changed from 0 to 45oC.
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80
60
40
20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Which is more acidic, a pH of 3 or a pH of 11? _______________
Check your answers.
Investigating an enzymes activity

The pH, temperature and concentration of substrate and the accumulation of products can alter the rates of enzyme-mediated reactions. The easiest factor to manipulate outside a laboratory is temperature.
The effect of changing temperature

Your task is to perform an experiment to demonstrate how changing temperature affects the activity of an enzyme. You can use an enzyme found in the stomachs of mammals, especially young ones which consume a lot of milk. This enzyme, called rennin, causes milk to go solid. Rennin naturally occurs in the stomach because, by making milk solid, it slows the movement of milk through the animals digestive system. You can buy rennin, in junket tablets, from the grocery store or supermarket. People use junket tablets to make a sort of yoghurt dessert from milk.
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You can plan and perform your own investigation. Read the directions on the junket packet for some clues. Or, if youd like some help, follow the experimental plan below. Aim: To investigate the effect of changing temperature on enzyme activity. Method: You will need the following: 6 test tube-sized containers of the same size made of glass or heat-resistant plastic 3 glass or heat-resistant plastic containers into which 2 of the test tube-sized containers will fit 1 junket tablet (you will need to buy a packet) waterproof felt-tipped pen 1 small container of full cream milk 1 tray of ice blocks 1 eye dropper or pipette 1 medicine measure 13 thermometers (0100C range).
You will also need access to boiling water from an electric jug or urn. Be careful with this! Use safe working practices, wear covered footwear.
e ice water 10 mL milk 05!C
3540!C water baths
7580!C
e = enzyme c = control
Experimental set up for investigation of the effect of temperature on enzyme activity using the enzyme rennin.
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The diagram shows how you should set up the experiment. You need to use the three larger containers as water baths, which you maintain around 05C (cold), 3540C (body temperature) and 7580C (hot). Ice in water should keep the cold bath within the temperature range but you will need to keep adding hot water from time to time to maintain the temperatures in the other water baths. Steps: 1 2 3 4 Label three test tube-sized containers as control and three as enzyme using a waterproof felt-tipped pen. Measure 10 mL of milk into each of the six test tube-sized containers. Place 1 control and 1 enzyme container into each water bath container. Now use the ice and water (hot/cold) to bring your water baths to the three different temperatures. Use your thermometer(s) to determine when the milk in the containers has reached the temperatures in each water bath. Grind up a junket tablet in about 10 mL of cold water. When the milk is at the correct temperature, add 45 drops of the junket mixture to each of the enzyme containers (not the controls). Record the time immediately. Record the time it takes for the milk to go solid. If it has not gone solid within 15 minutes after adding the enzyme mixture, you can assume the enzyme is not working. Work through the rest of the practical exercise but do not clean up your experimental set up yet. You will need to use it again in the next practical.
5 6 7 8
Hypothesis: You need to have made a hypothesis for what you expected to happen. You probably expected the enzyme to make the milk go solid at body temperature (the temperature in the stomach where it normally works) but probably not to work at the cold or hot temperatures. Would this be a reasonable hypothesis? State what you expected to happen in your own words. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
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Results: Record your results in the table below.

Temperature range Time for milk to set (minutes) Control 05C 3540C 7580C Enzyme
Discussion: Did your experiment support your hypothesis? _________________________________________________________ Did the milk go solid in any of the control tubes? Explain why you used the control containers. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ You will remember that changes to enzymes by cooling them below their optimum temperatures are normally reversible, while heating above the optimum usually denatures them. State what you would expect to happen if you put the containers of milk from the hot and the cold water baths into the 3540C bath? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Make sure that your 3540C water bath is at the right temperature and then transfer the containers from the hot and the cold baths to it. Describe the results. Were the results what you expected? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Do Exercise 1.4 as a conclusion to this experiment.
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The effect of changing pH

You could have done an experiment similar to this one using different pH levels, but it is difficult to set exact levels of pH outside a laboratory, where you have access to chemicals and equipment used to accurately change the pH and to measure its change. However, you can alter the pH of the milk (substrate) in your experiment by adding a few drops of vinegar (acid) or a quarter of a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda (alkali). Plan and perform your own simple experiment to investigate how changing the pH of milk affects the ability of rennin to thicken milk. (Hint: Perform your tests at 3540C.) What hypothesis are you testing? (What do expect to happen?) _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Write your conclusion in Exercise 1.5.
The effect of changing substrate concentrations

The substrate in your experiment is substances found in milk. You can reduce the concentrations of these substances by adding water to the milk. If you have powdered milk, you can increase the concentrations of these substances by adding powdered milk to normal milk. Plan and perform your own simple experiment to investigate how changing the concentration of milk substances affects the ability of rennin to thicken the milk. What hypothesis are you testing? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Write your conclusion in Exercise 1.6.
Are you confident that you can describe how increases in temperature, changed pH and variations in substrate concentrations affect an enzymes activity? Here is another example of an enzyme that you can use to check your understanding of enzymes.
Part 1: Enzymes
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The enzyme catalase and hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide solution is used as an antiseptic and as a bleach. It is also the product of some reactions in cells. It is poisonous and so living organisms have an enzyme in their cells which quickly break it down into oxygen and water, both of which are harmless substances. The reaction looks like this:
2H2O2 hydrogen peroxide catalase enzyme 2H2O water + O2 oxygen
Without the enzyme catalase, this reaction occurs but very, very slowly. If small cubes of potato of the same size are placed into test tubes of hydrogen peroxide, oxygen is released, since potato cells contain some of the catalase enzyme. Oxygen bubbles form in the liquid in the test tube, and make a froth on the surface. The height of this froth can be measured as an indication of the amount of enzyme activity. You could have investigated the effect of temperature on this reaction by comparing the amount of oxygen released at different temperatures, much as you did with the rennin experiment. It can also be used to show the effect of pH on the catalase enzyme. Look at the diagram below which shows such an experiment done by a student at four different pH levels.
no reaction froth = evolution of oxygen
froth hydrogen peroxide cube of potato cells (containing catalase enzyme) pH level 2 6 8 10
Catalase/hydrogen peroxide experiment.
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Study the experiment then answer the following questions. 1 Describe the effect of pH changes on catalase enzyme function. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 2 State what the optimum pH for this enzyme might be. Provide an explanation for your answer. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 3 The student did not use a control in the experiment. Describe how you would have designed the experiment to include a control. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 4 Design an experiment to investigate the effect on enzyme activity of increasing the concentration of hydrogen peroxide (substrate concentration) perhaps use 2, 5, 10, 20% hydrogen peroxide solutions. Remember your design needs to contain a control and you need to indicate how you would measure the enzyme activity. Predict the results for your experiment. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
Part 1: Enzymes
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______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ Check your answers. As you have seen, enzymes operate optimally with very specific conditions. So how does this affect a living organism? Take you, for example. There are many different enzymes within your body, taking part in many different reactions to make up your metabolism. The conditions inside your body have to be very carefully controlled for all these reactions to occur at their best. Any little change in conditions has to be noticed and put right to keep your body functioning normally. Youll learn about how this monitoring (measuring) and control occurs in Part 2.
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Suggested answers
Enzymes and pH
1 2 The optimum pH for pepsin is approximately 2.9; the optimum pH for trypsin is approximately 8. Pepsin would be denatured as it was moved from the acidic stomach into the slightly alkaline small intestine.
Some questions about enzymes

1 2 B is correct. Any enzyme speeds up a specific reaction (or type of reaction) in a cell. C is correct. The enzyme-substrate complex reduces the amount of energy which is necessary to start the reaction (called the activation energy). C is correct. Enzymes are affected by both temperature and pH but are not used up in reactions. Enzymes are chemicals called proteins speed up the rate of chemical reactions in cells are involved in chemical reactions but are unchanged at the end of the reaction and can be reused are needed only in very small amounts are specific to particular reactions or groups of reactions are affected by temperature are affected by pH may need other chemicals as co-enzymes (often vitamins) or co-factors (often minerals) to help them function.
Part 1: Enzymes
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The graph should show an increase in activity from low/no activity at 0C to maximum activity around the normal body temperature of a human (37C). It should drop rapidly to no activity above 37C.
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Percentage maximum activity
80
60
40
20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Temperature (!C)
A pH of 3 is more acid than one of 11. Remember that decreasing pH equals increasing acidity, and increasing pH equals increasing alkalinity.
The enzyme catalase and hydrogen peroxide

1 The enzyme activity, measured by the height of the froth produced by the oxygen given off, was zero at a pH of 2 but increased up to a pH of 8, after which it declined to very little at pH 10. The optimum pH for the enzyme was between 8 and 10 the height of the froth was highest at pH 8 but had declined markedly by pH 10. Experiments at pH levels between these 8 and 10 would need to be done to find out the optimum more accurately. A control test tube with hydrogen peroxide (and acid or alkali added to produce the required pH level), but with no potato, would need to be included for each pH level. This would establish that the reaction only occurred in the presence of the potato (containing the enzyme). Here is an example of suitable experiment. Set up two test tubes using each concentration of H2O2 (2, 5, 10, 20%). Use the same volume in each test tube. Insert a piece of potato of the same size into one tube (to supply the same amount of enzyme) of each pair of test tubes. The tubes without the potato are the control experiments. After the same amount of time (say 2 minutes), record the height of the froth as a measure of enzyme activity.
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Hypothesis (what you expected) There would be no reaction (no froth) in any of the control tubes, indicating that the presence of the potato (containing the enzyme) caused the reaction. The highest level of activity (height of the froth) would be in the most concentrated solution.
Remember, of course, that your hypothesis may not have been supported as there may not have been enough catalase enzyme available for the reaction to keep increasing with increased substrate concentration (see Enzymes and substrate concentration in this part of the module). In that case, the level of activity (height of the froth) may have levelled off after a certain concentration.
Part 1: Enzymes
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Exercises Part 1
Exercises 1.1 to 1.6
Name: _________________________________
Exercise 1.1: The role and chemical composition of enzymes

a) What is the role of enzymes in the metabolism of an organism? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ b) What is the general chemical composition of enzymes? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ c) Give an example of an enzyme and outline the reaction in which it participates. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
Part 1: Enzymes
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Exercise 1.2: Enzyme models

Look at the following model used to explain the action of enzymes.
substrate
products
a)
From the choices below, select the enzyme that would speed up the above reaction. Give reasons to justify your choice.
______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ b) Each enzyme has an active site in its structure that fits into only one substrate. Why do enzymes have different shapes? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
Exercise 1.3: Enzymes and pH

Normal human urine has a pH of less than 6. Is this acidic or alkaline? _________________________________________________________
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Exercise 1.4: The effect of changing temperature

Write a couple of sentences stating what this experiment has shown you about the effects of temperature on enzyme function. Conclusion: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Exercise 1.5: The effect of changing pH

Write a conclusion for your investigation. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Exercise 1.6: The effect of changing substrate concentrations

Write a conclusion for your investigation. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Part 1: Enzymes
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Biology
HSC Course Stage 6
Part 2: Homeostasis and temperature regulation
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 2 Homeostasis ............................................................................. 4

Collecting and using information .........................................................4 Homeostasis and feedback .................................................................5
Temperature regulation for endotherms .................................... 8

Control of body heat production (heat gain) .......................................9 Control of heat loss ............................................................................11 Summary ............................................................................................12 Limitations to temperature regulation................................................15
Temperature regulation for ectotherms ................................... 17 Adaptations and responses to temperature regulation ............ 20
Australian endotherms and ectotherms ............................................20 Some questions about temperature regulation.................................20
Suggested answers................................................................. 23 Additional resources................................................................ 25 Exercises Part 2 ................................................................... 31
Introduction
Multicellular organisms are made up of a number of organ systems. The tissues in each system, and the cells that make up those tissues, are specialised to carry out specific tasks. Here are some examples: the muscles of the skeleton carry out support and movement the lungs bring about gaseous exchange the digestive system facilitates digestion and absorption of food substances and materials needed by the cells waste products formed in the cells are transported around the body by the blood system.
All of these organ systems need to be controlled and coordinated in their functions. This control and coordination is brought about by two systems in mammals the nervous system and the endocrine (or hormonal) system. In this part you will have the opportunity to learn to: explain why the maintenance of a constant internal environment is important for optimal metabolic efficiency describe homeostasis as the process by which organisms maintain a relatively stable internal environment explain that homeostasis consists of two stages: detecting changes from the stable state counteracting changes from the stable state
outline the role of the nervous system in detecting and responding to environmental changes identify the broad range of temperatures over which life is found compared with the narrow limits for individual species compare responses of named Australian ectothermic and endothermic organisms to changes in the ambient temperature and explain how these responses assist temperature regulation
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identify some responses of plants to temperature change.
In this part you will have the opportunity to: gather, process and analyse information from secondary sources and use available evidence to develop a model of a feedback mechanism analyse information from secondary sources to describe adaptations and responses of Australian organisms that assist temperature regulation.
Extract from Biology Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, originally issued 1999. The most up-to-date version can be found on the Board's website at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/syllabus2000_lista.html This version October 2002.
Homeostasis
How do organisms maintain a balance within their tissues, to keep conditions optimal for cellular processes? When conditions are optimal, the cells metabolism will be most efficient.
Collecting and using information

All organisms receive information from the various parts of their bodies and from their environment in the form of stimuli (singular is stimulus). These stimuli normally result in some sort of response from a particular organ or number of organs. The stimulus often does not affect an organ directly but instead responses occur as a result of transmission through the nervous system, the endocrine (hormonal) system, or both. Stimuli received from the environment make you aware of your surroundings. Heat from a fire, for example, stimulates special cells in the skin of your hand resulting in nerve impulses being transmitted to the part of your brain that interprets these impulses as your hand getting hot. If your hand comes too close to a fire, you respond by pulling it away. The heat is the stimulus and using the muscles of your arm to pull your hand away is the response. Stimuli also come from inside the body. For instance, during exercise, respiration in the muscle cells increases the carbon dioxide (CO2) level in the blood. This stimulates an increased breathing rate, which gets rid of the extra CO2.
Using information to maintain a balance

Responses to stimuli, using the nervous and hormonal systems, are responsible for most control and coordination in animals. Plants have a hormonal system which controls and coordinates body processes. However, the way this system works is less well understood in plants than in mammals. As far as is known, plants do not have a nervous
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system, but their activities are controlled and coordinated so that homeostasis is maintained. You have already come across the idea of homeostasis, or the process of keeping conditions inside the organism relatively constant, or stable. Homeostasis involves the systems of control and coordination. Homeostasis consists of two stages: detecting changes from the stable state counteracting changes from the stable state.
Homeostasis and feedback

The working of a typical household electric water heating system is a practical application of how homeostasis is maintained. Follow around the cycle in the diagram below, beginning at the stimulus.
STIMULUS reduction in cylinder water temperature FEEDBACK change in cylinder water temperature RESPONSE heater heats up water in cylinder
RECEPTOR thermostat senses drop in water temperature
EFFECTOR heater
TRANSMISSION electric current in wires transmits information to the heater
When you turn on the hot tap in the shower or the sink, you get water flowing from the hot water cylinder at about 70C. This water is replaced by colder water coming into the cylinder. The drop in water temperature is detected by the thermostat and it switches on the heater in the cylinder. Once the water has heated back up to 70C, the return to the normal temperature level is detected by the thermostat and the heater is turned off. When you are not using hot water, the insulation surrounding the cylinder reduces the loss of heat. But heat will still gradually be lost and the temperature of the water in the cylinder will fall. Any change in temperature is again sensed by the thermostat and the heater is switched on and off during the day to maintain the temperature of the water inside the cylinder. Homeostasis is maintained and you have hot water when you need it.
The diagram below represents a general model, which can be applied to many biological examples. It is sometimes referred to as the stimulusresponse model.
STIMULUS
RECEPTOR
FEEDBACK
RESPONSE
EFFECTOR
TRANSMISSION
You've seen that this model can be used to explain the hot water cylinder example mentioned above. It can also be used for biological feedback, such as the effect of exercise on breathing rate. When you are exercising, the cells of your muscles are producing a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2) which needs to be removed from your body. During exercise, the level of CO2 in your blood rises. This rise is detected by a centre in your brain, which sends more frequent nerve impulses to the muscles of your chest and diaphragm, so that they contract more often and you breathe more rapidly. The rapid breathing gets rid of excess CO2 through the lungs and the level in the blood falls back towards normal. If you keep exercising, your breathing will remain rapid, as the level of CO2 in your blood will rise again almost immediately. If you stop exercising, the rapid breathing will result in the CO2 level of the blood coming right back to normal. This will be detected by your brain which will then reduce the frequency of nerve impulses to your chest muscles and diaphragm. Your breathing will slow down again. Use the information you have just read (about how CO2 levels in your blood are controlled) to complete the diagram on the next page. The stimulus information has been done for you to get you started.
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STIMULUS increase of CO2 in blood FEEDBACK
RECEPTOR
RESPONSE
EFFECTOR
TRANSMISSION
Check your answers. How did you go? In this example, the raised blood CO2 is the stimulus, the breathing centre in the brain is the receptor and transmission of information to the muscles and diaphragm occurs as impulses passing through the nerves. The effectors are the chest muscles and the diaphragm which produce the response of rapid breathing. Dont worry too much if you didnt get it all correct. There are lots of systems like this in the body, which control and coordinate its functions, and others you will deal with in this module further illustrate the concept of stimulus-response pathways to maintain homeostasis. The term feedback appears in the diagrams of the models and it needs to be discussed. In homeostasis, change often occurs to meet demands, but the system ensures that normal levels are eventually re-established. A feedback occurs when the response changes the stimulus. In the example of the hot water cylinder, the heating response is turned off as the temperature of water in the cylinder (stimulus) increases back to 70oC. It is turned on when the water in the cylinder decreases in temperature; for example, when you use more hot water, or as the water cools slightly during the day. Control and coordination in mammals are normally maintained in a similar way because the response modifies the initial stimulus and, as a result, the response itself is changed. In the example of breathing rate changing in response to exercise, the response (rapid breathing) is turned off once the high carbon dioxide level (stimulus) is reduced back to normal. Complete Exercise 2.1.
Temperature regulation for endotherms
Birds and mammals control their body temperatures at constant levels over the range of environmental temperatures in the places in which they live. These groups are the endotherms or endothermic species which you considered earlier in the Preliminary course in the module called Evolution of Australian biota. (You also considered ectotherms, which do not internally maintain a stable body temperature with changing environmental temperatures.) Body temperatures are maintained around 32C in the monotreme mammals (platypus and echidnas), 36C in the marsupials and 37C in the placental mammals. In birds, body temperatures are normally regulated 45C higher than in placental mammals. How can these animals maintain a stable temperature?
Heat is a form of energy

