Transport systems

is necessary in animals and plants because they are multicellular and:

1. Their cells need a constant supply of materials and the removal of waste products
2. They have organs such as lungs or roots to exchange materials with the environment which must be
linked to all of their cells to provide them with the raw materials needed.

ATMOSPHERE/
ENVIRONMENT

INTAKE

ORGAN OF
EXCHANGE

TRANSPORT
SYSTEM

CELL
S

EXCRETION

Single-celled organisms do not need transport systems as they exchange materials directly with the
environment by diffusion. As they are a single cell, they have a very large surface area to volume ratio and a
very short distance for the diffusion to occur.
Some organs of large organisms exchange directly with the environment e.g. leaves with the air for CO2, the
cornea of the eye with the air for O2 and the insect tracheal system where minute trachea penetrate the whole
body of the insect delivering O2 directly to the cells (it is not transported in the blood but nutrients and
hormones are).
Transport in Animals
Animals have specialised organs carrying out specific functions. The blood allows materials to be transported
between these organs.
The system comprises a pump, the heart, and vessels to give a controlled, one-way flow of blood.
Animals regulate their blood concentrations of materials (homeostasis) and this causes the concentration of
materials in tissues to be regulated as the blood exchanges these materials with the tissues.
The blood transports:
Substance
Oxygen
Carbon dioxide
Nutrients
Urea
Water
Heat

From
Lung alveoli
Body
Intestine
Liver
Intestine
Muscles, Liver

Hormones
Glands
Are carried in the red blood cells
are carried in solution in the plasma.

To
Body
Lung Alveoli
Body
Kidney
All cells
Body
Target Organs

Reason
Aerobic Respiration
Excretion
Assimilation (use)
Excretion
Replace loss
Homeostasis of body
temperature
Regulation

The components of mammalian blood.

Component
Diagram
Erythrocyte
(red blood
cell)

Leucocyte
(white blood
cell)
showing
endocytosis

Function and relationship to structure

Haemoglobin that can reversibly bind to oxygen thus
gaining oxygen in the lungs and releasing it in the body.
Doughnut shape for a large surface area for exchange, easy
flow and withstanding pressure.
No nucleus to create additional space for haemoglobin (so
they are only viable for 4 months after which they are
destroyed in the liver)
Continually manufactured in red bone marrow e.g. ribs.
Able to recognise pathogens and damaged tissues and the
two different types:
1. Phagocytes are mobile and able to ingest material by
endocytosis and digest it
2. Lymphocytes produce antibodies which bind to
pathogens and destroy them.

Plasma

Platelets

The liquid part of the blood consisting of a

solution/suspension which transports:
water, the solvent
nutrients e.g. glucose, salts
plasma proteins e.g. for blood clotting,
hormones e.g. insulin for control of body functions
urea for excretion
Small vesicles containing some blood clotting proteins that
release the proteins in contact with a rough surface to initiate
a blood clot to prevent blood loss from a wound.

Blood is carried in three types of blood vessel:

Vessel

Direction of
blood flow
(definition of
vessel type)
Away from
heart

Pressure

Carbon dioxide
content

Oxygen content

S Notes

High

Low (except
Pulmonary)

High (except
Pulmonary)

From artery
to vein

Low

High (except
Pulmonary)

Low (except
Pulmonary)

Capillary From artery

to vein

Low

Increases due to
gain from tissues

Drops due to
loss to tissues

Very thick walls to withstand

pressure and a narrow lumen.
Very rapid Pulsar flow of bright
red blood.
Flow due to heart pressure.
Have valves, thin walls and a
larger lumen.
Slow flow of darker red blood.
Flow due to skeletal muscle
contraction.
Very thin wall of one cell width
to exchange materials with body
cells

Artery

Vein

The structure of the vessels is linked to the pressure

and to their function.
Arteries carry a small volume of blood at high speed
and pressure.
Veins carry a large volume of blood at low pressure.
Capillaries carry the blood slowly to allow time for
exchange.
Note the scale of each diagram.

www.hcc.uce.ac.uk
October 2011
The main blood vessels are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Aorta main artery leaving left ventricle of heart to head and body
Vena Cava main vein returning blood to right atrium of heart from head and body
Coronary artery and vein to and from the heart (the artery is a branch of the aorta)
Pulmonary/lungs (pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs)
Renal/ kidneys (excretion)
Hepatic/liver
Hepatic Portal Vein/small intestine to liver (nutrient level control)

The Mammalian heart.

