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Importance of water in biological systems
Importance of water in biological systems
Importance of water in our life
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The Biological Importance of Water
Water is a simple molecule, yet it is fundamental to life. For example
in active living cells, two-thirds, or often more, of the area is
occupied by water, and two-thirds of the globe is covered in water.
Water is therefore extremely abundant, and in biological terms it has
great importance both inside cells, and externally, for example as a
habitat.
Water is the most abundant component of any organism.
Humans are 60% water, and most organisms are 60-90% water. The lowest
water content can be found in plant seeds, and the highest in
jellyfish, and this is the cause of their transparency. The water is
found mainly in the protoplasm, and here it plays vital roles in many
functions, for example in metabolism in all organisms, and
photosynthesis and support in plants.
Substances produced in organisms often need to be transported to other
parts of the organism. In humans, blood is used to transport food,
hormones, oxygen, waste products and so on, and similarly in plants,
sap is used to transport food and other substances. Both of these
mediums for transports (blood and sap) are mainly water, as this is
the substance that can dissolve the products to be transported. Blood
allows oxygen to be transported to tissues, and waste products to be
quickly removed. It also allows the transport of hormones, to control
various organs.
Plant cells have a cell wall in addition to the usual cell membrane,
so the cells are not likely to burst, as can happen in animal cells
when too much water enters them by osmosis. Plant cells can therefore
become turgid - this occurs when water diffuses in the cell by osmosis
up to the point where the cell wall prevents further water intake, by
exerting a force equal to the osmotic force, by which the water was
diffusing in. This makes the cell stiff, or turgid. The turgidity of
plant cells in important in support, as it helps to support leaves,
Charles Darwin once compared the root tips of plants to “the brain of one of the lower animals” he even reported electrical signal systems in plants, much like a nervous system. More than a century after Darwin, a scientist named Mancuso discovered the center for the electrical signals, or action potentials, is located in the root tips. Even small plants had nearly 14 million root tips, all acting in a similar way to a nervous system. Humans and most animals have centralized brains, meaning it is all grouped together in one spot, forming what we envision as a brain. Plants may not have a centralized brain like humans, but that doesn’t mean they lack a brain, in fact plants have “decentralized intelligence” distributed throughout them. Since plants cannot react quickly, they have no way of defending themselves against predators, so by scattering the “brain” plants avoid dying off when damaged (Marinelli). The root tips and sensory cells allow plants to feel and react to different stimuli. It is uncertain as to whether plants feel pain, but they do respond to anesthetics and react to being damaged. For example, when a caterpillar eats a plant’s leaf, the plant begins to secrete defensive chemicals. The censor cells react to the damage being done and cause the leaf to secrete chemicals to fend off the predator, as well as repair the
Water is the life blood of every living creature on earth. Approximately 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water. Through the wonders of nature, water can take on many different forms. It is easy to understand the significance water plays in our lives, but it may be difficult to understand the water that exists below the earth's surface. This water is called groundwater.
Plasmolysis However when the plant cell is placed in a more concentrated solution the water inside the cell passes out the cell. The cytoplasm... ... middle of paper ... ...
If a plant cell is places in a hypotonic solution the cell has a lower water concentration to that of the solution. Water will move into the cell by osmosis from a high water concentration outside the cell to a lower water concentration inside the cell through a selectively permeable membrane. The cell becomes turbid
The Biological Importance of Water as a Solvent and as a Medium for Living Organisms
Water has a great number of roles in living organisms, this is largely to do with the structure and covalent bonding in a single water molecule, and between water molecules. Around 75% of the earth is covered in water, and it is reffered to as the most important Biochemical. Its chemical symbol is: H2O In a water molecule there are two bonding pairs and two non-bonding pairs of electrons. These four pairs of electrons repel one another, forming a tetrahedral pattern.
The tissue would gain in mass and length and will become turgid and sabotaging. If plant tissue has a higher water potential than
Drinking water is one of our basic needs in order to survive, therefore the water that we drink and cook with must be of a high quality, and filtered of any harmful contaminants.
The strong cells wall prevents bursting. The cell is turgid. If plant cells lose water the cells become limp and flaccid. Water is essential for support in plants.
How do plants resist being uprooted during typhoons? How do they absorb water? The answer lies on a particular plant structure, which is called the root. Basically, a monocot and a dicot root differ but also have common parts like the xylem and the phloem. Through examining the roots using the light microscope, the students would hopefully be able to understand how the root is designed to perform its vital functions. A root tip basically has 4 main regions, the root cap, the meristematic region, the region of cell elongation, and the region of cell differentiation. These parts are all essential for a root to function properly, thus further stressing its importance in t...
Water is the most important substance in our evolution and our daily lives. Without water,
As the sustenance for all humankind, animals, plants and other living organisms, Water is the greatest natural resources on this planet and it is becoming scarcer and more of a necessity. Water is a basic need and not a want in the same way that without air to breathe, cannot sustain life. Safe, clean water and good sanitation is a right. Therefore, the right to safe, clean water means the right to life. According to United Nations human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, ethnic origin, color, religion, language or any other status. Based on UN definition I am confident to assert that safe, clean drinking water and good sanitation is a basic human
...ulose will be protected from anything that could potentially damage the cell otherwise. It also plays a part in helping cells keep their shape. Cell walls, along with cellulose, provide support for plants so that they can grow tall while maintaining their shape. The size of the plant will determine the amount of cellulose it will need, but all plants require some amount of it and make use of it constantly.
Water facilitates the transportation system of the body. It is the medium by which all the other nutrients and other essential elements are distributed to every part of the body. Water also transports the waste from the body.
Water is the most vital part of life. Water is needed from humans, to plants and other organisms, and to do basically everything. Water allows our bodily functions to work and to remove waste from our bodies. Plants need water to grow, and humans need plants to gr...