Heat moves from where there is a lot of it (something which is hotter) to where there is less of it (something which is colder). Temperature is a measure of the amount of heat present in an object. For example, a can of drink taken from the fridge feels cold because heat is moving from your hand (which is hotter than the can) to the can (which is colder than your hand). There is no such thing as cold. Something feels cold because you are losing heat to it. On a cold day you are losing more heat from your body to the environment than you would on a warm day and so you feel cold. If an animal is to maintain a constant body temperature:
Heat gained must equal heat lost.
The heat an organism loses or gains from the environment has to be balanced against the heat that it produces by its own cellular processes (metabolism), especially cellular respiration.
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Endothermic animals gain heat from the environment but most of the heat used to control their body temperature is generated by their own metabolism. Except in cold environments, most endothermic animals produce more heat than they need for temperature regulation and this excess heat needs to be lost to the environment. In mammals and birds, the metabolism generates a great deal of heat. This generation of heat is largely controlled by the endocrine system. Minute to minute regulation of temperature is controlled by the nervous system, involving a number of feedback systems, including sweating, shivering and dilation and constriction of blood vessels. In other words, it is the interaction of both the endocrine and nervous systems that controls body temperature.
Control of body heat production (heat gain)

Mammals (such as you) have two main ways of producing heat to keep the body temperature higher than the surroundings. These are: by increasing the metabolic rate of cells throughout the body by shivering.
Increasing the bodys metabolic rate

The thyroid gland produces thyroid hormones which act on a number of organs, especially the liver and muscles, to increase the level of metabolism. Most metabolic processes, especially cellular respiration, produce heat and this is used to regulate the body temperature of endothermic organisms. Any slight reduction of the temperature of the blood is detected by the hypothalamus in the brain, which stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete a hormone (thyroid stimulating hormone, TSH) into the blood. This hormone stimulates the thyroid gland to produce its hormones. The secretion of these hormones into the bloodstream results in an increase in metabolism, generating the extra heat needed to control body temperature under cold winter conditions. In hotter conditions, less metabolic heat is lost to the environment. Any increase in blood temperature is detected by the hypothalamus, resulting in the secretion of less TSH from the pituitary gland, less secretion of thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland and therefore less heat being generated by metabolism of tissues.
So from winter to summer, the organism is able to turn up and turn down heat production so that a stable body temperature is maintained.
Shivering
When environmental temperatures change quite quickly, like when a cold southerly buster comes through and you have left your jumper at home, there is a more rapid response. Heat is produced by shivering, where muscle fibres rapidly contract and relax, generating lots of heat that is used only to maintain the body temperature. This response is controlled by the nervous system. However, the change in blood temperature stimulating the shivering response is still detected by the hypothalamus (the receptor in the stimulus-response model). But in this instance, the response is transmitted through the nervous system (the transmission) to the muscles (the effector).
The hypothalamus and pituitary

The pituitary gland is often referred to as the master gland as it secretes hormones which control the functioning of other glands. For example, hormones released into the blood by the pituitary gland include hormones that stimulate the thyroid gland, ovaries and testes. The pituitary produces some of its own hormones but others are produced in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which is connected to the pituitary by a series of nerve fibres. The hypothalamus is involved in the control of many body functions, including regulation of body water levels and body temperature regulation. Considering that enzyme function is affected by both temperature and pH levels, the role of the hypothalamus and pituitary in governing the constancy of these is of great importance to the survival of many species. The diagram on the following page shows the positions of the hypothalamus and pituitary near the brain.
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cerebral hemisphere
hypothalamus
pituitary medulla oblongata
cerebellum
spinal cord
The human brain showing the position of the hypothalamus and the pituitary.
Control of heat loss

Heat is lost more quickly to the environment in cold conditions, whereas it is lost more slowly in hot conditions. Or, in fact, may be gained in conditions which are hotter than the body temperature. As mentioned above, heat moves from an area of higher temperature to one of lower temperature. The rate of heat movement depends on the difference between the two temperatures (the temperature gradient). As environmental temperatures decrease, the rate of heat loss speeds up but as it approaches body temperature, the heat loss slows down.
Increasing heat loss

When environmental temperatures increase above body temperature, heat moves from the environment into the body. So how can the body lose heat to maintain a constant body temperature? Endotherms use the process of by evaporative cooling. Water is evaporated from the skin or respiratory surfaces. Evaporative cooling works because heat is required to change liquid water into water vapour and this heat is drawn from the body. Sweating from the skin is the most important method of evaporative cooling in humans. However, in many mammals, rapid shallow breathing (panting) may also be used in evaporative cooling of the body.
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For example, dogs lose most heat by panting. Some species such as the red kangaroo lick their skin to spread saliva, which then evaporates and results in cooling. These evaporative cooling responses are controlled by the nervous system, again as a result of the temperature centre in the hypothalamus detecting small changes in blood temperature. Heat loss to the environment is increased if small blood vessels (capillaries) at the skin surface are fully open, or dilated. This is called vasodilation. Most heat loss is lost through skin at the extremities, such as the legs, arms, hands, feet and ears. Vasodilation is controlled by the hypothalamus via the nervous system.
Reducing heat loss

Heat loss to the environment can be reduced by reducing the flow of blood through capillaries near the skin's surface. For example, have you noticed how cold your hands, feet and ears can become when you are feeling cold? The capillaries are partially closed, or constricted, in vasoconstriction. Again, this process is controlled by the hypothalamus. Another way of reducing heat loss also involves the skin. Have you noticed that you get goose bumps when you are cold? This is caused by small muscles attached to the base of the hairs on your body contracting to make the hair stand up. This does not do much good for you and is a hang over from your ancestry. However, in animals with a thick fur coat, this response increases the depth of the air layer trapped in the fur. This air acts as better insulation, reducing the amount of heat loss from the body. The goose bump response is also controlled by the hypothalamus and the nervous system, with feedback through minute temperature changes in the blood. It should also be noted that heat and cold receptors in the skin also result in information being directed to the brain by the passage of impulses along nerves. These are received by the hypothalamus. Another area of the brain is also stimulated, resulting in the feeling of cold or hot.
Summary
The diagrams on the following page summarise the regulation of responses in an endotherm to the body to day-to-day changes in environmental temperatures. These regulatory responses to minute changes in blood temperature are controlled by the nervous system using feedback through the hypothalamus.
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This diagram combines the ones from the previous page.
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SKIN cold receptors
BLOOD TEMPERATURE decrease increase
SKIN heat receptors
cause changes in blood temperature
skin surface cooler than surroundings
skin surface warmer than surroundings
THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE increased
HYPOTHALAMUS HYPOTHALAMUS heat loss heat gain centre centre
THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE decreased
SHIVERING THYROID HORMONE increased VASOCONSTRICTION ERECTION OF HAIR
SWEATING OR PANTING VASODILATION LOWERING OF HAIR THYROID HORMONE decreased
METABOLISM increased
more heat produced, less heat lost
more heat produced
METABOLISM decreased
more heat produced
less heat produced
Note: Rectangles indicate involvement of the nervous system, circles show endocrine involvement and triangles mark responses. Do Exercise 2.2 now.
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Limitations to temperature regulation

Endothermic species can occupy areas with a much wider range of temperatures than most ectotherms. They can control their body temperatures independently of the external environmental temperature within the range over which their enzymes work best. But there is still a limit to the range of temperature over which each species can survive. For example, the platypus can maintain its body temperature around its normal 32C, even when swimming around in water near 0C, but it quickly dies from heat stress at temperatures higher than 30C. The red kangaroo can tolerate environmental temperatures well above its body temperature of 36C but could not survive under such cold conditions as the platypus. The range of temperatures over which an endothermic animal can regulate its body temperature varies between species but at some point for every species, there is an upper and lower limit to this regulation. The graph below shows this for a species such as the platypus which can tolerate cold temperatures but is poor at regulating its temperature in the heat.
50 45
Body temperature !C
40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 15 10 5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Ambient temperature !C 35 40 45
Body temperature regulation for a species that can tolerate cold but not hot conditions. This species is unable to regulate its normal body temperature (32C) below 10C or above 35C.
At temperatures below about 10C, this species is no longer able to regulate and its body temperature begins to fall. Above 30C, it begins to overheat and its body temperature rises. In both instances, the enzyme-dependent reactions of the species metabolism will fail and the animal will die. The range of temperature over which a human can
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regulate body temperature, without extra clothes, heating or air conditioning, is much smaller than that of an animal such as a platypus! Do Exercise 2.3 now.
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Temperature regulation for ectotherms
So why is temperature regulation important? Well, for a lot of organisms, it isnt that important and many simply let their body temperatures change with that of the environment. However, organisms which do this are restricted to: living in places where the temperature of the environment is within the range of temperature over which their enzymes work only being active at times when the environmental temperature is close to the optimum temperature of their enzymes.
Outside this range of temperatures, the enzymes would either be denatured, due to the temperature being too hot, or would be prevented from working by it being too cold. There are living organisms (mainly extremophile bacteria), which occupy extremes of temperature, with some being able to tolerate temperatures below the freezing point of water and others surviving above 100C. But most species have a limited range of temperature over which they can survive and reproduce. These species, which do not regulate their body temperature at a constant level, are called ectotherms. Although some heat is generated by their metabolisms it is not sufficient to regulate their temperatures and so they depend on heat from the environment to stay at temperatures at which their enzymes function.
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tolerance range zone of death or avoidance zone of stress optimum range zone of stress zone of death or avoidance
number of organisms
unavailable marginal too cold
preferred temperature
marginal
unavailable too hot
Many ectothermic animals and plants can change their body temperatures even when their physical surroundings are above or below the temperatures at which they function best. They mainly do this by changing the amount of heat they take up from the environment.
Ectothermic animals
Many ectothermic animals alter their body temperature using energy from the sun. For example, ectothermic species can bask in the sun to absorb the heat energy it provides. In many species a dark colour facilitates absorption of heat. (These animals move into the shade during hot periods to prevent overheating.) Dilation or constriction of blood vessels in the skin can increase or decrease the amount of heat which is taken up or lost to the environment. You may have seen lizards basking in the sun and snakes are renowned for it, but many other species of animals also make use of the suns heat.
A dark coloured lizard basking in the sun. (Photo: J West)
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Ectothermic plants
Plants often receive too much heat from the sun on the surface of their leaves. They can prevent becoming overheated by evaporative cooling through transpiration of water from their stomates. Also, plants living in very hot areas tend to be species with less leaf surface area. Many Eucalyptus species growing in hot areas of Australia can actually move their leaves so that the edges rather than the surface of their leaves are exposed to the sun at the hottest part of the day.
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Adaptations and responses to temperature regulation
In this section, you can learn more about temperature regulation by reviewing materials from this module and from the Preliminary course.
Australian ectotherms and endotherms

You will find some revision material from the Preliminary course in the Additional Resources section. This material deals with adaptations and responses to extreme environments with respect to temperature regulation in some Australian species. Use this material and any extra material from the Internet or books to complete the following exercise. Do Exercise 2.4.
Some questions about temperature regulation

Use information from this module to complete the following tasks. 1 In the stimulus-response model that you considered near the beginning of this part, there was only one transmission and one effector. However, when one endocrine gland is controlling another, there are two of each of these. Use the diagram on the next page to complete a feedback loop showing the regulation of body temperature by varying heat production under hot conditions (such as in the summer). The stimulus has been filled in for you as a starting point.
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STIMULUS slight decrease in blood temperature FEEDBACK
RECEPTOR
TRANSMISSION RESPONSE
EFFECTOR
TRANSMISSION
EFFECTOR
An endotherm in a colder environment experiences a slight fall in blood temperature. Describe the feedback system through the hypothalamus, pituitary and thyroid gland that would correct this organism's body temperature back to its normal level. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
The constancy of body temperature in mammals and birds is maintained by the: A B C D endocrine system and the blood vessels of the skin nervous system and sweat glands endocrine and nervous systems nervous system and respiratory surfaces.
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An ectotherm is best defined as an animal which: A B C D regulates its body temperature using heat generated by its metabolism controls its body temperature by using heat from the environment permits its body temperature to change exactly with that of the environment allows its body temperature to fluctuate depending on its activity.
A response to a cold environmental temperature in an endothermic species is most likely to include: A B C D sweating, vasoconstriction of surface capillaries and decreased metabolism shivering, vasodilation of surface capillaries and increased metabolism shivering, vasoconstriction of surface capillaries and erection of hairs (fur) sweating, reduced metabolism and erection of hairs (fur).
Which of the following statements applies most accurately to temperature regulation in plants? A B C D Plants have no control over their temperature. Transpiration and movement of their leaves can affect the temperature of some plant species. The temperature of plants is always exactly the same as that of the external environment. Plants can stand much higher temperatures than animals.
Check your answers.
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Suggested answers
Homeostasis and feedback

RECEPTOR breathing centre in brain senses increased carbon dioxide
STIMULUS increase of carbon dioxide in blood FEEDBACK changes of carbon dioxide in blood RESPONSE increased breathing rate EFFECTOR chest muscles and diaphragm
TRANSMISSION nerve impulses to chest and diaphragm
Do not worry if you found this task difficult. It is not an easy idea. Keep thinking about how feedback works. Then try the problem again when you have learnt more about homeostasis.
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So why is temperature regulation important?

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STIMULUS slight decrease in blood temperature FEEDBACK increase in blood temperature to normal TRANSMISSION thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) RECEPTOR hypothalamus to pituitary
RESPONSE heat production
EFFECTOR muscles and liver
TRANSMISSION thyroid hormones
EFFECTOR thyroid gland
Any slight fall in blood temperature is detected by the hypothalamus, which reduces the release of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) from the pituitary. This in turn reduces the amount of thyroid hormones being released from the thyroid gland, resulting in a reduction in heat production by metabolism. The blood temperature returns to normal. C is correct. The endocrine system is involved in maintaining metabolic heat production while the nervous system controls shivering and the mechanisms that help to reduce or increase heat loss from the body. B is correct. Ectothermic species may permit their body temperatures to follow that of the environment, but by using heat from the environment, many of these species can have some control over their temperature. C is correct. Shivering generates heat, and heat loss to the cold environment is reduced by vasoconstriction of surface capillaries, especially in the extremities (eg. feet, ears), and erection of hairs to increase insulation of the fur. B is correct. Some plants, particularly those living in very hot conditions, such as are found in areas of Australia, can regulate their temperatures to some extent by evaporative cooling due to transpiration. Some plants can also move their leaves so that they get less heat from the sun in the middle of the day.
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Additional resources
Some of the material below is extracted from the Preliminary course module called Evolution of Australian biota.
The water holding frog (ectothermic)

The water holding frog (Cyclorana platycephala) is one of several Australian species of burrowing frogs which live in arid conditions a rather unusual place for frogs to live, you would expect! Frogs have external fertilisation and so must have water in which to mate and produce tadpoles. The frogs themselves survive for extended dry periods by living in a cocoon about 0.5 m underground. When the temporary pools in which they live begin to dry up, the frogs burrow down into the soil, away from the heat of the sun, and form cocoons around themselves made from dead skin and mucus secreted by the skin. This cocoon is quite impermeable to water and so their water losses to the surroundings are low. They can survive for many months, possibly even years, between rainfall events. These frogs can tolerate some dehydration (loss of body fluids) and an increase in toxic waste products arising from their metabolism, which is lowered during their time underground. As soon as water from new rains soaks down to them, the frogs break out of their cocoons and make their way back to the surface to feed and mate in the pools. Australian desert frogs can survive drought conditions by burrowing down into the clay soil and forming a layer of dead skin around their bodies, which reduces water loss to the soil.
The Eastern Blue-tongue lizard (ectothermic)

The Eastern blue-tongue lizard (Tiliqua scincoides) is a type of skink. There are over 200 species of skink in Australia. They avoid high
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temperatures by seeking shelter under rocks and in leaf litter in the heat of the day. In the morning they bask on a rock and rely on the warmth of their surroundings for their body temperature. They maintain a body temperature between 30 and 35 degrees centigrade. They become inactive during cold weather.
The red kangaroo (endothermic)

The red kangaroo(Macropus rufus) occupies the central and central western areas of Australia. In other words, it lives in an area where summer temperatures are very high and winter temperatures can be below freezing, while rainfall is very low at most times of the year. The following table lists some characteristics of red kangaroos.
Body dimensions of the red kangaroo
Measurement range Head and body length 0.91.4 m (male) 0.71.0 m (female) Tail length 0.71.0 m (male) 0.50.9 m (female) Weight 2285 kg 1735 kg (male) (female)
Measurement average 1.1 m (male) 1.0 m (female) 0.9 m (male) 0.8 m (female) 66 kg (male) 27 kg (female)
You can see that males are much larger than females. A large red kangaroo is about the weight of an adult human male and, when standing up on its hind legs, is also about the same height as a fairly tall human.
Regulating body temperature

