7.

EVOLUTION CONNECTION Paramecium and other protists that live in

hypotonic environments have cell membranes that limit water uptake, while those
living in isotonic environments have membranes that are more permeable to water.
Describe what water regulation adaptations might have evolved in protists in
hypertonic habitats such as the Great Salt Lake and in habitats with changing salt
concentration.
Answer: Cells regulate water and solute concentrations through osmosis and active
transport. The diffusion of free water across a selectively permeable membrane, whether
artificial or cellular, is called osmosis. The movement of water across cell membranes and the
water between the cell and its environment are crucial to organisms. Organisms like Paramecium
which live in a hypotonic environment, have higher concentration of salt inside their cells and
lower salt in the outside environment. As per the rules of osmosis, water will get into the cell to
balance the inside and outside salt concentration. These type of organisms has a plasma
membrane that is much less permeable to water than the membranes of most other cells, which only
slows down the rate of osmosis, so in addition to that, the organism also has a contractile vacuole,
which is an organelle that functions as a pump to force water out of the cell as fast as it enters by
osmosis. Reflecting the same idea of osmosis in hypertonic habitats such as the Great Salt Lake,
where the cells have less concentration of salt than outside, organisms will most likely evolve
to have more permeable cell membranes. Because naturally the water will get out of the cell to
equalize the salt concentration but having a cell membrane that is more permeable to water will allow
more water to get into the cell therefore significantly decreasing the rate of osmosis. However this
will not prevent the inevitable fate of the cell to shrivel and die. Therefore the organism also might
have evolved active transport mechanism to retain more salt ions and transport salt from the outside
environment into the cell. Finally consolidating all of these ideas, we can conclude that an organism
in an environment with changing salt concentrations might have evolved to have active transport to
transport salt from outside and a cell membrane that is more permeable to water which will allow
more water to get into the cell therefore significantly decreasing the rate of osmosis in hypotonic
environment. Also higher concentration of contractile vacuole to pump water out of the cell as fast as
it enters by osmosis in a hypotonic environment.
8. SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY An experiment is designed to study the mechanism of
sucrose uptake by plant cells. Cells are immersed in a sucrose solution, and the pH
of the solution is monitored. Samples of the cells are taken at intervals, and their
sucrose concentration is measured. The pH is observed to decrease until it reaches a
steady, slightly acidic level, and then sucrose uptake begins. (a) Evaluate these
results and propose a hypothesis to explain them. (b) Predict what would happen if
an inhibitor of ATP regeneration by the cell were added to the beaker once the pH
was at a steady level. Explain.
Answer: For a fact we know that plant cells use a special mechanism called cotransport to
+
use the gradient of 𝐻 generated by its ATP-powered proton pumps to drive the active transport of
+
amino acids, sugars, and several other nutrients into the cell. A cotransporter couples the return of 𝐻
to the transport of sucrose into the cell. This protein can transport sucrose into the cell against its
+
concentration gradient, but only if the sucrose molecule travels in the company of an 𝐻 . Although
many other factors might increase the acidity of the surrounding solution, we can hypothesize that
+
because of cotransport, when the 𝐻 ions are leaving the cell, the pH of the surrounding solution
+
outside the cell gradually increases as more 𝐻 ions are added. Because a positive difference
between h+ and 0h- can make a solution acidic.

b) As we discussed, proton pumps are an essential part of the cotransport mechanism which allows
the plant cells to absorb sucrose against its natural gradient. And for the proton pumps to work we
+
need energy which is in the form of ATP. We also need to understand that to force 𝐻 to get out of
the cell against its concentration gradient we need energy/active transport. Adding an inhibitor of
ATP regeneration, would render the proton pumps useless(since it would n’t get energy)
+
and would stop the cotransport mechanism since no 𝐻 is getting out of the cell to allow
+
more sucrose molecules into the cell. At this point the 𝐻 outside the cell would follow
its natural electrochemical gradient and be back into the cell. This would eventually result
+ −
in a negative difference between 𝐻 and 𝑂𝐻 and can make the solution less acidic until the h+ of
both inside and outside the cells are equalized.
9. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY Extensive irrigation in arid regions
causes salts to accumulate in the soil. (When water evaporates, salts that were
dissolved in the water are left behind in the soil.) Based on what you learned about
water balance in plant cells, explain why increased soil salinity (saltiness) might be
harmful to crops.
Answer: The cell's extracellular environment determines how much water is diffusing in
and out of the cell. Usually cells use a method called osmosis to diffuse water. Naturally
osmosis travels from high concentration to low concentration. In this case, when the plant
cells are in increased soil salinity and their outside environment is hypotonic,the cell will
be in a “plasmolyzed” state, where the water will get out of the cell's body and the cell will
shrivel and die. This is because there is more water concentration in the cell than outside
and the water follows its natural electrochemical gradient. And if the cells die the crops
will not be healthy and may not even fully mature at harvest time.