The mammalian heart is the pumping mechanism.
1. It has four chambers, two atria to collect blood and two ventricles to pump blood and has two sides to keep
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood separate; the ventricles are separated by the septum.
2. The atria have thin walls (collection of blood), the ventricles have thick muscular walls (pumping action)
but the left ventricle has a much thicker wall than the right
3. The right side of the heart collects blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. It has a thin wall and
pumps blood at low pressure to flow slowly through the lungs to collect oxygen
4. The left side of the heart collects blood from the lungs and pumps it to the body. It has a thick wall and
pumps blood at high pressure to flow to the head and body.
5. It is therefore a double circulatory system the somatic (body) and pulmonary (lungs) which ensures that
Oxygenated and deoxygenated blood is kept separate.
The pressure and flow to both body and lungs is maintained.
The somatic blood pressure is higher than the pulmonary so that blood flows slowly through the lungs to
exchange gases and has high pressure in the somatic system to ensure blood travels to all of the body
organs.
6. The cardiac valves are placed between the atria and the ventricles. They open when the atria contract to
allow blood to enter the ventricles and close when the ventricles contract to prevent backflow of blood into
the atria
7. The aorta also has pocket valves. The aorta expands when it receives blood from the ventricle and when it
contracts to maintain the pressure (the equivalent of your pulse) the blood could flow back into the heart
the pocket valves fill, expand and close to prevent this.
8. The heart has its own pacemaker for the resting heart beat (approx 72 beats per minute). The normal rate
can be
Increased by the hormone adrenaline (fight or flight mechanism) and by exercise due to nervous
reflex action as CO2 levels rise. The volume of blood pumped each beat also increases on exercise due to
the increasing blood return to the heart due to skeletal muscular contraction. These actions allow more
oxygen to be pumped to the tissues.
Decreased by nervous reflex in response to high blood pressure or inactivity e.g. sleep.

Diagram of the Heart. http://www.niaaa.nih.gov

Oct 2011

S The capillaries allow the exchange of materials between blood and tissues. They permeate all the body tissues
and have a wall only one cell thick for efficient exchange.
Plasma contains nutrients, minerals and proteins.
The capillary wall is permeable to small molecules therefore O2, CO2, glucose, minerals, urea etc diffuse into
tissue fluid or plasma down their concentration gradient.
TISSUE
FLUID

O2 GLUCOSE, NUTRIENTS

RBC
CAPILLARY

WATER

CO2

S The Lymph system.

Consists of vessels like veins that permeate the body that join up in to the circulatory system when the main
lymphatic duct joins to the subclavian vein in the thorax. The main functions are:
1. Reabsorption of water from tissues. Not all water leaving capillaries is reabsorbed; the remainder is
absorbed by the lymph vessels which return the liquid lymph to the blood via lymphatic ducts.
2. Lymph glands are found throughout the system. They produce lymphocytes that can manufacture
antibodies and also contain phagocytotic lymphocytes (so swell on pathogen infection).
3. The lacteals are branches of the lymph system in each villus of the small intestine. They absorb fats so that
they enter the bloodstream more slowly and fat does not deposit in arteries.
S The Immune System
protects the body from disease. It does so by identifying any material which is not part of the individuals body
antigenic (i.e. is non-self) and producing a response.
1. Phagocytes are mobile and able to ingest material by endocytosis and digest it
2. Lymphocytes produce antibodies which bind to pathogens and destroy them. Antibodies are specific to
a certain pathogen and the immune response is unique to that pathogen. They will also attack
transplanted organs as they are non-self (tissue rejection) so the recipient of an organ transfer has to be
treated with drugs that suppress the immune system making them susceptible to disease.
Blood can clot when it comes into contact with a rough, damaged surface. This is due to a soluble protein,
fibrinogen, being converted by enzymes into an insoluble net-like protein, fibrin which traps the blood cells
and then dries in contact with air to form a scab. Calcium and platelets are necessary for the reaction to occur.
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
is caused by blockage in a heart artery lessening blood from reaching heart muscle. Possible causes include:
1. Smoking, due to nicotine increasing blood pressure.
2. Dietary fat and cholesterol which can accumulate in the walls of an artery (atherosclerosis) making
them smaller, rougher and more prone to clots.
3. Stress which can increase blood pressure making a thrombosis more likely.
Preventive measures include exercise, weight loss, dietary adjustment a healthy life style keeps you
alive.