Once the external temperature is high enough to equal the body temperature of an animal, the only way that the animal can get rid of heat produced by its own metabolic processes is to carry out evaporative cooling by sweating or panting. You will remember that birds and mammals living in hot dry conditions keep their body temperature constant by evaporating water through sweating or panting. However, they need to balance the water they use in this evaporative cooling against their water intake to maintain regulation of their body fluids (osmoregulation).
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In central Australia in the hottest summer temperatures, a red kangaroo lying in the direct sunlight in the middle of the day would need to evaporate around four litres of water per hour to regulate its body temperature. This means that after a couple of hours in the sun it would need to drink eight full litres of water just to keep its body water at a constant level. Red kangaroos only usually need to drink about every five days and so the species obviously has adaptations which permit it to balance its heat loss and regulation of body water under such severe conditions. Lets have a look at how it does it. As discussed before, water loss has to be balanced by water gain and heat loss to heat gain if the kangaroo is to keep its body temperature and body water levels constant. The animal gains heat from the environment (mainly heat from the sun) and from its own metabolism, including extra heat generated during exercise. At rest the red kangaroo loses heat by panting. This consists of shallow and rapid breathing passing air over the membranes of the nasal passages. Increased blood flow in vessels supplying these membranes permits a great deal of heat to be lost by evaporation. Sweating is not as efficient a way of losing heat as panting, but the red kangaroo also sweats to lose heat if it needs to exercise during the hot periods of the day. The kangaroos also have a mass of small blood vessels under the skin on its forelimbs. The kangaroo spreads saliva on its forelimbs and evaporation results in heat loss from these blood vessels. Remember that heat loss is the same as cooling. When you pick up a can of drink out of the fridge it feels cold because your hand is losing heat to the cold can.
Water balance
This seems good so far the kangaroo can get rid of excess heat by panting, spreading saliva and by sweating if necessary but what about the water it loses in these processes, when it only gets to drink every five days or so? The red kangaroo has other strategies to reduce water losses. A kangaroos kidneys reabsorb a great deal of water, so that its urine is very concentrated and it urinates quite infrequently during hot times. Water is also very efficiently reabsorbed by the large intestine, resulting in very little water being lost in the dry faeces. You have possibly also heard the saying that mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, relating to the times when settlers and explorers moved around in the hottest parts of the day in tropical areas, whereas most indigenous people avoided those parts of the day by seeking shade. The red kangaroo does the same as these indigenous
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people, seeking out even the slightest shade provided by low shrubs or trees in its environment. It also only moves around in the middle of the day if it really has to, as exercise means the production of more body heat, which must be got rid of by evaporating water. The red kangaroo then is very well adapted in these ways for living in hot, dry conditions. However, it should be noted that these strategies are not just found in this species. In Australia, other kangaroo and wallaby species, small mammals and birds from dry areas have similar adaptations, as do animals such as camels, jack rabbits and prairie dogs living in desert conditions in other parts of the world. Red kangaroos increase heat losses by evaporative cooling by: panting (at rest); sweating (during exercise); and saliva spreading (at rest). Red kangaroos decrease in heat gain or heat production by: seeking shade and avoiding exercise. Water conservation adaptations of red kangaroos include: concentrated urine and dried faeces.
The platypus (endothermic)

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is quite a small animal although the species seems to be much larger in Tasmania (with some individuals reaching 3 kg). On the mainland, females are around 1 kg in weight and males a bit heavier at around 1.5 kg.. The table following shows average body dimensions.
Body dimensions of the platypus
Measurement range Total length, including tail 4560 cm (male) 3955 cm (female) 1115 cm (male) 913 cm Weight (female)
Measurement average 50 cm 43 cm (male) (female)
Tail length
12.5 cm (male) 11.2 cm (female) 1.7 kg 0.9 kg (male) (female)
1.02.4 kg (male) 0.71.6 kg (female)
The platypus is found over a range of different habitats from tropical areas in the north of Queensland to very cold areas in Tasmania, the
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tablelands of New South Wales and Victoria, and in the Snowy Mountains and Victorian alpine areas. In these cold areas, the platypus experiences not only low air temperatures, which fall well below freezing in winter, but also low water temperatures, which can drop to freezing. What are some adaptations that permit platypuses living in these sorts of areas to survive such harsh conditions? The diagram following summarises some adaptations of the platypus.
Tail fat: fat stored in the tail acts as an energy source for body metabolism, which increases to regulate body temperature during the winter. Fur: dense fur traps a layer of air acting as insulation.
Counter-current heat exchange system: veins and arteries flowing in opposite directions exchange heat in the muscles of the pelvic area, reducing heat loss through the rear feet.
Webbed front feet: large surfaces of the webs provide propulsion in the water but have restricted blood supply to conserve heat.
Adaptations of the platypus for cold conditions.
(From The Platypus. A unique mammal. Grant, T, Fanning, D. 1995. NSW University Press, Sydney.)
Platypus fur has several layers. The flat blades of the guard hairs and the wavy shape of the fine underfur layer trap air, which acts as a very good insulator. Platypuses were hunted until around 1900 and their skins used for rugs, hats and gloves because the fur insulation was so good in air. Even in water, the platypus fur has about the same insulation as a wetsuit. The platypus also has behavioural adaptations to help it to survive cold conditions. It lives in a burrow where the soil acts as insulation to prevent the burrow losing heat to the cold outside air. This behaviour also helps the species survive in the hotter areas of its range as the burrow insulates against heat coming in from outside too. When it is active in hotter areas, the platypus is often in the water, which keeps it cool.
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Season Summer (max) Winter (min)
Water temperature 24C
Air temperature 34C
Burrow temperature 18C
5C
-12C
14C
Because platypuses have mainly evolved adaptations to survive the cold, they are poorly adapted to hot conditions when they are out of water or away from their burrows. They quickly die of heat stress in temperatures above their body temperature. The platypus body temperature is 32C, quite a bit lower than that of most other mammals but it maintains it at a constant level. Like most placental, or eutherian, mammals, humans have a body temperature of 37C, while most marsupials, including the red kangaroo, have slightly lower body temperatures of around 36C. As noted with the red kangaroo, the platypus has evolved adaptations which are quite similar to those of species from other parts of the world that also live in similar very cold environments (eg. musk rats, beavers).
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Exercises Part 2
Name: _________________________________
Exercise 2.1: Using information to maintain a balance

a) Define homeostasis. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ b) Why is it important to maintain a constant internal environment? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ c) What are the two stages of homeostasis? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
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Exercise 2.2: Summary

Outline the role of the nervous system in detecting and responding to changes in environmental temperature in a mammal. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Exercise 2.3: Limitation to temperature regulation

a) Identify the broad range of temperatures over which life is found. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ b) Individual species however cannot survive over such a broad range. Give an example of a named organism and the temperature range it is found over. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
Exercise 2.4: Australian ectotherms and endotherms

a) Using named Australian examples, identify two ectotherms and two endotherms. For each named organism describe an adaptation and a response that assists temperature regulation. (Try to describe a different method of temperature regulation for each organism.) ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ b) Identify some responses of plants to temperature change. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
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Biology
HSC Course Stage 6
Part 3: Mammalian blood
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 2 Blood ..................................................................................... 4

Optional review of the circulatory system ...........................................4 Composition of blood ...........................................................................6 Substances transported in blood.........................................................9 Learning more about red blood cells ................................................10
Blood vessels .......................................................................... 17

Comparing arteries, veins and capillaries .........................................17 What happens at capillaries? ...........................................................19
pH of the blood........................................................................ 21
Normal pH for body fluids .................................................................21 Keeping pH stable .............................................................................22 Measuring pH .....................................................................................23 Finding out more ...............................................................................25
Suggested answers................................................................. 31 Exercises Part 3 ................................................................... 35
Introduction
Transport in multicellular animals is necessary to move nutrients and wastes around the body. This occurs in a watery medium, usually blood or lymph. In this part you will have the opportunity to learn to: identify the form(s) in which each of the following is carried in mammalian blood: carbon dioxide oxygen water salts lipids nitrogenous waste other products of digestion
explain the adaptive advantage of haemoglobin compare the structure of arteries, capillaries and veins in relation to their function describe the main changes in the chemical composition of the blood as it moves around the body and identify tissues in which these changes occur outline the need for oxygen in living cells and explain why removal of carbon dioxide from cells is essential
In this part you will have the opportunity to: perform a first-hand investigation to demonstrate the effect of dissolved carbon dioxide on the pH of water perform a first-hand investigation using the light microscope and prepared slides to gather information to estimate the size of red and white blood cells and draw scaled diagrams of each
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analyse information from secondary sources to identify current technologies that allow measurement of oxygen saturation and carbon dioxide concentrations in blood and describe and explain the conditions under which these technologies are used analyse information from secondary sources to identify and describe the products extracted from donated blood and discuss the uses of these products analyse and present information from secondary sources to report on progress in the production of artificial blood and use available evidence to propose reasons why such research is needed.
Extract from Biology Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, originally issued 1999. The most up-to-date version can be found on the Board's website at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/syllabus2000_lista.html This version October 2002.
Blood
You have seen the importance of the temperature of the blood in maintaining a stable body temperature in an endotherm (such as a mammal). The blood has an important role in distributing heat throughout the body. The blood has a vital role in distributing other substances too. As the main transport system of the body, the watery liquid called blood transfers materials from where they are absorbed or produced to other places in the body where they are needed or removed. The blood travels through blood vessels due to the ceaseless beating of a strong muscular heart. Together, these things blood, blood vessels and heart make up the circulatory system.
Optional review of the circulatory system

You will probably remember the general circulation of blood in the body of a mammal, from the Preliminary course. Here is an optional activity for you to do to familiarise yourself again with the circulatory system. Use two different colours of pen: one for blood with high oxygen concentration (oxygenated blood) one for blood with low oxygen concentration (deoxygenated blood).
Draw in the blood flow between the parts of the body represented by the boxes, diamonds and circles in the diagram on the next page.
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A diagram of the human circulatory system
head and arms
lungs
heart
liver
digestive system
kidneys
abdomen and legs

Check your answer.
The diagram in the Suggested answers is fairly simple. A less diagrammatic (but harder to draw!) scheme of circulation in the human body is shown below.
head and arms lung
right atrium right ventricle
left atrium left ventricle
intestine
kidney
legs oxygenated blood deoxygenated blood
Blood circulation in a human.
The exact positions of the organs and the lengths of the vessels may change a bit between, say, a human and a giraffe but the circulation in all mammals has the same basic plan.
Composition of blood
In the Preliminary course you looked briefly at the cells which are found in the blood the red and white blood cells. Here is a table of information to remind you about the cells and cell fragments (formed elements) in blood.
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Types of blood cells and fragments
Formed elements (4347% of blood) red cells white cells platelets (cell fragments)
% of formed elements 99% <1% <1%
Function in body
transport oxygen combat infection blood clotting
These cells make up less than 50% (4347%) of the blood in humans. The rest of the blood is a liquid called plasma. If you were to spin a tube of blood in an instrument called a centrifuge, the spinning would force the solid elements (cells and cell fragments) to the bottom of the tube, leaving the plasma floating on the top as a pale yellow liquid. The diagram below shows this separation of blood components due to centrifugation.
clear liquid fraction (55% plasma)
cell fraction (45% red cells, white cells and platelets)
Composition of blood.
Blood plasma
Here is a pie graph showing the main components of blood plasma. Use information from the graph to complete the table below.
ions, wastes and nutrients (about 1%) proteins
water (about 92%)
Components in blood plasma
Plasma (5357% of blood) proteins
% composition of plasma
Function in body
osmotic balance of blood, enzymes, blood clotting osmotic balance of body fluids; involved in many metabolic activities
ions
nutrients such as: amino acid lipids carbohydrates wastes water building structural proteins and enzymes provide energy, building structures (eg. membranes) mainly energy eliminated, no function solvent for many substances
Check your answers. You can see that plasma is very important for transporting substances around the body. Apart from oxygen (which is carried by red blood cells), all the other main substances are dissolved in plasma.
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Substances transported in blood

The circulatory system is the main transport system of the body, carrying essential materials to cells throughout the body and removing their wastes. Essential materials (such as oxygen and digested food) are brought into the body from outside through the respiratory and digestive systems. Wastes (such as carbon dioxide and urea) are eliminated (removed) from the body through the excretory and respiratory systems. So the substances present in blood vary around the body, depending on what is being used or added by cells or which body system it is passing through. The table below summarises the materials carried in blood, their source and where they are used or eliminated.
Summary about substances carried in the blood Materials in blood Form in which material is carried mainly attached to haemoglobin in red cells mainly dissolved as bicarbonate ions Material enters blood respiratory system Material leaves blood used by all cells
oxygen
carbon dioxide
from all cells
respiratory system
products of digestion lipids (fats) amino acids simple sugars vitamins salts (ions) water nitrogenous wastes (mainly urea) as particles called chylomicrons dissolved dissolved dissolved dissolved water molecules dissolved digestive system digestive system digestive system digestive system digestive system digestive system liver used by cells used by cells used by cells used by cells urinary system used by all cells urinary system
Learning more about red blood cells

Blood normally looks red because of the many red blood cells it contains. But if you have had a blood test, you may have noticed that blood looks very dark purple, rather than red, when it is taken from a vein into the syringe. Why does the colour change? The red colour of the blood of most vertebrate animals is due to the presence of a complex protein molecule called haemoglobin, which is made up of four long amino acid chains (polypeptides), each one assembled around an atom of iron. Haemoglobin has a very strong affinity for (great ability to pick up) oxygen, when oxygen is in higher concentration than it is in the blood. This happens at the lungs. Haemoglobin can also release oxygen in an area where oxygen is in lower concentration than it is in the blood. This is why red blood cells release oxygen to cells throughout the body. When haemoglobin picks up oxygen it becomes bright red in colour, but haemoglobin changes back to a dark purple once it has given up its oxygen. When you cut yourself, the blood looks really red because it rapidly picks up oxygen from the air, which is 21% oxygen. However, blood which is collected from a vein looks purple because it is low in oxygen (deoxygenated). Remember that the blood in the veins is being returned to the heart, which will then pump it to the lungs to be reoxygenated. Oxygen combines chemically with haemoglobin (Hb) at the lungs to form a molecule called oxyhaemoglobin. Each haemoglobin molecule combines with four molecules of oxygen.
haemoglobin + oxygen Hb + 4O2 oxyhaemoglobin Hb(O2)4
oxyhaemoglobin Hb(O2)4 haemoglobin + oxygen Hb + 4O2
At the tissues, haemoglobin releases the oxygen:
So haemoglobin is used over and over, to carry oxygen from the lungs to cells. Quite a few invertebrate animals that are adapted to living in places where oxygen is in very low concentrations also have haemoglobin in their blood. For example, tubifex or bloodworms are found in places where oxygen has been used up by bacteria breaking down dead organic material (such as in sewage treatment ponds and the muddy bottoms of lakes). The larvae of some biting midges (sandflies) also live in the mud. They have haemoglobin in their blood to help them absorb oxygen. Other worms and insects, not so well adapted to low oxygen conditions, have blood which is not red, but colourless.
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Animals living normally at high altitudes have evolved adaptations. For example, the llamas of the high Andes Mountains in South America have fewer red blood cells in their blood than humans. However, they have more haemoglobin packed into each red blood cell and their haemoglobin itself is even more efficient at picking up oxygen than is human haemoglobin. So you can see that haemoglobin is an extremely important molecule when it comes to the survival of many animals. Do Exercise 3.2 now.
The structure of red blood cells

You may hear the word erythrocyte or red blood corpuscle being used instead of red blood cell. They all mean the same and it is best for you to stick to using one name, but you need to recognise the other names just in case you see them in something you are reading, especially if it is an examination paper! Red blood cells are very small cells indeed and you will look at their actual size in a later exercise. Their small size gives them a very large surface area to volume ratio, which makes movement of oxygen across the cell membrane very efficient. It is made even more efficient by the shape of the red blood cell it is flattened and both sides are concave so that it is thicker at the edges than in the middle. It looks a bit like a doughnut where the hole does not go all the way through. This shape is shown below.
7 mm
red blood cell
cut in half
Shape of a red blood cell. If you treat a smear of blood on a microscope slide with a stain which colours the nucleus (usually dark purple), then you will see a whole lot of cells under the microscope, but only the white blood cells, which have nuclei, will be stained. By the time they enter the bloodstream after being formed in the bone marrow, each red blood cell in mammals, including humans, has lost its nucleus.
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Look at the following photographs of blood smears, as seen through a microscope.
Human blood smear under a light microscope at x400 magnification. (Photograph Jane West)
white blood cells
red blood cells
Red and white blood cells taken with an electron microscope
(Courtesy K R Porter and Gin Fonte, University of Colorado)
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In the electromicrograph (phototograph from an electron microscope), there appears to be as many white blood cells as there are red blood cells. However, remember that red cells make up a bit less than 50% of blood and the white cells and platelets together make up less than 1%.
The size of red blood cells

How could you measure the size of a red blood cell? A microscope makes objects that you look at seem larger. You can estimate or measure the sizes of these images. But this does not tell you the size of the object, only the size of its image through the microscope. When you know the magnification of the microscope you are using, you can calculate the sizes of objects from measurements of images that you see through the microscope. You will probably remember from using a microscope before, from reading the Science Resource Book for the Preliminary course or from working on the website (http://www.lmpc.edu.au/science) that magnification by the microscope depends on two sets of lenses. The ocular, or eyepiece lens, on most microscopes normally magnifies x10 and the objective lenses can be changed between x10, x40 and x100.
eyepiece
coarse adjustment fine adjustment arm
body tube
objectives stage clip stage
base mirror
Parts of an older style of light microscope. Note the location of the eyepiece (ocular lens) and objective lenses.
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Finding total magnification for a light microscope

The total magnification of the microscope is calculated by multiplying the two lens magnifications together as is shown in the table below.
Lens combinations and magnification for a light microscope
Eyepiece (ocular) lens x10 x10 x10
Objective lens
Total magnification x100 x400 x1000
Field of view
x10 x40 x100
Making measurements in a field of view