10. WRITE ABOUT A THEME: INTERACTIONS A human pancreatic cell

obtains O 2 —and necessary molecules such as glucose, amino acids, and
cholesterol—from its environment, and it releases CO 2 as a waste product. In
response to hormonal signals, the cell secretes digestive enzymes. It also regulates its
ion concentrations by exchange with its environment. Based on what you have just
learned about the structure and function of cellular membranes, write a short essay
(100–150 words) to describe how such a cell accomplishes these interactions with its
environment.
Answer: Cells are very intricate in their molecule traffic. There are multiple mechanisms
that cells use to transport molecules across the cell membrane. Each of them has unique
properties and can only transport certain types of molecules. The most simplest of them is
the passive transport. It’s more of physics than an actual mechanism and cells change
their plasma membrane composition to exploit this phenomenon to their advantage. The
plasma membrane is made up of the phospholipid bilayer with embedded transmembrane
proteins. This makes the cell membrane semi-permeable. Movements of substances
depend on the composition of the molecules e.g. glucose and amino acids, as needed by
the pancreatic cells. Some molecules can easily travel into the cell from high to low
concentration and others need to use the transmembrane proteins, which are basically like
shortcut tunnels to the cell’s interior. One important example of passive transport is the
uptake of oxygen by a cell performing cellular respiration. Dissolved oxygen diffuses into
the cell across the plasma membrane. As long as cellular respiration consumes the O 2 as
it enters, diffusion into the cell will continue because the concentration gradient favors
movement in that direction. A transport protein also plays an important role. It is specific
for the substance it moves, allowing only a certain substance, or a small group of related
substances, to cross the membrane. For example, a glucose carrier protein in the plasma
membrane of red blood cells transports glucose across the membrane 50,000 times faster
than glucose can pass through on its own. Another type of transport mechanism is active
transport. Unlike passive transport, active transport needs energy in the form of ATP. The
transport proteins that move solutes against their concentration gradients are all carrier
proteins rather than channel proteins. Active transport enables a cell to maintain internal
concentrations of small solutes that differ from concentrations in its environment. Proton
pumps, another type of active transport, maintains membrane potential. Proton pumps are
electrogenic pumps that store energy by generating voltage across membranes. A proton
pump translocates positive charge in the form of hydrogen ions (H+, or protons). This can
also drive other processes, such as the uptake of nutrients. Specialized cells like
“pancreatic cells”, can also signal other neighboring cells using “membrane receptors”,
which act as receivers of extracellular signals and spark intracellular processes. These
receive signals from hormones and growth factors. This is exactly how pancreatic cells
receive signals from hormones to secrete digestive enzymes in the form of exocytosis. In
exocytosis, the cell secretes certain molecules by the fusion of vesicles with the plasma
membrane effectively exporting the material out of the cell.

11. SYNTHESIZE YOUR KNOWLEDGE In the supermarket, lettuce and other

produce are often sprayed with water. Explain why this makes vegetables crisp.
Answer: When vegetables in supermarkets are sprayed with water (assuming it doesn’t
have salt) it moves into the plant cell making it “turgid”. The water flows into the cell
because, inside the cell the water concentration is low since it is mixed with other
solvents. And as per osmosis rule, water goes from high to low concentration. When the
plant cells are in turgid form it has internal pressure pushing the cell outward kind of like
a balloon. And just like a balloon, with enough outside pressure or decreased volume, the
internal pressure would increase to the point where it exceeds the tensile strength of the
cell wall. So when we try to bite one of those vegetables, our teeth are pressing down
applying external pressure on millions of “turgid” cells and all of them are popping at the
same time which gives us that crisp feeling.