LIFE PROCESSES (Continued)

EXCRETION IN HUMANS AND PLANTS

The biological process involved in the removal of harmful metabolic waste from the body is called
excretion. The excretory system of human beings consists of a pair of kidneys, a pair of ureters, a
urinary bladder and urethra.

1) KIDNEYS: They are located in the abdominal region on either side of the backbone. Each
kidney has two regions, outer cortex and inner medulla. Each kidney has a large number of
functional units called nephrons. Urine produced in the kidney passes through the
ureters(narrow muscular tubes which allow the passage of urine from the kidney into the
urinary bladder) into the urinary bladder where it is stored until it is released through the
urethra

2) STRUCTURE / FUNCTIONING OF NEPHRON: Nephron is the structural and functional unit of

kidney

(i) Structure: It consists of a long coiled tubule differentiated into proximal tubule, loop of Henle
and distal tubule. At the proximal end of the nephron lies a double walled cup-shaped structure
called Bowman’s capsule The Bowman’s capsule contains a bundle of blood capillaries called
Glomerulus. In the Glomerulus, the blood that comes in through afferent arteriole is drained out
through efferent arteriole.
 (ii) Functioning

Filtration: Filtration of blood takes place in Bowman’s capsule from the capillaries of
Glomerulus this takes place under high pressure ( ultra-filtration) The filtrate passes into
the tubular part of the nephron – this filtrate contains glucose, amino acids, salt & major
amount of water.
Reabsorption: As the filtrate flows along the tubule, useful substances like glucose, amino
acids, salts & water are selectively reabsorbed into the blood capillaries surrounding the
nephron tubule. The amount of water reabsorbed depends on how much excess water
there is in the body, and how much of dissolved waste is there to be excreted.

Tubular Secretion: Certain substances which are harmful and not needed by the body like
ammonia, potassium etc. are secreted from the capillary blood into the distal tubule this is
called tubular secretion. The fluid entering the collecting tubule is called urine. It flows
through the ureters into the urinary bladder where it is stored and discharged from time-to-
time through urethra to the outside.

NOTE: 1) A branch of dorsal Aorta called renal artery supplies oxygenated blood but carries waste
substance to each kidney. Renal veins bring deoxygenated blood but free of nitrogenous waste
from each kidney & joint the inferior vena cava.

2) Kidneys maintain ionic concentration & water balance in the body (osmoregulation) they
filter the blood making it free of nitrogenous waste & excess water.
 EXCRETION IN PLANTS

Plants get rid of gaseous waste products (Co 2) through stomata on leaves and lenticels on
stems (O2 can be considered as a waste product during daytime).
Plants get rid of stored solid waste by shedding of leaves, peeling of bark and felling of
fruits and other old parts.
Plants get rid of waste by secreting them in the form of gums and resins, especially in old
xylem.
Excess water is eliminated by the process of transpiration.
Plants also excrete some waste substances into the soil around them Many plant waste
products are shifted and stored in cellular vacuoles.

ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY [HEMODIALYSIS] [YELLOW BOX]

Kidneys are vital organs for survival. Several factors like infections, injury or restricted
blood flow to kidneys reduce the activity of kidneys. This leads to accumulation of
poisonous wastes in the body, which can even lead to death. In case of kidney failure, an
artificial kidney can be used. An artificial kidney is a device to remove nitrogenous waste
products from the blood through dialysis. Artificial kidneys contain a number of tubes with a
semi-permeable lining, suspended in a tank filled with dialysing fluid. This fluid has the
same osmotic pressure as blood, except that it is devoid of nitrogenous wastes. The patient’s
blood is passed through these tubes. During this passage, the waste products from the blood
pass into dialysing fluid by diffusion. The purified blood is pumped back into the patient.
This is similar to the function of the kidney, but it is different since there is no re-absorption
involved. Normally, in a healthy adult, the initial filtrate in the kidneys is about 180 L daily.
However, the volume actually excreted is only a litre or two a day, because the remaining
filtrate is reabsorbed in the kidney tubules.

SEEMA MISRA