There is another column in the table on the previous page, headed field of view. This is the actual diameter of the circle you look at when you see down the microscope with the particular lens combination. Before you can calculate the size of these fields of view (or often just called the fields ) you need to have a unit of measurement which is small enough to use. The unit usually chosen is called a micrometre, micron or just m (the Greek letter and the abbreviation for metre). 1 micrometre (m) = 1 thousandth of a millimetre (0.001 mm) = 1 millionth of a metre (0.000 001 m) Or you can say, 1 millimetre (mm) = 1 000 micrometres (m) or 1 metre (m) = 1 000 000 microns (m) Now you can work out some field diameters. Look at the diagram below. It is a drawing of what you would see if you looked at a piece of graph paper with 1 mm divisions through a microscope at x100 total magnification. You can see one full division across (1 mm) plus a bit more on each side (0.3 mm + 0.3 mm say, 0.6 mm). So you have measured the full field as being 1.6 mm across. How many micrometres (m) is that? Yes, 1 600 m (1.6 mm 1 000).
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diameter of field of view
grid lines on graph paper
0.3 mm
1.0 mm
0.3 mm
Measured field of view at x100 magnification.
You now know that anything you look at under x100 magnification on this microscope which completely fits across the field is 1600 m in length. (You have to measure the field of view for each microscope.) Now look at the next diagram. There is an object called a paramecium that fits half way across the field.
diameter of field of view
1600 m
Object measured in field of view at x100 magnification.
How long is the paramecium? Yes, it is 800 m (It takes up half of the field of view; 1600 2.) How wide is the paramecium? ________________________________ It fits six times across the field of view so it is 1600 6 = 267 m
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If you had an organism under the microscope which you estimated fitted across the field four times, how big would it be?______ Correct, 400 m or 1600 4 = 400 m. So you can estimate the approximate size of anything you look at under that power of the microscope because: size of an object = diameter of the field of view of microscope ( mm ) number of times the object fits across the field
Did you wonder about fields of view under other magnifications? Well, you can calculate these using the x100 field that you have measured using the graph paper. Here it how it is done.
measured diameter of the field of view (in mm ) number of times magnification has been increased Since x100 field = 1600 mm size of field = then x400 field = 1600 = 4 mm
Complete the calculation and put your answer (in micrometres) into the earlier table comparing total magnification and field of view. Now do the calculations for the field under x1000 magnification. Show your working then put the answer into the table. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Check your answers. Do Exercise 3.3 now.
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Blood vessels
Blood travels throughout the body via interconnecting blood vessels. These are arteries, veins and capillaries.
Comparing arteries, veins and capillaries
outer layer muscle layer inner layer
layer one cell thick
artery
vein
capillary
Arteries
Arteries take blood away from the heart. They have thick muscular walls to withstand the pressure of the blood resulting from the pumping of the heart muscles. These muscular walls also even out the flow of blood by expanding and contracting themselves. Blood in the arteries is always under high pressure and so always flows in the one direction, away from the heart.
Veins
On the other hand, veins return blood to the heart from all parts of the body. The pressure of blood in the veins can be quite low, particularly for blood from the outer and lower parts (arms and legs). The return of blood against gravity is aided by body muscles contracting and helping to squeeze the veins.
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The walls of veins are also muscular, but the muscle layers are not as well developed as they are in arteries. As well, valves prevent blood from flowing backward in areas where the pressure may be quite low. The diagram on the next page shows this happening.
muscle tendon
valve closes and prevents backflow of vein squeezed by muscle
valve opens and blood flows towards heart
Movement of blood in veins due to skeletal muscle contraction.
Standing in one place for a long time can cause a person to become dizzy or even faint because insufficient blood returns the heart from the lower parts of the body, so the brain does not get quite enough blood to function properly. This is because the leg muscles are not contracting to move the blood in the veins back up to the heart.
Capillaries
In each organ of the body, the main arteries subdivide to form smaller and smaller vessels until the network of tiny microscopic vessels (capillaries) supply individual cells or groups of cells. These capillaries rejoin into larger vessels, taking blood out of the organ and empties it into the largest veins that return blood to the heart.
direction of blood flow
artery connective tissue elastic fibres and smooth muscle endothelium
capillary connective tissue elastic fibres and smooth muscle endothelium (one cell thick) endothelium
vein
A capillary network and the structure of arteries, veins and capillaries.
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The capillaries are extremely small and so have a large surface area through which to unload some materials (oxygen and nutrients) and to receive others (carbon dioxide and other wastes). Do Exercise 3.4 now.
What happens at capillaries?

Complete the following table to show the exchange of substances between blood in capillaries and the surrounding tissues. The first row has been done for you, as an example.
Organ System Lungs oxygen carbon dioxide urea glucose more less no change more less more no change less Blood entering organ Blood leaving organ
Kidney oxygen carbon dioxide urea glucose
Leg muscle oxygen carbon dioxide urea glucose
Small intestine oxygen carbon dioxide urea glucose
Check your answers.
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How did you go? Remember that all cells use up oxygen and glucose in their cellular respiration. Urea is produced in the liver. The kidney (and to a very small extent, the skin) is the only other organ which changes the concentration of urea in the blood.
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pH of the blood
Like all substances, the acidity of blood can be described using the pH scale.
Normal pH for body fluids

Normally, blood in arteries has a pH of 7.40, while in the veins it is 7.35. That doesnt seem much of a difference but having a blood pH outside this range quickly leads to death in humans. For proper functioning of the cells, especially those of the nervous system, a constant pH level must be maintained in the blood and the fluid which surrounds cells. This fluid is constantly leaking from the blood plasma into tissue due to blood pressure. The fluid does not accumulate in tissues but drains into the thin walled vessels of the lymphatic system. The fluid, then called lymph, is moved only by pressure from surrounding muscles (in the same way that blood moves in veins). So lymph travels through the body and empties into the veins of the neck.
Changes in pH
Acids in food and a variety of acids produced by a range of metabolic reactions have the capacity to change the pH of the body fluids, including blood and lymph. These fluids can also be made more acidic by the presence of carbon dioxide, which is transported away from cells carrying out cellular respiration. Most carbon dioxide carried by the blood forms carbonic acid, a weak acid that breaks up into H+ ions and hydrogen carbonate ions (bicarbonate, HCO3) when it dissolves in water. The presence of H+ ions in plasma increases the acidity (reduces the pH) of blood and lymph.
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Keeping pH stable
There are a number of homeostatic mechanisms which prevent the pH range of body fluids from exceeding or going below the levels necessary for survival (7.07.7). These include: buffers in body fluids, kidney function and variations in breathing rate.
Buffers in body fluids

A buffer is a solution of two or more chemicals which prevents marked changes in H+ ion concentration (pH) when either an acid or alkali (base) is added to the system. If a few drops of concentrated acid are added to water, the pH falls quickly. However, if a buffer is present in the water, the buffer takes up most of the H+ ions and the pH changes only very slightly. For example, study these equations. A carbon dioxide CO2 B carbonic acid H2CO3 C bicarbonate ion HCO3
+ water + H2 O
carbonic acid H2CO3 hydrogen ion attached to water (H2O)H

+
+ water + H2 O
+ bicarbonate ion + HCO3
+ water + H2 O
hydrogen ion attached to water (H2O)H

+
+ carbonate ion + CO3

2
In equation B and equation C, hydrogen ions are added to the solution so it becomes more acidic (lower pH). However, these reactions can also happen in reverse. D carbonate ion CO3 E
2
+ +
hydrogen ion H
+
bicarbonate ion HCO3
bicarbonate ion HCO3
+ +
hydrogen ion H
+
carbonic acid H2CO3
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In equation D and equation E, hydrogen ions are removed from the solution so it becomes less acidic (higher pH). In other words, when carbon dioxide dissolves in water it acts as a buffer. If the solution is too acidic, carbonate and bicarbonate ions will take up + H ions and raise the pH. If the solution is too alkaline, bicarbonate ions + and carbonic acid will give out H ions and lower the pH. In the same way, carbon dioxide dissolved in plasma is a buffer in the blood. However, blood contains enzymes (such as carbonic anhydrase) to speed up these reactions so that the pH of blood remains stable. Blood also contains other chemicals, including proteins like haemoglobin, that act as buffers to maintain the acid balance of blood.
Kidney function
The nephrons of the kidney are capable of excreting more acidic or more alkaline urine depending on the level of H+ ions in the blood passing through the kidney. So the concentration of H+ ions (pH) can be varied by the kidneys.
Variations in breathing rate

Increased breathing flushes excess CO2 from the blood and reduces the level of carbonic acid in the blood and therefore the acidity (H+ ion concentration). During exercise, it is essential that breathing rate increases to get rid of the extra CO2 produced by muscle cells. Otherwise the pH of the blood could be lowered to dangerous levels. The feedback system you considered in Part 1 (stimulus-response model) plays an important part in ensuring that this normally does not happen.
Measuring pH
The pH of a liquid can be measured using an electronic pH meter. However, it can also be found using an indicator. An indicator is a chemical that has a different colour depending on whether the conditions are acidic or alkaline. You probably used litmus paper at school and saw that blue litmus paper went red in acidic conditions and red litmus paper turned blue in alkaline conditions. This test only indicates acid or alkali.
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There are other indicators that change colour depending on the actual pH of the liquid. Universal indicator paper is one of these. The table below shows some colours of universal indicator at different pH.
Substance domestic cleaner window cleaning liquid baking soda (NaHCO3) dissolved in water saliva vinegar lemon juice pH 14 10 9 Colour of universal indicator dark blue dark green green
6.5 3 2
light orange dark orange red
You can look at the LMP science website to see a colour version of the universal indicator scale. www.lmpc.edu.au/science You may be able to get some universal indicator to use from your local school or TAFE. However, you can make your own. A lot of plants have coloured pigments which change colour depending on the acid level of the soil in which they grow. For example, hydrangea flowers for example are blue if the plant grows in acidic soils and pink in alkaline soil.
Making your own indicator

Finely chop about a handful of red cabbage (or flower petals). Then boil the cabbage in a small saucepan (or microwave container) with just enough water to cover it. Once the water is a good purple colour tip it into a container and let it cool. You now have your indicator. You can test it with some of the substances in the table above to see the changes in colour at various pH levels.
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Observing the effect of dissolved carbon dioxide on the pH of water

Design a simple experiment which shows that dissolving carbon dioxide in water makes the water more acidic. Here are a few things that might help. Blowing into a drinking straw is a good way to get CO2 into some water, but it will take several minutes to get enough dissolved to affect your indicator. Soda water is produced by bubbling CO2 into water under pressure. You already have made an indicator that changes colour when pH changes.
If you are going to use soda water, read the label on the bottle before you buy it. You will need one which simply says carbonated water. If it has potassium bicarbonate in it, the results of your experiment will be poor as the bicarbonate acts as a buffer, which as was discussed earlier, reduces the change in acidity. Remember you need a control in your experiment. You need to be able to show that any change in your indicator colour is caused by dissolving carbon dioxide and not by something else. In Exercise 3.5, write a brief introduction, identifying why you are doing the experiment, followed by a description of your methods and a presentation of your results. A discussion of your results should include consideration of how the results relate to carbon dioxide being carried in the blood and how these concentrations are maintained in balance.
Finding out more

On the next page, there are three research areas that deal with advances in technology in the study of blood. You should gather information about these areas and then analyse the information. Use the Internet, your local library and/or a Biology textbook Some useful websites can be found at: http://www.lmpc.edu.au/Science
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Measurement of gases dissolved in the blood
Current technology allows the measurement of oxygen concentration (called oxygen saturation) and carbon dioxide concentration in the blood. Two of these new techniques involve: a pulse oximeter arterial blood gas analysis.
Pulse oximeter
This device senses the change in colour of the blood as it circulates through the skin. As you will remember, the blood becomes bright red when more oxygen is attached to the haemoglobin (forming oxyhaemoglobin) and becomes a dark purple when less oxygen is present. This difference in colour can be responsible for a sick person looking blue in colour. The pulse oximeter looks like a clothes peg which fits over the finger. Light (red and infrared) is emitted from the top part of the peg and the amount of light passing through the skin is determined by an electronic sensor on the bottom part. The instrument then uses this value to calculate the amount of oxygen in the blood flowing through the arterial capillaries of the skin. The result is displayed as the percent saturation of the blood with oxygen. Maximum saturation is 100% and blood in the arteries is normally 95100% saturated. This instrument is used to monitor the amount of oxygen in the blood of patients who are undergoing surgery or who have abnormal breathing or circulation. Additional oxygen can be supplied to these patients if the oxygen saturation falls too low.
Pulse oximeter.
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Arterial blood gas analysis

Modern blood gas analysis machines can measure the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in a sample of blood by using the diffusion of these gases through artificial membranes which are permeable to these gases. The movement of oxygen molecules through a membrane from the blood produces an electrical current which is converted by the machine to a digital reading of the amount (partial pressure*) of oxygen in the blood. The diffusion of carbon dioxide through another membrane changes the pH of the solution inside the membrane and this is used by the instrument as a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide present in the blood. These measurements are very useful in monitoring patient progress during treatment or surgery and in diagnosis of disease. For example, the following blood gas analysis came back from a patient who was admitted to a hospital casualty department with bluish skin colour and who was breathing quickly.
pH
7.4
normal range 7.367.44 normal range 3545 mmHg* normal range 90100mmHg*
carbon dioxide concentration
30mmHg
oxygen concentration
50mmHg
This suggested a respiratory illness and a chest xray later showed that the patient had pneumonia, which was then quickly treated with intravenous antibiotics. Blood gases are often expressed in terms of pressure that the gas exerts and have the units, mm Hg. A barometer measures air pressure in the same units.
In Exercise 3.6, describe why oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations are of interest to doctors and write a summary about each of the new techniques listed above.
Blood the vital factor
You or someone in your family may have donated blood in the past. Often the blood is separated into different products that have different uses.
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Less than half of all blood donations are used as whole blood in transfusions. Most is separated into its components (fractions) and is often used separately. The diagram below shows the major fractions and how they are normally used.
Concentrated clotting factors for illness involving reduced blood clotting (eg. haemophilia)
Serum albumin for illnesses resulting in low plasma protein levels (eg. some liver diseases)
Unprocessed blood for some transfusions
Whole blood
Immunoglobulins (concentrated antibodies) for passive immunity and immune deficiency illnesses
Packed red cells for transfusion after blood loss to increase oxygen carrying capacity
Stable protein plasma for transfusion after blood loss and/or shockin an emergency before blood is available
Source: Australian Red Cross Society Blood Transfusion Service 1985
In Exercise 3.7, describe the products extracted from donated blood and the uses of these products.
Artificial blood
Donated blood supplies in Australia often run low during holiday times, when there is a major accident or when an unusually high number of surgical operations are performed. These shortages would be less important if artificial blood could be developed and produced.
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Artificial blood
The first blood transfusion was carried out in 1665 between dogs. Later animal blood was transfused into humans, usually with fatal results. Even when human-to-human transfusion began in 1818 it was often fatal. The reason for this was not discovered until 1900, when it was found that antibodies produced by the cells of different blood groups caused the clumping together of the red blood cells of another blood group. For that reason blood has to be cross matched so that it is compatible with the blood group of the recipient before transfusion takes place. This can be a great disadvantage in emergency situations and so it would be great if artificial blood could be developed. Of course this would be very difficult, considering the complexity of this living tissue which is the blood. No suitable fluid has yet been researched that would replace blood but a number of short-term substitutes can be used in emergency situations involving blood loss. Here are some examples. stable protein plasma solution there are no red cells in this solution so that it does not have to be cross-matched. It does not help the loss of oxygen-carrying capacity of the remaining blood but does replace the volume of fluid lost and aids in restoring blood pressure. It is often used after fluid loss as a result of burn injuries. Dextrose solution (4% glucose solution in a fluid with the same salinity as blood) can be used to restore blood pressure after blood loss. Haemoglobin can now be extracted from donor blood and administered to treat accident victims. Because there are no red cells cross matching is not necessary. Haemoglobin can be stored for long periods and can be sterilised.
In Exercise 3.8, report on the progress towards the production of artificial blood and use available evidence to propose reasons why such research is needed.
So, as you have seen, blood plays an important role in the transport of material and the maintenance of homeostasis in the body. In the next part you will be looking at the transport of materials in plants.
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Suggested answers
A review of the circulatory system

head and arms
lungs
heart
liver
digestive system
kidneys
abdomen and legs oxygenated blood deoxygenated blood
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Blood plasma
Plasma (5357% of blood) proteins % composition of plasma 7% Function in body
osmotic balance of blood, enzymes, blood clotting osmotic balance of body fluids; involved in many metabolic activities
ions
<1%
nutrients such as: amino acid lipids carbohydrates wastes water
<1% building structural proteins and enzymes provide energy, building structures (eg. membranes) mainly energy <1% 92% eliminated, no function solvent for many substances
Finding total magnification for a light microscope

Eyepiece (ocular) lens x10 x10 x10 Objective lens Total magnification x100 x400 x1000 Field of view
x10 x40 x100
1 600 400 1.6
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What happens at capillaries?

Organ System Lungs oxygen carbon dioxide urea glucose more less no change more less more no change less Blood entering organ Blood leaving organ
Kidney oxygen carbon dioxide urea glucose* more less more more less more less less
Leg muscle oxygen carbon dioxide urea glucose more less no change more less more no change less
Small intestine oxygen carbon dioxide urea glucose more less no change less less more no change more
*Note: The kidney reabsorbs any glucose lost into the nephron but some glucose is used up in respiration in the kidney cells.
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Exercises Part 3
Name: _________________________________
Exercise 3.1: Blood

Identify the form(s) in which each of the following is carried in mammalian blood: a) carbon dioxide _________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ b) oxygen _______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ c) water_________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ d) salts _________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ e) lipids_________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ f) nitrogenous wastes______________________________________ _____________________________________________________ g) other products of digestion. _______________________________ _____________________________________________________
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Exercise 3.2: Learning more about red blood cells

Haemoglobin occurs in the blood and gives it a red colour. a) What special features of the haemoglobin molecule enable it to move oxygen around the body? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
Exercise 3.3: The size of red blood cells

Here is a diagram of a blood smear viewed under a microscope. The field of view is 75 m. At this magnification, six red blood cells fit across the field of view. What is the diameter of a red blood cell? Show your working.
7 microns
a)
At this magnification, six red blood cells fit across the field of view. What is the diameter of a red blood cell? Show your working. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
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b) The diagram (which is drawn to scale) in the notes shows that white blood cells are quite a bit larger than red cells. You have calculated the size of a red blood cell above. Use this information to calculate the size of the white blood cells from the diagram. Show your working. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ c) Look back at the photographs and diagrams of red and white blood cells in Part 3. Then draw a large diagram, at the same scale, of these two kinds of cells. Put them side by side so that it is easy to compare their sizes. (Hint: A reasonable scale to use would be 1m = 0.5 cm on the drawing.)
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Exercise 3.4: Comparing arteries, veins and capillaries

Compare the structure of arteries, capillaries and veins by completing the table below. In the first column, draw a simple labelled diagram of each type of blood vessel. In the second column, describe how the structure of each blood vessel suits its function.
Diagram arteries Suitability of structure for function
veins
Capillaries
Red blood cells moving through a capillary
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Exercise 3.5: Observing the effect of dissolved carbon dioxide on the pH of water
Introduction _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Method _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Results _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Discussion _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
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Exercise 3.6: Measurement of gases dissolved in the blood

a) Why is the amount of oxygen in blood important? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ b) Why is the amount of carbon dioxide in blood important? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ c) Summary about a pulse oximeter ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ d) Summary about arterial blood gas analysis ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
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Exercise 3.7: Blood the vital factor

Describe the products extracted from donated blood and the uses of these products. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Exercise 3.8: Artificial blood

Report on the progress on the production of artificial blood and use available evidence to propose reasons why such research is needed. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
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Biology
HSC Course Stage 6
Part 4: Transport in plants
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 2 Movement of materials in plants................................................ 3

Investigating vascular tissue................................................................5 A different look at vascular tissue......................................................10 Movement of substances through xylem and phloem tissue ...........12
Introduction
So far you have been concentrating on the transportation of materials in animals. In this part you will look at the movement of materials in plants. To study the vessels that carry the materials you will need to purchase some celery, a single sided razor blade and some food dye. In this part you will have the opportunity to learn to: describe current theories about processes responsible for the movement of materials through plants in xylem and phloem tissue.
In this part you will have the opportunity to: choose equipment or resources to perform a first-hand investigation to gather first-hand data to draw transverse and longitudinal sections of phloem and xylem tissue
Extract from Biology Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, originally issued 1999. The most up-to-date version can be found on the Board's website at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/syllabus2000_lista.html
This version October 2002.
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Movement of materials in plants
The native Tasmanian oak tree (Eucalyptus regnans) grows to a height of over 120 metres approximately the height of an 810 storey building! Water must reach the leaves of this tree to be used in its photosynthesis and the products of photosynthesis need to be transported from the leaves to other parts of the tree, including the roots. How is this possible? You should be familiar with xylem tissue, which transports water and minerals in the plant, and with phloem, through which the products of photosynthesis are transported within the plant. You also need to know about the stomates or stomata (singular stomate or stoma), which are responsible for the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and for transpiration. (See the Additional Resources section for revision material.) Xylem tissue Xylem tissue is made up of long tubular cells which join into pipes. These form the vascular system of ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms, which are called the vascular plants and they belong to the phylum Trachaeophyta. The cells of the xylem grow to maturity and then die but are kept open by a material called lignin. Lignin is the major component of wood. In woody plants, old xylem cells form growth rings in the stem as the plant grows.
bark operative xylem and phloem woody growth rings
Tree rings are formed from old xylem cells.
Phloem tissue Phloem tissue is also made up of long tubular cells but these cells are living and not thickened with lignin. They contain sieve plates at the ends of the cells so that fluids can move through the cells but cell components remain within each living cell. Vascular tissue In young stems of woody plants and the stems of all herbaceous plants (soft herbs), xylem and phloem occur in bundles (vascular bundles). In the roots of plants, xylem and phloem form a cylinder. Here is a three-dimensional diagram of a stem showing the position of the xylem and phloem tissues.
epidermis pith cortex
xylem cambium FIBRES dead cells with walls thickly coated with lignin are also found around and within the vascular tissue. These provide support to keep the plant erect. phloem vascular bundle
Three-dimensional section of a stem from a flowering plant.
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Investigating vascular tissue

A section can be cut across a plant stem or root and this is called a transverse section (TS) or cross-section (XS). If you cut down from top to bottom the section is called a longitudinal section (LS).
transverse section (TS) or cross-section (XS)
Diagram showing both transverse and longitudinal sections.
The photograph below shows the same cuts through a celery stalk.
A transverse section and a longitudinal section of a celery stalk. (Photo: J West)
longitudinal section (LS)
Very thin sections can be cut by a machine called a microtome, which slices the tissue so thinly that light can pass through and it can be viewed using a microscope. The photographs below show vascular bundles in a transverse section from a stem. The other tissues shown in the photographs are of less concern to you and have a variety of functions. They include: cambium produces new xylem and phloem cells as the stem grows cortex sometimes called packing cells which have a range of functions but mostly are involved in storing materials (eg. starch) epidermis the outer layer of cells all over the plant pith larger cells similar to the cortex but in the middle of the stem.
Cross-section of a stem. (Photograph J West)
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This photograph is a larger magnification of one vascular bundle.
Close-up of a vascular bundle. ( Jane West)
Without a microscope, it is difficult to study these tissues in detail. However, you will be able to observe xylem and phloem tissues in a longitudinal section and a transverse section from a soft plant (non-woody or herbaceous) such as celery.
Preparing and observing your tissue sections

You will need: a fresh stick of celery a single sided razor a glass or container with water food dye (red works well).
(Photos: J West)
What to do: Place an end of a freshly cut stick of celery, with its leaves still attached, into a container containing a strong solution of food dye. Leave it overnight.
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For a transverse section

Take a piece of the celery stalk and use a hard-backed razor blade to cut across it. This makes a transverse section. (Be careful not to cut yourself! If you do use a double-sided blade, put some tape over one side to make it safer to use.)
Cutting a transverse section through the celery stick. (Photo: J West)
Look at the cut end, either with the unaided eye or using a hand lens. You should see the vascular tissue (xylem and phloem) as bundles. The red dye, which will have moved up through the xylem cells, will highlight the bundles.
The darker regions are the vascular bundles. (Photo: J West)
If you have a powerful hand lens you may be able to distinguish separate xylem cells. You will see what looks like the ends of very small tubes.
If you do have access to a microscope (and know how to use it or can get someone to show you), you can cut fine transverse sections of the celery using the razor blade. Place a thin slice on a slide in a drop of water, cover it with a coverslip then view it under the microscope with x100 total magnification. (Can you remember which lenses you need to use? Yes, the x10 eyepiece lens and x10 objective lens.) The image you see will not be as clear as shown in the photographs here, but you should see that the xylem cells are very large with thick walls. It is hard to distinguish the phloem unless you stain it, as has been done in the slides used for the photographs. In Exercise 4.1, draw a simple diagram of your transverse section of the celery, showing the positions of the xylem and phloem in the vascular bundles.
For a longitudinal section

Cut off a piece of celery about 2 cm long. Cut a longitudinal section down through the piece, making sure that you are cutting through at least one vascular bundle. Use your hand lens, if you have one, to look closely at the long tubes. In Exercise 4.2, draw a simple diagram of your longitudinal section showing the position of the xylem and phloem in the vascular bundle.
A different look at vascular tissue

In your investigation, you have studied vascular tissue from a stem. Your observations (and diagrams) would be slightly different if you had prepared a transverse section and longitudinal section of a root instead. The following photograph shows a transverse section of a root. Compare it with the photograph of the transverse section of a stem earlier in this part. By comparing the photographs, you will be able to identify the different types of cells present in the root cross-section. Then draw a simplified diagram of the transverse section of the root in the space below its photograph. Label the cells that you have identified. (Do not attempt to draw all the cells! Draw an outline and label the areas of different cell types.)
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Cross-section of a root (Photograph Jane West).
Check your answer.
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Did you notice that the xylem vessels in the root are arranged in a cross or star shape at the centre of the root? The phloem vessels are in bundles around the xylem cells. Here is a close-up of the vascular bundle at the centre of a transverse section of a root.
Close-up of the vascular bundle of a root (Photograph Jane West).
Movement of substances through xylem and phloem tissue

The xylem and phloem tissues in the plant are responsible for the transport of materials around the plant. These materials include water, minerals and the products of photosynthesis.
Movement of water in plants

Water moves into the plant through the large surface area of the root hairs. It moves from the soil, where it is usually in a higher concentration than in the plant. This process is called osmosis. Water moves from cell to cell within the plant by osmosis until it reaches the xylem cells.
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Several theories arose for how water moved in the xylem once it reached this tissue. (Refer also to the Additional resources.) Originally biologists thought that the pressure created by osmosis in the roots pushed water up through the xylem. However, once it was possible to calculate pressures inside plants it was concluded that this pressure was not strong enough to push water up to reach the leaves of tall trees like the Tasmanian oak tree. It was also suggested that water crept up the very fine tubes of the xylem, a bit like ink moving through the fibres of blotting paper. This movement is called capillarity but again it was worked out that this movement would still not move water to the top of a tall tree. The suggestion that the water was pumped by the cells using energy from cellular respiration (active transport) was quickly abandoned. Since xylem cells are dead, they cannot carry out cellular respiration to produce the required energy.
So how is it done? The theory which has most support is called the transpiration-tension-cohesion theory. This is how it appears to work. Water enters the roots by osmosis and reaches the xylem by the same process (by moving from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration). A continuous column of water molecules occurs in the xylem. Water molecules stick together by a process called cohesion, where the positive end of one water molecule is attracted to the negative end of the next one in the xylem cells. As one water molecule evaporates (in transpiration) from the leaf surface through the stomate, another one is pulled up the column of water in the xylem by the negative pressure (tension) created, to replace it. In turn, another molecule of water moves by osmosis into the bottom of the xylem to replace the one that has moved up.
In this way, microscopic columns of water continue to move up the xylem vessels, being essentially pulled up from the leaves (transpiration-cohesion-tension theory) rather than being pushed up from the roots (root pressure, capillarity and active transport theories). The movement of water from the roots through the xylem to the leaves is referred to as the transpiration stream. So is there evidence for this theory? Yes, there is; indeed some good evidence. Very accurate measurements of the stems of plants show that the stems actually shrink very slightly while the plant is transpiring, indicating pulling from the top. If water were being pushed from
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the bottom, you would expect a slight expansion of the stem as a result of that positive pressure. Water continues to move through a plant whose roots have been cut off (eg. cut flowers). If root pressure were the mechanism for water movement, you might expect the removal of the roots to significantly reduce water movement. Plants which have been chilled or poisoned to kill all living cells continue to conduct water. This rules out active transport as a mechanism of water transport.
The figure below summarises the theory of the functioning of the transpiration stream.
leaf
water moves along xylem into leaf
water evaporates into air spaces in spongy mesophyll
water vapour escapes through stomata water drawn up xylem in the stem
stem
water around soil particles
water enters root hairs by osmosis

Movement of water in plants.
water enters xylem in root
Do Exercise 4.3.
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Movement of minerals in plants

Most minerals (ions) are dissolved in water in the soil. They move into the plant through root hairs and then travel through xylem tissue. Some mineral ions enter the plant by diffusion, when they are in high concentration in the soil but are in lower concentration inside the plant roots. However, most are moved from the soil into the root by active transport. Some minerals are recirculated within the plant through the phloem. For example, it has been shown that radioactively marked phosphorus is transported from old leaves that are dying to new leaves which require this mineral for their growth. However, other minerals do not seem to be recycled (eg. calcium). These minerals need to be constantly taken up from the soil.
Movement of products of photosynthesis

Biologists studied the ways that radioactively marked sugars move throughout plants. Some observations include that: their movement in the phloem is very rapid (as quickly as 1 metre per hour) the direction of movement can be reversed movement of materials can be in different directions in different parts of the same vascular bundle.
These observations need to be explained by any theory of movement of products of photosynthesis in the phloem (usually called translocation). Obviously, the movement of materials in phloem is different from that in xylem. Unlike xylem cells, phloem cells are living so material stops moving through them when phloem cells die. This suggests that the translocation of products of photosynthesis through phloem tissue is an active process that demands the use of energy. The following diagram is a summary of the current theory for how translocation of sugars works. This theory is called the pressure flow theory.
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site of sugar production in leaves
Sugars are pumped into the phloem cell due to active transport. This results in a higher sugar concentration inside the phloem cells.
HIGH osmotic pressure
Water moves into the phloem cells due to osmosis as a result of the higher sugar concentration.
movement of sugar and water through the phloem along an osmotic pressure gradient Sugars are pumped out of phloem cells by active transport. Water moves out of phloem cells by osmosis due to more sugars in the surrounding cells. LOW osmotic pressure
site of use of sugars in fruit, flowers, root and stem

Diagram representing the pressure flow theory for the translocation of sugars in vascular plants.
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Suggested answers
A different look at vascular tissue

epidermis small cells in cortex large cells in cortex
xylem phloem
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This information comes from the Preliminary module, Patterns in Nature. Vascular bundles
This is the term used to describe the groups of conducting tissue in a stem. Each bundle contains three types of tissue: xylem, phloem and cambium.
Xylem
Xylem forms long tubes up to 1 m in length. They are made up of dead cells, thickened with woody material, with cross walls that have broken down. They are known as xylem vessels. Xylem gives support, strength and rigidity to the stem, and transports water and mineral ions upwards from the roots to the leaves. Note: Water and mineral ions travel only in one direction in the xylem upwards.
Phloem
Phloem consists of living sieve-tube cells forming long columns. There are perforations in the cell walls so that the cytoplasm of the cells connects along the tubes. Associated with the sieve-tube cells are companion cells and other supporting tissue. Organic materials including sugars, amino acids and hormones are transported by the living sieve-tube cells of phloem tissue. This movement is called translocation. Materials move both up and down the plant through phloem tissue. The movement is too fast to be caused by diffusion only. There are several theories suggesting possible forces involved but the exact mechanism remains unknown.
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Cambium
Cambium cells are capable of cell division. They divide to form cells which become new xylem and phloem tissue. In older stems, division of cambium cells results in a continuous ring of vascular tissue.
How water travels up plant stems

Why does water move upwards in plants? Some of Australias tallest trees, such as the Mountain Ash in Victoria and Tasmania, are more than 100 metres tall. How does water move to this height, defying gravity? Several processes seem to be involved in the upward movement of water. The processes include: adhesion capillarity root pressure transpiration-cohesion guttation.
Adhesion
Adhesion refers to the forces of attraction which exist between different types of particles. Using tissues or a cloth to mop up water works because of the force of attraction between dissimilar particles, the cloth particles and the water particles, or the tissue particles and the water particles. A piece of plastic would not be used to soak up water because the forces of attraction between the plastic particles and water particles are very weak while those between cloth and water are much stronger. In plants, cellulose acts like blotting paper or a cloth. Cell walls are made of cellulose. They help the plant to absorb water from the soil.
Capillarity
Capillarity is the name given to the action by which the surface of a liquid (usually water) is elevated when in contact with a solid surface by attraction of molecules between the liquid and solid surfaces. The water particles at the top of a column of water help to pull up the water particles beneath them. When the liquid is in a narrow vessel, the level of water will rise quickly, but capillarity can also occur in structures such as soils, causing a rise in the water table.
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The xylem vessels in plants extend from the roots to the leaves. They are extremely minute tubes or capillaries and water rises up them partly by a process of capillarity.
Root pressure
If the stem of a well-watered plant is cut off, water can be seen to come out of the plant from the severed xylem vessels. If a glass tube were attached to the cut stem with a piece of rubber tubing, water would be seen to rise up the glass tube. It can rise from several centimetres to more than one metre. This rise is said to be caused by root pressure. Root pressure is caused by the intake of water due to osmosis. Scientists have found that root pressure is too small to account for the rise of water upward in plants which are taller than several metres.
Transpiration-cohesion
At the moment, the best theory which attempts to explain the upward movement of water in plants is the transpiration-cohesion theory. Water is continually leaving the plant via the leaves. This loss of water, in the form of water vapour from the leaves, is called transpiration. Now, as each water molecule passes out of the leaf, more water is drawn up, because of forces of cohesion (attraction) between water particles. The columns of water in plants can be likened to chains of beads. As one bead (water molecule) is pulled out of the leaf, the whole chain of beads (water molecules) is pulled up a little. As more beads (water molecules) are pulled out of the plant, more enter the plant in the root region. So, there is this continual stream of water molecules upwards in plants.
Guttation
You may have noticed, occasionally, drops of water (not dew) on certain outdoor plants and indoor plants, such as a Monstera deliciosa commonly called Monsteria (mon-stear-e-ah) or fruit salad plant. Generally, plants lose water in the form of water vapour; that is, water in the form of a gas. However, when humidity is high and plants are well watered, they may lose water as drops of liquid water. This process is called guttation. Many plants have special openings through which drops of water are forced out. These special openings may be found along the edges of leaves or near the ends of their veins. It is thought that high root pressure may cause guttation.
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Summary
Several processes appear to be involved in the upward movement of water in plants. They include: adhesion forces of attraction between different particles are called forces of adhesion. The cellulose cell walls in plants soak up water by this process, in much the same way as a blotter soaks up water capillarity the rise of water in thin tubes by forces of adhesion and cohesion. Water rises up thin tubes because of attraction between the particles of the plant and water particles (adhesion) and because of the attraction between the water particles themselves (cohesion) root pressure the upward movement of water caused by the pressure from water moving into the root as a result of osmosis transpiration-cohesion the loss of water molecules from the leaves (that is, transpiration) results in the upward movement of more water molecules since these molecules are attracted to each other by forces of cohesion guttation the loss of water in the form of a liquid from openings on the leaves.
Water enters the plant through the roots. The roots are covered by fine root hairs which increase the surface area for absorption of water. The root hairs are single celled extensions of the root epidermis (surface or outer layer of the root). Water enters the root hair by diffusion since the concentration of solutes in the soil water is lower than their concentration inside root hair cells. Water will move from an area of high water concentration (in the soil) to an area/region of low water concentration (within the root hair cells).
root hair
soil particles
water
Water moves into the plant from the soil through the root hairs.
One of the main functions of stems is transport of substances around the plant. Internally, stems contain tubes of conducting tissue or vascular bundles, which consist of xylem and phloem, that carry materials between the shoot and root systems. The conducting tissue can be arranged in a ring or scattered throughout the stem tissue cortex.
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Exercises Part 4
Name: _________________________________
Exercise 4.1: For a transverse section

Draw a transverse section of a celery stem in the space below. Remember to carefully label the diagram, including the xylem and phloem.
Exercise 4.2: For a longitudinal section

Draw a longitudinal section of a celery stem in the space below. Carefully label the diagram, including the xylem and phloem.
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Exercise 4.3: Movement of water in plants

Outline three theories that have been used to explain the movement of water through xylem tissue. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
What is the accepted theory today and what evidence is there for this theory? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
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Biology
HSC Course Stage 6
Part 5: Excretion
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 2 Water and wastes...................................................................... 3

Water balance ......................................................................................3 Wastes ..................................................................................................6
Excretory systems ..................................................................... 9

Dissection of a mammalian kidney......................................................9 What can be done when kidneys dont function? .............................18
Suggested answers................................................................. 21 Exercises Part 5 ................................................................... 23
Part 5: Excretion
Introduction
The kidneys play a vital part in maintaining the internal balance of animals. In this part you will look at the structure and function of a kidney and what happens when kidneys fail. During this part you will need to purchase a sheeps kidney from your local butcher. In this part you will have the opportunity to learn to: explain why the concentration of water in cells should be maintained within a narrow range for optimal function explain why the removal of wastes is essential for continued metabolic activity explain why the processes of diffusion and osmosis are inadequate in removing dissolved nitrogenous wastes in some organisms distinguish between active and passive transport and relate these to processes occurring in the mammalian kidney explain how the processes of filtration and reabsorption in the mammalian nephron regulate body fluid composition.
In this part you will have the opportunity to: perform a first-hand investigation of the structure of a mammalian kidney by dissection, use of a model or visual resource and identify the regions involved in the excretion of waste products gather, process and analyse information from secondary sources to compare the process of renal dialysis with the function of the kidney.
This version October 2002.
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Water and wastes
Water is an extremely important substance as it acts as a solvent for many substances in organisms. These dissolved substances can be involved in chemical reactions within cells and can be transported within organisms. Within animals, these substances are usually transported in blood whereas in vascular plants they are carried in xylem and phloem sap.
Water balance
Many of these dissolved substances also determine the movement of water within organisms and between cells due to osmosis. In many animals the concentration of water and dissolved substances, especially salts, in the fluids surrounding cells and in the blood must be maintained within very narrow limits to prevent loss or uptake of water which could result in damage to cells. If water is not readily available, organisms may die as a result of not having enough. On the other hand, excess water may need to be quickly removed from organisms to maintain osmotic balance. To maintain their water balance, organisms must match their water gains with their water losses.
Some reactions involving water

Water is produced by some reactions in the bodies of organisms (for example, cellular respiration) and required by others (for example, photosynthesis). For revision, write an equation for each of these examples. Cellular respiration Photosynthesis Check your answers.
Part 5: Excretion
A reminder about osmosis

Osmosis is the movement of water from where it is in higher concentration to where it is in lower concentration through a selectively permeable (sometimes called semi-permeable) membrane. Osmotic is the word which describes things (an adjective) related to osmosis. So for example, osmotic pressure is exerted by water when it moves into cells. Movement of water from one cell to another, or between organisms and their external environment due to concentration differences, can be called osmotic movement. Remember that the adjective osmotic always describes a situation where water is moving from where water is in higher concentration (a more dilute solution) to where water is in lower concentration (a more concentrated solution) and where that movement is through a selectively permeable membrane.
movement of water
A concentrated solution has a higher concentration of solute (dissolved substance) but a lower concentration of water.
A dilute solution has a lower concentration of solute but a higher concentration of water.
selectively permeable membrane
Cells that are isotonic (same concentration inside the cell as in the surrounding fluid) function well. In a single-celled organism this surrounding fluid is usually water. In multicellular organisms the surrounding fluid is usually the interstitial fluid found between cells. If the cell is not isotonic with its surroundings then water may be lost or gained and this may lead to death. In summary, water needs to be maintained within a narrow range because: water is involved in many of the essential chemical reactions that occur in cells such as respiration and photosynthesis it acts as a solvent for many substances
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it is important for the transport of materials around the organism cells may be damaged if there is too much or not enough water.
Part 5: Excretion
Wastes
Do you recall what metabolism means? The definition in the glossary tells you that metabolism is all of the biochemical reactions occurring in the cells of the body. These reactions normally occur as a series of chemical reactions, which is called a metabolic pathway. Each step in a metabolic pathway is governed by a specific enzyme. Cellular respiration is one metabolic pathway with which you are familiar. Many products of metabolic reactions are wastes, which are normally eliminated from the body. Some products of reactions in the body are in fact poisonous (toxic) and must be broken down to less toxic substances or be very quickly eliminated from the body. In most vertebrate species the liver is responsible for producing many waste products, due to enzymatic breakdown of potentially harmful substances taken into the body or produced by metabolism. Organs which remove these wastes are known as excretory organs. The two main excretory organs in vertebrate animals are the respiratory surfaces (lungs, gills) and the kidneys.
Some examples of waste products

The respiratory surfaces excrete the carbon dioxide formed during cellular respiration (the final metabolic process in the breakdown of fats and carbohydrates). The kidneys get rid of other metabolic wastes including water and nitrogenous wastes. These nitrogenous wastes are formed from the breakdown of materials which contain nitrogen, particularly proteins. Ammonia is a very soluble and very poisonous nitrogenous waste. It is produced in tadpoles and in most fish and aquatic invertebrates that have access to plenty of water to dilute it. Terrestrial species produce nitrogenous wastes in the form of either urea or uric acid. Both of these wastes are less toxic than ammonia. Urea is fairly soluble in water; for example, it is a major waste in urine. Urea is excreted by most mammals, adult amphibians, sharks and rays. Since it needs to be diluted in water to reduce its toxicity, urine is a source of water loss for these species.
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Reptiles, birds and insects excrete a material called uric acid. It is very insoluble (and the least toxic form of nitrogenous waste) and so needs little water to get rid of it. The table below compares some properties of the nitrogenous wastes produced by terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Waste products (such as carbon dioxide, water and nitrogenous wastes) must be removed from living cells to enable them to continue to function normally. For example, an accumulation of carbon dioxide would lead to changes in pH inside cells. You will recall that changes in pH can bring metabolic processes to a standstill by denaturing enzymes. Accumulation of other wastes would cause water to move into cells by osmosis, altering the water balance. Finally, some wastes, such as urea, are toxic and so must be removed. Some metabolic products are not necessarily directly detrimental. Indeed, some are essential to cell functioning. However, the concentrations of these substances must also be closely regulated as they may produce conditions that also result in cell death. For example, too much or too little salt can result in cell damage or the malfunctioning of organ systems. Do Exercise 5.2 now.
You read earlier about the importance of respiratory surfaces and kidneys for removing wastes. However, these are not the only excretory organs. For example, in mammals, some wastes are eliminated by the skin (for example, salts, urea and lactic acid in sweat) and a few are got rid of through the digestive system (for example, the breakdown products of haemoglobin are added into faeces).
Part 5: Excretion
The diagram below summarises processes that produce wastes and how these can be removed.
Cellular respiration
CO2
respiratory surface (gills or lungs)
water
Other metabolic pathways kidney
nitrogenous wastes skin (for example, urea and lactic acid) other metabolic wastes large intestine (for example, products of haemoglobin breakdown)
Summary of modes of excretion.
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Excretory systems
Different organisms have different kinds of excretory mechanisms for removing their wastes. In unicellular organisms, waste products are quickly lost into the environment through the cell membrane by diffusion. This can occur because each cell has a large surface area to volume ratio. However, in multicellular organisms, complex excretory organs (such as kidneys) are needed to provide the necessary surface area for the elimination of wastes.. Now complete Exercise 5.3.
Dissection of a mammalian kidney

If you dissected a kidney during the Preliminary module called Patterns in Nature, you need only to refer back to that module. However, if you did not do the dissection then, you really need to do it here. You can use a model or a video if you have access to one but it is not much trouble to buy a sheeps kidney from the local butcher and dissect it yourself. (A sheeps kidney is very similar to a human kidney, except that a sheeps kidney is smaller.) If you know the local butcher, you could ask for a kidney in the fat. The kidney is embedded in fat to hold it in place in the body and this also acts to protect it. When the kidney is removed at the abattoir or when the fat is trimmed away, the ureter and blood vessels are usually cut off too. If you can get a kidney that has not been trimmed, you can carefully pick the fat away and you are more likely to see the ureter and blood vessels. Ask the butcher to give you some idea of the weight of the sheep from which the kidney was taken. How heavy is a kidney? Although kidneys
Part 5: Excretion
are very important organs, they are quite small compared with the size of the animal. Risk assessment You will be using sharp instruments so take care that you do not cut yourself. When using animal tissue you should wear rubber gloves if available. Make sure you are wearing suitable covered footwear and dispose of all waste materials carefully wrapped in newspaper.
Materials required: sheeps kidney small kitchen knife cutting board or plate knitting needle or similar rubber gloves if available newspaper.
What to do: 1 2 3 Observe the shape of the kidney. Observe the protective outer layer of skin, called the capsule. Identify the three tubes which enter the kidney. These are not easy to see because they are all connected together with tissue and may have been cut off the kidney you have. Also, there is a lot of fat where they are connected to the kidney. The three tubes are: a) the ureter, which is the large tube in the centre b) the renal artery, which has a thick wall c) the renal vein, which has a thinner wall. 4 5 To observe the internal structure of the kidney, cut through the kidney lengthwise, carefully cutting away from your fingers. Now look inside. You will notice a funnel-shaped structure with a hole in the centre. This hole leads into the ureter. Take an object like a knitting needle and push it gently through the opening. Discover where the ureter leaves the kidney. Continue cutting down to open up the kidney as shown in the photograph below.
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capsule cortex medulla
pelvis
ureter
The internal structure of a sheeps kidney.
Find the following structures: the brown outer layer, or cortex. This is where the waste substances are squeezed out through the membranes of the glomeruli into the Bowmans capsules an inner pink layer of medulla. Here, water and some salts are reabsorbed into the blood from the tubules of the nephrons a hollow whitish region. This is the pelvis of the kidney where large collecting tubes empty urine into the funnel-shaped beginning of the ureter.
On the following page, draw a fully labelled diagram of the dissected kidney.
Part 5: Excretion
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Diagram of a dissected kidney
Complete Exercise 5.4.
A review of osmosis, diffusion and active transport

Since particles in matter are constantly moving, materials move from where they are more concentrated to where they are less concentrated; this is diffusion. If the diffusion of water occurs through a selectively permeable membrane, the process is called osmosis. However, living cells can make substances move from where they are less concentrated to where they are more concentrated by using energy; this is called active transport. Active transport may also involve changes in the structure of the membranes, thus permitting materials to be moved against the concentration gradient. As you will see, all of these processes diffusion, osmosis and active transport are very important in the functioning of the kidney.
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Try this short quiz to test your knowledge of these substance-moving processes. 1 Osmosis is a special case of diffusion because it: a b c d 2 a b c d 3 a b c d 4 a b c d involves the movement of water only involves the movement of water only and always occurs through a membrane occurs in plants only where the cell wall prevents cells from bursting occurs in plants and animals but not in microorganisms. liquids, gases and solids liquids, gases and solutions liquids and solutions only liquids and gases only. size of the particles involved process of cellular respiration number of particles present movement of the particles involved. solutions, liquids and gases all cells living cells animal cells but not in plant cells.
Diffusion occurs in:
The energy necessary for osmosis and diffusion is due to the:
Active transport occurs in:
Check your answers. How did you go? Now that you are familiar with the structure of the kidney and the mechanisms responsible for movement of particles in organisms, the information below about the functioning of the kidney should be much easier to follow.
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The functional units of the kidney nephrons

The diagram below shows the structure of the kidney and its blood supply. (Turn back to check that you correctly labelled your diagram of a dissected kidney.)
medulla
renal vein
cortex
renal artery
ureter
The following diagram shows the position of tiny structures, called nephrons, which make it up the kidney.
position of nephon
There are around 1.2 million of these nephrons in each of your kidneys, making a surface area of approximately 12 m2 in humans. The great surface area created by so many nephrons in the kidney makes it efficient in carrying out its two important functions. These are: excretion the elimination of harmful and unwanted products of metabolism osmoregulation the control of body water and salt levels.
The kidneys also have some role in regulating blood pH by the secretion of H+ ions into the nephron by active transport.
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An individual nephron is shown below, where the parts are named and the complex blood capillary network associated with each nephron is shown. The Bowmans capsule and the proximal and distal tubules are found in the cortex, which you will remember from your dissection is the outer dark brown-coloured layer of the kidney. The loop of Henle and the collecting tubule (or collecting duct) protrude down into the medulla, which is the lighter-coloured part towards the centre of the kidney.
proximal tubule
glomerulus
distal tubule
branch of renal artery Bowmans capsule
branch of renal vein
collecting tubule
loop of Henle
capillaries
A mammalian nephron.
Each part of the nephron has an important role in the filtration of blood and the osmoregulation of the animal. renal artery brings blood containing small particles, including nitrogenous wastes (especially urea), water, salts, glucose and amino acids to the kidney glomerulus blood passing through the glomerulus is under high pressure. Substances are forced out of the blood in this knot of capillaries into Bowmans capsule. The process is largely governed by the size of the pores in the membranes of the capillaries and Bowmans capsule, which let small molecules and ions through but prevent the movement of larger molecules (such as large proteins) and blood cells. Bowmans capsule a cup-shaped structure surrounding the glomerulus that collects materials forced out of the blood
Part 5: Excretion
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proximal tubule, loop of Henle and distal tubule these structures are joined together, making a long, very thin tube. As the substances filtered from the blood travel through this tube, useful substances are reabsorbed back into the blood in the capillaries surrounding the tube. This involves active transport. Most of the glucose and amino acids are reabsorbed in this way. Water and salts are reabsorbed in these parts of the nephron. The process of reabsorption involves both the movement of materials, especially ions, by active transport and the movement of water by osmosis collecting tubule (or collecting duct) materials remaining after reabsorption are the wastes that move into the collecting tubule. As these wastes move through the tubule, more water is taken back into the bloodstream from the tubule. The waste in the collecting tubule is urine, which is passed down into the pelvis of the kidney renal vein capillaries that surround the proximal tubule, loop of Henle and distal tubule join together into the renal vein. This blood vessel carries blood that has been cleaned by the nephron back into the bodys circulation. So, in summary, osmoregulation and excretion by nephrons in the kidney are accomplished by the production and elimination of urine. Urine is produced by: filtration of many substances, both wastes and useful ones, from the blood (at the glomerulus/Bowmans capsule) reabsorption of useful substances into the blood (at the tubules and loop of Henle).
Diffusion, osmosis and active transport in a nephron

Substances move from the blood into the Bowmans capsule because of the high pressure of the blood through the glomerulus. But why do substances move from the tubules back into the blood? Some substances can move by diffusion, because there is a lower concentration of them in the blood and a higher concentration in the tubule. However, once the concentration difference between the blood and various parts of the nephron is balanced, energy must be used to move useful substances, such as glucose and amino acids, back into the blood. Since active transport is used, the body can determine the amount of each substance that is reabsorbed. For example, all glucose will be reabsorbed but only some salt. In this way, the amount of substances including salt and water reabsorbed is precisely controlled to balance water and salt intake and losses, so that the composition of blood and fluid surrounding cells is maintained at a constant level. This process is controlled by the endocrine system and will be discussed later.
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A summary of filtration and reabsorption in a nephron

The following table summarises the functioning of the kidney by indicating the general composition of the fluid which enters Bowmans capsule (sometimes called the filtrate) and the fluid which eventually drains out of the collecting tubules into the renal pelvis (the urine). This shows that, for the most part, active transport is used to pump useful materials back into the bloodstream, rather than specifically pumping undesirable substances into the nephron.
Material Bowmans capsule (filtrate) yes Renal pelvis (urine) yes
nitrogenous wastes (mainly urea) glucose amino acids salts (ions) water large proteins blood cells
yes yes yes yes no no
no no variable amount variable amount no no
Turn back to the diagram of the nephron in this section and label: where filtration and reabsorption occur some substances that are reabsorbed from the tubules into the blood the wastes that leave the collecting tubule as urine.
Check your answers. Complete Exercise 5.5.
Part 5: Excretion
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What can be done when kidneys dont function?

In people who have impaired kidney function, waste products can be removed from their blood using a process called renal dialysis. The blood of the patient is passed through a coil separated by a membrane from a salt (saline) solution which has the same concentration as the blood (called a dialysing solution). The dialysis membrane is permeable to water and to nitrogenous and other waste products of metabolism, especially urea. For 45 hours about three times a week, the blood of the patient is circulated through the haemodialysis machine depicted in the diagram below.
artery to dialyser superficial vein
from dialyser
dialyser membrane
bubble trap
fresh dialysing solution

Haemodialysis machine.
constant temperature bath
used dialysing solution
Dialysis can also be carried out within the body by a process known as peritoneal dialysis. In this instance, a saline solution is passed into the body cavity (peritoneum) of the patient by a catheter (fine tube). Wastes diffuse from the body fluids and pass through the membrane that lines the peritoneum into the saline solution, which is then drained out by another catheter. This process avoids the necessity to circulate the blood from the patients body, with the possible risk of blood clotting and infection.
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Comparing renal dialysis with normal kidney function

Refer to the diagram of the haemodialysis machine and use your knowledge from throughout this module to deduce answers to the following. 1 Explain the reason for the constant temperature bath in the machine. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 2 The membrane in the haemodialysis machine is equivalent to which part of the nephron of the kidney? A B C D the membrane of the tubule the membrane of Bowmans capsule the capillaries surrounding the nephron the walls of the collecting tubules
State a reason for your selected answer. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 3 Explain why the dialysing solution has the same salt concentration as blood. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Check your answers.
Part 5: Excretion
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Suggested answers
Some reactions involving water

Cellular respiration glucose + oxygen 6O2
many enzyme controlled steps
carbon + water + energy dioxide 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy
C6H12O6 +
Photosynthesis carbon dioxide 6CO2 + + water + light energy

glucose + oxygen
controlled steps 6H2O + light C6H12O6 + 6O2 energy or to show that the source of the oxygen gas is water and not carbon dioxide
many enzyme
6CO2
+ 12H2O + light energy
C6H12O6 +
6O2
+ 6H2O
A review of osmosis, diffusion and active transport

1 2 3 B B D The energy of movement of the particles is responsible for the movement. This energy (kinetic energy) increases with temperature. It is not supplied by the cells themselves through respiration.
Part 5: Excretion
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A summary of filtration and reabsorption in a nephron

Here is a sample answer.
salts (such as NaCl, HCO3 and K+) nutrients and water many substances from blood salts, nutrients and water H+ (to balance pH)
FILTRATION
salts,nutrients and water
urine (water, urea and salts)

REABSORPTION
Comparing renal dialysis with normal kidney function

1 If the constant temperature bath were not used to keep the solution at body temperature, the blood would lose heat to the solution in the core and the patient could become hypothermic (have a body temperature below normal). B is correct. The membrane of Bowmans capsule is the equivalent structure in the nephron, where filtration occurs. Remember that reabsorption occurs in the other parts of the nephron. If the solution had a higher salt concentration than blood, the patient would lose water into the solution by osmosis. If it were less concentrated, water would pass into the patients blood by osmosis through the membrane.
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Exercises Part 5
Name: _________________________________
Exercise 5.1: Water balance

What is the solvent for metabolic reactions in living cells? _________ Why is it important that the concentration of this solvent remains constant in living cells? (What might happen if it did not?) _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Exercise 5.2: Some examples of waste products

a) Metabolic processes constantly produce wastes such as carbon dioxide, nitrogenous wastes and water. Why is it essential for continued metabolic activity that these wastes are removed from cells? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
Part 5: Excretion
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Exercise 5.3: A review of respiratory and excretory systems

Simple organisms, such as unicellular animals, are able to rely on diffusion and osmosis to remove wastes such as nitrogenous wastes and water. However, multicellular organisms, such as mammals, require complex organs and body systems for excretion. Explain why the processes of diffusion and osmosis are inadequate in removing dissolved nitrogenous wastes from multicellular organisms. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Exercise 5.4: Dissection of a mammalian kidney

Outline the safe working practices that you used during the dissection of the mammalian kidney. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Exercise 5.5: A summary of filtration and reabsorption in a nephron

a) Why do substances move out of the blood into Bowmans capsule at the glomerulus? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
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b) Why do substances move out of the tubules and loop of Henle into the blood in the surrounding capillaries? (Discuss osmosis and active transport in your answer.) _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ c) List five substances that are filtered from the blood at the nephron. Then circle the ones that are reabsorbed. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ d) Explain how filtering then reabsorbing some substances enables the kidney to control the composition of body fluids, such as blood. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
Part 5: Excretion
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Biology
HSC Course Stage 6
Part 6: Maintaining water balance
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 2 Hormonal control of body fluid composition............................... 3

Anti-diuretic hormone ...........................................................................3 Aldosterone ..........................................................................................5
Osmoregulation ......................................................................... 7
In other animals....................................................................................7 Adaptations for demanding environments ........................................12 Adaptations for changing environments............................................16
Introduction
So far in this module, you have been studying the internal mechanisms that are responsible for maintaining the balance in organisms. In this part you will move out into the external environment of organisms, to look at some adaptations they have evolved to sustain life in different ecosystems. In this part you will have the opportunity to learn to: identify the role of the kidney in the excretory system of fish and mammals outline the role of the hormones, aldosterone and ADH (anti-diuretic hormone), in the regulation of water and salt levels in blood define enantiostasis as the maintenance of metabolic and physiological functions in response to variations in the environment and discuss its importance to estuarine organisms in maintaining appropriate salt concentrations describe adaptations of a range of terrestrial Australian plants that assist in minimising water loss. In this part you will have the opportunity to: present information to outline the general use of hormone replacement therapy in people who cannot secrete aldosterone perform a first-hand investigation to gather information about structures in plants that assist in the conservation of water analyse information from secondary sources to compare and explain the differences in urine concentration of terrestrial mammals, marine fish and freshwater fish use available evidence to explain the relationship between the conservation of water and the production and excretion of concentrated nitrogenous wastes in a range of Australian insects and terrestrial mammals process and analyse information from secondary sources and use available evidence to discuss processes used by different plants for salt regulation in saline environments
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Hormonal control of body fluid composition
In Part 5, you learnt about the functioning of the kidneys to control excretion of wastes and osmosregulation. In this part you will learn about how osmoregulation occurs due to coordination by the endocrine system (hormonal system). Two hormones are involved in the regulation of the levels of salt and water in the body. These are: anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) and aldosterone.
Anti-diuretic hormone
Anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) is secreted by the posterior pituitary gland and acts mainly on the collecting tubules (collecting ducts) of the kidneys. It makes these tubules more permeable to water so that more water is reabsorbed back into the bloodstream meaning that less is lost in the urine. The result of ADH is to make urine more concentrated, since it contains less water but the same amount of urea. If the water level in the blood is lower than normal, this is detected by the hypothalamus in the brain, which in turn stimulates the secretion of ADH. If the water level in the blood is higher than normal, the hypothalamus inhibits secretion of ADH. This is a feedback system which regulates body water levels in response to water intake and loss.
The diagram below shows the feedback system controlling the regulation of body fluid concentration by anti-diuretic hormone.
stimulate posterior pituitary to secrete ADH
receptor cells in hypothalamus RESPONSE TO WATER LOSS
increased reabsorption of water by collecting ducts in kidneys
lowered blood water level
increased blood water level
homeostasis of blood fluid level
increased blood water level RESPONSE TO WATER INTAKE receptor cells in hypothalamus
decreased blood water level
decreased reabsorption of water by collecting ducts in kidneys
inhibit secretion of ADH by pituitary
Hormonal regulation of body fluid levels by ADH.
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Aldosterone
Aldosterone is secreted by the adrenal gland, which is a small structure on top of each kidney. This gland consists of two parts the cortex and the medulla. Steroid hormones with a variety of functions are secreted by the cortex, while the medulla secretes adrenalin. Aldosterone is a steroid hormone from the cortex of the adrenal gland and its primary function is to increase the reabsorption of sodium ions (Na+) or potassium ions (K+) in the loop of Henle and distal tubules of the nephron. For example, if Na+ ions are in lower than normal concentration in the blood, less sodium is excreted as these ions are moved from the nephron into the surrounding capillaries by active transport and water also moves as a result of osmosis. This increases the blood volume and so maintains blood pressure, as well as the sodium ion levels of the body fluids. Maintenance of blood pressure is essential to the efficient transport of materials around the body and in the functioning of many organs, including the kidneys themselves. Blood pressure determines the filtration rate from the glomerulus into the Bowmans capsule of the nephrons of the kidney. Aldosterone secretion is also controlled by a feedback system, but this system is complicated by a number of influences on the action of the adrenal cortex, including the secretion of hormones from the pituitary. The system is much more complex than the regulation of body water involving ADH. However, in general terms, changed secretion rates of aldosterone in response to changes in the ionic composition of the blood and/or in blood pressure act to maintain homeostatic control of blood pressure and ionic composition of the body fluids. Do Exercise 6.1.
Adrenal cortex hormone replacement therapy

Although their incidence is not high, a number of medical conditions can affect the normal functioning of the part of the adrenal gland (the adrenal cortex) which produces the hormone aldosterone. Conditions which affect the adrenal cortex directly are relatively uncommon and functioning of this part of the adrenal gland is more often impaired by diseases or medications which affect the adrenal cortex indirectly, often through the action of the pituitary. The pituitary produces a hormone
that influences the secretion of hormones from the adrenal cortex, including aldosterone. Addisons disease is a disease affecting the adrenal cortex. It can be caused as a result of tuberculosis, but often appears to have an autoimmune basis. John F. Kennedy, the former president of the United States who was assassinated in 1963, had Addisons disease. People suffering from this disease produce insufficient levels of all adrenal cortex hormones and require multiple hormone replacement therapy, including a synthetic form of aldosterone (fludrocortisone). All of the hormones secreted by the adrenal cortex are steroids and are produced from cholesterol. They include: hormones which are involved with the metabolism of fats and protein to increase blood sugars and liver glycogen. They appear to be involved in coping with long-term stress in animals hormones involved in the control of blood pressure and body fluid composition, especially aldosterone certain sex hormones whose exact functions are unknown, but are probably involved in the development of secondary sexual characteristics, such as body hair in males.
Present information, in the form of a summary of the information given above, to outline the general use of hormone replacement therapy in people who cannot secrete aldosterone. Do Exercise 6.2 now.
You now know a lot about the processes of excretion and osmoregulation in mammals, but what about other organisms?
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Osmoregulation
Both plants and animals need adaptations and mechanisms for maintaining stable concentrations of water and salts.
In other animals
Consider osmoregulation in fish and other animals, and some specialised adaptations of Australian animals for conserving water.
Osmoregulation and excretion in fish

Fish use lots of water to remove wastes. You will remember that bony fish excrete mainly ammonia from their kidneys as a nitrogenous waste product. Ammonia is very soluble and very toxic, but fish avoid poisoning because they have access to plenty of water in which to dilute the ammonia and they get rid of urine very quickly from their bodies. They have no bladder to store urine and so urinate continuously. Sharks and rays are fish that have a skeleton made of cartilage rather than bone. They excrete urea by continuous urination. Because they live in water, you would think that fish would have no problem in regulating the level of water in their body fluids. However, if you think harder about it, you will realise that fish need to osmoregulate because their body tissues contain substances in different concentrations from their surroundings.
Saltwater fish
Fish living in salt water, in the sea or estuaries, have a higher concentration of water in their bodies than occurs in the water around them; they constantly lose water to their surroundings due to osmosis. In the sea, water rapidly leaves the body of a fish by osmosis, especially through the membranes of the gills. The fish drinks and takes in water with its food to replace this water loss. You probably know that humans should not drink salt water to replace their water losses because their kidneys would not be able to get rid of the salts quickly enough to maintain normal salt balance. However, fish have special cells in the gills that can excrete excess salt back into the water by active transport. Their kidneys also excrete quite concentrated urine; that is, they excrete urine with a low water content.
Freshwater fish
Freshwater fish have the opposite problem water is constantly taken up from the surrounding water, where the concentration of water is much higher than in the body fluids of the fish. Fish have the added disadvantage that their gills have a huge surface area in contact with the water to carry out gaseous exchange, but as a result this area also permits osmosis to occur very efficiently. Being a fish in freshwater is a bit like being in a leaky boat; water keeps coming in, and unless you keep bailing it out you are in trouble. Bailing it out is exactly what the fish does. Its kidneys work very efficiently to constantly produce large quantities of very dilute urine. It loses some salts in its urine in this way, but is able to take these up, even although they are in very lower concentration in the surrounding water. What is the process involved? Yes, this movement against the concentration gradient is brought about by active transport in specialised cells in their gills.
Fish that move between salt and fresh water

A number of fish species which live in Australian rivers move freely between salt and fresh water. For example, the native bass (Macquaria novemaculeata) lives mainly in the freshwater sections of the coastal rivers of eastern Australia, from Fraser Island in Queensland to Wilsons Promontory in Victoria. It returns to the estuaries of these rivers in winter to breed.
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The two native eel species also migrate between fresh and marine waters. So how do these species cope with the osmotic changes they encounter in these different environments? The eels and bass, which move between fresh and salt environments, are capable of changing their responses to their changing environments. The figure below summarises the responses of fish species living in freshwater (Australian bass) and in saltwater (sea mullet, Mugil cephalus) to enable them to cope with their osmotic environment.
scales and mucus secretion make skin fairly impervious to water loss
water taken by drinking salt water
Saltwater Sea mullet

(Mulgil cephalus)
water lost through the gills by osmosis concentrated urine salts excreted by active transport
scales and mucus secretion make skin fairly impervious to water
some water taken with food
Freshwater Bass
(Macquaria novemaculeata)
salts taken up by active transport continuous production of dilute urine water uptake through the gills by osmosis
Osmoregulation in fish.
Now complete these tasks. 1 What organ in fish and mammals is responsible for removing almost all nitrogenous wastes? _____________________________________________________ 2 In the space below, construct a table to compare and explain the differences in urine concentration of terrestrial mammals, freshwater fish and marine (saltwater) fish.
Check your answers.
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Osmoregulation in other animals

All vertebrate animals produce metabolic wastes in their livers and excrete them through the kidneys. Reptiles and birds produce their nitrogenous wastes mainly as uric acid. This is not very toxic to them because it does not dissolve well in water. It is excreted as a soft paste, which also helps species living in arid areas to reduce their water losses through their urine. Next time you see a fresh bird dropping on something, such as a car windscreen, have a closer look at it! It will often be a mixture of white and brown material. The brown material is faeces and the white the urine, which is mainly uric acid. In birds, the digestive system (producing the faeces) and urinary system (producing urine) exit through a single opening to the outside of the body, called the cloaca. Marine birds and reptiles can get rid of excess salts, taken in by drinking and with their food, by excreting it through active transport from salt glands situated just below their eyes. Insects also produce uric acid as their major nitrogenous waste. It is produced in structures called fat bodies, which have some similar functions to the livers of vertebrates. The uric acid is concentrated and excreted into the digestive system by finger-like structures called Malpighian tubules. Many species of Australian insects, such as Bull ants (Myrmecia sp) and the sand grasshopper (Urnisa guttulua) live in arid regions where reduced water loss due to the excretion of uric acid is a distinct advantage for their survival.
Bull ants (Myrmecia sp) excrete uric acid. This is an advantage in arid regions. (Photo: J West)
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Adaptations for demanding environments

Over half of the Australian continent is considered to be arid. Under such dry conditions, plants and animals need to carefully balance their water gains and losses in order to maintain the level of water and salts in their tissues.
Some animal adaptations

How are Australian insects and terrestrial mammals adapted to survive in arid environments? One important adaptation for conserving water is the production and excretion of concentrated nitrogenous wastes. Your task in Exercise 6.3 is to explain why this adaptation is valuable for a range of Australian insects and mammal species. You will find some information in the sections you have already read within this part. You also looked at some animal adaptations to arid environments in the Preliminary course in Adaptations to the Australian environment. The relevant pages are included in the Additional resources section at the end of this part. Read through the information provided and highlight any information that will help you to explain examples where producing and excreting concentrated nitrogenous wastes helps Australian animals to conserve water. Then present your information in Exercise 6.3.
Some plant adaptations

You looked at some plant adaptations to arid environments in the Preliminary course in Evolution of Australian biota and Adaptations to the Australian environment. The relevant pages are included in the Additional resources section at the end of this part. Read through these before continuing.
Plant adaptations to reduce water loss

Plants have many adaptations to enable them to conserve water. Many Australian plants, in particular, have evolved features that permit them to survive under dry conditions.
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Some plant structures that may be specially adapted for conserving water include: leaf surface area positioning of stomates shape of leaves depth and nature of roots arrangement of leaves thickness of cuticle number of stomates colour of leaf surface.
Some of these features are shown in the diagram below.

flattened petioles
flattened stem
flattened succulent stem
axillary bud
leaflets of compound leaf
stem
small leaf
spines
tap root
Some plant adaptations for arid conditions.
Use information from within this part and from the Additional materials to complete Exercise 6.4.
Your own investigation of plant adaptations

Investigate your local environment, the nearest botanical garden, your own garden or even a local garden centre to find two species of plants which are able to grow under conditions where water is not readily available.
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Common plants such as casuarinas (she-oak) and eucalypts (gum trees) are good examples. Both have waxy coverings, thick cuticles, leaves with reduced surface area and extensive root systems. Cacti are obvious examples, but if possible you should try to find native species. There are no native cacti, although some, like the prickly pear (Opuntia species), do occur in the wild.
Prickly pear. (Photo: J West).
Collect as much information as you can for the plants you have chosen to investigate about their adaptations for water conservation. Some features that you could observe are listed and shown on the previous page. If you have a microscope, or access a microscope at your local school or TAFE college, you could count stomates on these species and compare the number with other species not adapted to dry areas. Or, you could count the number of stomates on the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves and compare them. Present your information about the two plant species you study as a table in Exercise 6.5.
Plant adaptations to saline environments

Saline soils occur naturally in Australia, as a considerable amount of the continent was under the sea during the high sea levels between the various ice ages in the Pleistocene Period (2 million to 10 000 years ago).
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A number of native species of plants can cope with high levels of salt in the soil. For example, some species such as saltbushes can excrete the excess salts which they take up from the soil using special glands in their leaves. The area affected and the extent of soil salinity has increased dramatically since European occupation of the continent for a variety of reasons, including: a rise in the saline water table (artesian groundwater) brought about by clearing of native salt-tolerant trees. These trees previously extracted water from the water table and kept its level lower than it is today irrigation water draining into the saline artesian groundwater, causing the water table to rise poor drainage, which also raises the level of the saline water table.
As saline water reaches the root zones of crop plants and pasture grasses, they die as they lose water from the roots by osmosis to the more saline soil (since there is a lower concentration of water outside the plant roots than inside). This is exactly the same reason that you can use salt as a weed killer around courtyards and paths. Some crop plants, like cotton and barley, can tolerate more salty conditions than others, such as fruit trees and lucerne (alfalfa). In areas where soil salinity is a problem, some farmers have been able to switch their crops, but in other areas conditions are so salty that no plants have adaptations to cope with it. In the Preliminary course you considered some adaptations in mangroves to regulate their internal salt concentrations. Not only do they need adaptations to survive in a highly saline environment. These salt concentrations can vary depending on the tide and the amount of fresh water coming in from the river at the head of the estuary. Different species of mangroves have different adaptations. For example: most species in New South Wales exclude salt from entering the plant some species, including the river mangrove, are able to excrete salt through special glands in their leaves other species accumulate salt in various parts of the plant, such as the leaves. These leaves drop off with age and therefore the plant gets rid of the accumulated salt.
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Salt crystals on the leaves of the river mangrove. (Photo: J West)
Write your own outline about processes used by different plants for salt regulation in saline environments. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Adaptations for changing environments

Organisms need adaptations to be able to survive in a changing environment. These changes may be natural variations, such as the changing salt concentrations in estuaries that you considered when you read about adaptations of estuarine fish and mangroves. Environments also change as a result of human activity. Many organisms are able to maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in external conditions. This is the process called
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homeostasis. But not all organisms can do this completely. The process in such organisms is called enantiostasis.
What is enantiostasis?
Although you will have trouble finding the word enantiostasis in any dictionary of biology or first year university textbook, it is used in the syllabus and is defined as:
the maintenance of metabolic and physiological functions in response to variations in the environment.
Extract from Biology Stage 6 Syllabus 1999 Board of Studies NSW, originally issued 1999.
In other words, enantiostasis seems to embrace the whole range of adaptations that you have already considered, by which organisms control their internal environments. Most of the adaptations you have examined have been in organisms that closely regulate their internal environments with respect to their external surroundings. These organisms are often called regulators and the processes they use to maintain stable internal conditions are collectively known as homeostasis:
the tendency in an organism towards maintenance of physiological stability
Extract from Gould, J.L. and Keeton, W.T. 1996. Biological Science. 6th ed. Norton, New York.
You may think that there does not seem to be much difference between homeostasis and enantiostasis. You are right! However, there are a large number of organisms, particularly invertebrate animals and many plants, which tend not to maintain their internal environment at a different level from that of their external environment. The internal environments of these organisms vary pretty much in line with changes in their surroundings. These organisms are often referred to as conformers rather than regulators. It is a fine distinction, but presumably enantiostasis has been included in the biology syllabus to include these organisms which do not maintain complete homeostasis. You should learn the definitions of both homeostasis and enantiostasis and understand that all organisms respond to changes in their external environment (that is, carry out enantiostasis) but some organisms do not necessarily tend to maintain stability in their internal environments; that is, not all organisms carry out homeostasis.
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So why is the effect of urban development on estuarine communities important? Could Australia do without mangrove swamps, squishy salt marshes and muddy estuaries? Finally, complete Exercise 6.6.
You have now reached the end of the module. There are many difficult concepts covered in this topic and if you have time, revise some of the concepts before going on.
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Suggested answers
Osmoregulation and excretion in fish

1 2 kidneys Here is an example of a suitable table.
Organism
Main wastes in urine urea, salts and water
Concentration of urine dilute to relatively concentrated
Reason(s) for urine concentration urea is not very toxic; water is needed to wash wastes out of body urine very dilute because of large amounts of water being excreted urine must be concentrated to reduce water loss; urine released continuously to reduce toxic effect of ammonia
mammal
freshwater fish
ammonia, water
dilute urine
saltwater fish
ammonia, salts
concentrated urine; salt glands in gills remove most salt
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This section contains extracts from the Preliminary modules called Evolution of Australian biota and Adaptations to the Australian environment.
Introduction
The concentrations of salts and water within the cells and bodies of many living organisms is regulated very precisely. Changes brought about by dehydration or an imbalance of salts (ions) within the cells can quickly lead to the death of an organism. The regulation of water and salts in the body is called osmoregulation. On land the air is very dry, especially in arid areas and in places where high temperatures and wind greatly increase evaporation. For plants, which must take up CO2 through their stomates for photosynthesis, water loss can be a severe problem. Terrestrial animals also rapidly lose water to their surrounding environment. This is a problem in birds and mammals which normally use evaporation of water to keep their body temperatures constant in hot environments. Mammals and birds closely control the losses and gains of water by utilising a variety of adaptations. Drinking water is the main way that species gain water, but they can also obtain water in their food (eg. fleshy fruits) and some can use metabolic water which is produced during cellular respiration. You should remember the overall equation for respiration. glucose + oxygen carbon dioxide + water + energy
There are many ways in which water losses can be minimised, including seeking shade to reduce the need to evaporate water for cooling. Reabsorption of water by the kidneys produces more concentrated urine, so that less water is excreted from the body.
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Birds, reptiles and insects reduce the amount of water they lose in their urine by excreting a waste product called uric acid, which, unlike the urea excreted by mammals, does not have to be dissolved in water. Some species, such as the camel, red kangaroo and desert rats and mice, also have cooling structures in their nasal passages. These cause some of the moisture, normally lost when breathing out, to condense and be reabsorbed back into the bloodstream.
Some animal adaptations for maintaining water balance

Here is information about adaptations of a common Australian mammal.
The red kangaroo

The red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) occupies the central and central western areas of Australia. In other words, it lives in an area where summer temperatures are very high and winter temperatures can be below freezing, while rainfall is very low at most times of the year.
Regulating body temperature

Once the external temperature is high enough to equal the body temperature of an animal, the only way that the animal can get rid of heat produced by its own metabolic processes is to carry out evaporative cooling by sweating or panting. You will remember that birds and mammals living in hot dry conditions keep their body temperature constant by evaporating water through sweating or panting. However, they need to balance the water they use in this evaporative cooling against their water intake to maintain regulation of their body fluids (osmoregulation). In central Australia in the hottest summer temperatures, a red kangaroo lying in the direct sunlight in the middle of the day would need to evaporate around four litres of water per hour to regulate its body temperature. This means that after a couple of hours in the sun it would need to drink eight full litres of water just to keep its body water at a constant level. Red kangaroos only usually need to drink about every five days and so the species obviously has adaptations which permit it to balance its heat
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loss and regulation of body water under such severe conditions. Lets have a look at how it does it. As discussed before, water loss has to be balanced by water gain and heat loss to heat gain if the kangaroo is to keep its body temperature and body water levels constant. The animal gains heat from the environment (mainly heat from the sun) and from its own metabolism, including extra heat generated during exercise. At rest the red kangaroo loses heat by panting. This consists of shallow and rapid breathing passing air over the membranes of the nasal passages. Increased blood flow in vessels supplying these membranes permits a great deal of heat to be lost by evaporation. Sweating is not as efficient a way of losing heat as panting, but the red kangaroo also sweats to lose heat if it needs to exercise during the hot periods of the day. The kangaroos also have a mass of small blood vessels under the skin on its forelimbs. The kangaroo spreads saliva on its forelimbs and evaporation results in heat loss from these blood vessels. Remember that heat loss is the same as cooling. When you pick up a can of drink out of the fridge it feels cold because your hand is losing heat to the cold can.
Water balance
This seems good so far the kangaroo can get rid of excess heat by panting, spreading saliva and by sweating if necessary but what about the water it loses in these processes, when it only gets to drink every five days or so? The red kangaroo has other strategies to reduce water losses. A kangaroos kidneys reabsorb a great deal of water, so that its urine is very concentrated and it urinates quite infrequently during hot times. Water is also very efficiently reabsorbed by the large intestine, resulting in very little water being lost in the dry faeces. You have possibly also heard the saying that mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, relating to the times when settlers and explorers moved around in the hottest parts of the day in tropical areas, whereas most indigenous people avoided those parts of the day by seeking shade. The red kangaroo does the same as these indigenous people, seeking out even the slightest shade provided by low shrubs or trees in its environment. It also only moves around in the middle of the day if it really has to, as exercise means the production of more body heat, which must be got rid of by evaporating water. The red kangaroo then is very well adapted in these ways for living in hot, dry conditions. However, it should be noted that these strategies are not just found in this species. In Australia, other kangaroo and wallaby species, small mammals and birds from dry areas have similar
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adaptations, as do animals such as camels, jack rabbits and prairie dogs living in desert conditions in other parts of the world. Red kangaroos increase heat losses by evaporative cooling by: panting (at rest); sweating (during exercise); and saliva spreading (at rest). Red kangaroos decrease in heat gain or heat production by: seeking shade and avoiding exercise. Water conservation adaptations of red kangaroos include: concentrated urine and dried faeces.
The Spinifex hopping mouse

The Spinifex hopping-mouse (Notomys alexis) lives in the deserts of Central Australia. Rainfall is sporadic in the region but the hopping mouse has many adaptations for survival. Water is at premium and free water is rarely available. The Spinifex hopping mouse never drinks and does not have sweat glands. It gets water from the breakdown of starch in its food. Its waste products are extremely concentrated. The faeces are dry and the urine is the most concentrated of any mammal. Mothers produce concentrated milk and even consume the urine of their babies. His animal conserves water in many ways and this includes the excretion of concentrated nitrogenous wastes. There are many different species of animals that use the same techniques as the Spinifex hopping mouse including the Bilby and the Mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda).
Australian plant adaptations

Like animals, plants must also balance their loss of water against that which they take up through their roots. They must evaporate water in hot conditions to keep their leaves cool and to keep water flowing in the xylem so that it can be transported to the leaves to be used in photosynthesis. As discussed earlier, there are a number of strategies which plants adopt to conserve water, so that they have to take up less from the environment to maintain their body water levels. Below are descriptions of two examples of native Australian species which are adapted to living in arid conditions.
Mulga a shrubland survivor

Mulga is a type of tall shrub which is found in the shrubland areas of Australia. It makes use of any rain which may fall by having its leaves
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arranged so that they catch the falling rain and direct it to the base of the tree, where there are plenty of roots to absorb it. As well as this adaptation, the roots of the mulga are very long, shallow and spreading, permitting the absorption of as much available water as possible. These two adaptations increase water gain, but the plant also has strategies for conserving this scarce water. Its leaves have an extremely thick cuticle to reduce the loss of water from the leaf surfaces and its stomates close for longer periods of time each day, especially in the middle of the day when it is hotter, as drought conditions increase. As a result of this, very little water is lost from the species during drought periods. Obviously it must have its stomates open long enough to collect enough carbon dioxide for its photosynthesis, but this aspect of the biology of the species has not been investigated.
Porcupine grass a desert grass

As this native tussock grass often grows in sandy soils, it also has shallow and widely spread roots near the surface to quickly absorb any available rainfall. The long, narrow leaves of the grass are rolled and the stomates are found at the bottom of pits inside the rolled surface. The diagram following shows the arrangement of these.
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stomatal grooves
(A) Leaf open junction of leaf edges
(B) Leaf rolled stomatal grooves
Cross sections through the rolled leaf of porcupine grass. (from Web of Life. Academy of Science. 1981. 3rd Ed.)
The rolling of leaves and sinking of stomates in pits means that a high humidity is maintained around the openings of the stomates and the effects of wind around the stomates is reduced. You probably remember that high humidity reduces evaporation. This is the main reason that you feel uncomfortable on a hot humid day. The water in your sweat is not evaporating as quickly as it would on a dry day and so your evaporative cooling is not working as well as it should. Maintaining humidity around the openings of the stomates reduces water loss in this way. It probably means that the porcupine grass also is a bit hotter than it would have been if it hadnt rolled its leaves, but at least it is conserving water. Its light, shiny leaf surfaces also help here as they reflect a lot of the heat from the sun. The table below summarises the adaptations which have occurred during evolution of these two native Australian species, permitting them to survive under arid conditions in the grassland areas of Australia. You need to note once more that similar adaptations are also found in dry area grasses and shrubs in other parts of the world.
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Summary of adaptations of mulga and porcupine grass plants to hot arid conditions
Adaptation to:
Porcupine grass
Mulga shrub
Increase water gain wide expanse of roots leaves direct rainfall to the base of the plant + + +
Decrease water loss impermeable thick waxy cuticle light coloured surface reflects heat leaves rolled reduce evaporation stomates sunk in pits reduce evaporation reduce stomate opening during drought periods + + + + + +
+ indicates adaptation present indicates adaptation either not found or not identified.
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Exercises Part 6
Name: _________________________________
Exercise 6.1: Anti-diuretic hormone and aldosterone

Outline the role of the hormones aldosterone and ADH in the regulation of water and salt levels in blood. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Exercise 6.2: Adrenal cortex hormone replacement therapy

Consider the following chain of events in terms of your understanding of the involvement of the kidneys and hormonal system in the regulation of salt and water balance in a mammal. Sam is working in the garden on a hot dry summers day. She is sweating a lot, which is regulating her body temperature, but she notices that she is also losing water and salts from her body in sweat. Although she has been drinking some water, she has not had to urinate (go to the toilet to release urine) all day. When she finally urinates at the end of the day, she notices that her urine is quite dark in colour.
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a)
Explain why Sam has not needed to urinate during the day. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
b) Why is Sams urine a darker colour when eventually she urinates? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ c) Describe what could be the result of such heavy work in the heat over a number of days and if Sam does not drink much water in that time. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ d) Now imagine that Sam has the disease called Addisons disease. i Name the hormone that Sam would need to treat her disease. __________________________________________________ ii How would she obtain this hormone? __________________________________________________ iii Discuss why treatment with this hormone is important for Sam. (How does it help her? Find out, if you can, if it does any harm.) __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
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Exercise 6.3: Animal adaptations

Explain the relationship between the conservation of water and the production and excretion of concentrated nitrogenous wastes in a range of Australian insects and terrestrial mammals. (You do not have to use all the lines provided.) _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
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Exercise 6.4: Plant adaptations to reduce water loss

Describe some adaptations of a range of terrestrial Australian plants that assist in minimising water loss. (You do not have to use all the lines provided.) _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
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Exercise 6.5: Your own investigation of plant adaptations

Construct a table to present information you have collected about some structures of two plants that assist in the conservation of water. Use the list of features in the materials. Consider any risks that you may encounter while doing this first hand investigation and let your teacher know how you would overcome these.
Exercise 6.6: Adaptations for changing environments

a) Define enantiostasis. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ b) Why does a mangrove need to carry out enantiostasis? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
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Student evaluation of the module
Name: ________________________
Location: ______________________
We need your input! Can you please complete this short evaluation to provide us with information about this module. This information will help us to improve the design of these materials for future publications. 1 Did you find the information in the module clear and easy to understand? _____________________________________________________ 2 What did you most like learning about? Why? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 3 Which sort of learning activity did you enjoy the most? Why? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 4 Did you complete the module within 30 hours? (Please indicate the approximate length of time spent on the module.) _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 5 Do you have access to the appropriate resources? eg a computer, the internet, scientific equipment, chemicals, people that can provide information and help with understanding science _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Please return this information to your teacher, who will pass it along to the materials developers at OTEN DE.
BIOHSC43204 Maintaining a balance
Learning Materials Production Open Training and Education Network Distance Education NSW Department of Education and Training

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Title: Maintaining a balance

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969

Module overview ........................................................................iii

cell chromosome cohesion concentration

distal tubule DNA

endocrine system endotherm

endocrine system evaporative cooling

excretion excretory organs gene glomerulus

gymnosperms haemoglobin herbaceous homeostasis homeothermy

kidney lignin lymphatic system

Malphigian tubules metabolic pathway

nephron nervous system

platelets procaryotic (prokaryotic)

proximal tubule pulse rate

renal artery renal vein rennin

respiratory surface response stimulus

salt gland stomates (stomata)

thyroid gland thyroid hormones thyroid stimulating hormone tension

urine vascular bundle vascular plants

vasodilation vasoconstriction vein xylem

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Introduction ............................................................................... 2 Enzymes ................................................................................... 4

Suggested answers................................................................ 21 Exercises Part 1 ................................................................... 25

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The role and composition of enzymes

An example of an enzyme sucrase

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A simple lock and key model

An induced fit model

enzyme resumes original configuration

Induced fit model of enzyme function.

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Do Exercise 1.2 now.

Enzymes and temperature

Percentage maximum activity

The effect of temperature on enzyme activity.

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The effect of pH on enzyme activity.

Cream Cleanser & Ammonia

3.8 5.2 5.5 5.6 5.9 6.0 6.8

7.4 8.8 9.5

Complete Exercise 1.3 now.

Enzymes and substrate concentration

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Some questions about enzymes

Enzymes are affected by: A B C D

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Which is more acidic, a pH of 3 or a pH of 11? _______________

Check your answers.

Investigating an enzymes activity

The effect of changing temperature

e ice water 10 mL milk 05!C

3540!C water baths

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Results: Record your results in the table below.

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The effect of changing pH

Write your conclusion in Exercise 1.5.

The effect of changing substrate concentrations

The enzyme catalase and hydrogen peroxide