LIFE PROCESSES – 2

TRANSPORTATION IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS

Transportation in Humans:

The transportation system in humans and other animals is in the form of circulatory system or blood vascular
system. The main component of circulatory system are; Heart , blood vessels and blood.

Functions of Circulatory System:

*Transport of nutrients

*Transport of waste products

*Transport of respiratory gases

*Transport of metabolic intermediates

*Transport of hormones

*Distribution of heat

*Distribution of water and chemicals.

Composition of Blood:

The blood is a liquid connective tissue comprising of blood plasma (Liquid Part) and blood corpuscles (Solid
Part).The blood plasma contains water (90% to 92%), proteins, food nutrients and inorganic salts. It helps to
transport food, carbon dioxide and nitrogenous wastes. There are three kinds of blood corpuscles: Red Blood
cells/Erythrocytes, White Blood cells/Leucocytes, Platelets/Thrombocytes.

RBC: The mature RBC’s are devoid of cell organelles. It contains pigment haemoglobin which has a greater
affinity for oxygen. Average life span of RBC’s is 120 days. After which it is destroyed in the liver. RBCs are
produced in the bone marrow (after birth) and on foetus it is formed in liver and spleen.

BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 1

WBC: They are colourless, transparent and irregular in shape. It protects our body from the attack of foreign
particle (provides immunity).The life span is mostly 13-20 days. They are produced by the bone marrow.
(Basophil, Eosinophil, Neutrophil, Lymphocyte and Monocyte-Types of WBC)

BLOOD PLATELETS: These are irregular fragments of cells formed in the red bone marrow without nuclei.
Life span is 1 week and its function is to help in blood clotting.

BLOOD VESSELS

HUMAN HEART: The heart is a hollow muscular cone shaped organ located in the chest cavity directly under
the breast bone (sternum) towards the left side. It is about the size of the fist and weighs about 300 g. It is
protected by an outer covering called pericardium where in which the pericardial fluid protects the heart from
mechanical injuries.

INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE HEART: The human heart is four chambered – two upper auricles
/atrium and two lower ventricles. The upper and the lower half of each side remain in communication with each
other by an Atrio ventricular aperture. The two sides of the heart remain independent and work as two separate
pumps which will not allow the mixing of oxygenated blood with deoxygenated blood.
BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 2
HEART VALVES:-

I. ATRIOVENTRICULAR VALVES:-
i. TRICUSPID VALVE: Connectsright atrium to right ventricle.
ii. BISCUSPID VALVE (MITRAL VALVE): Connects left atrium to left ventricle.

II. SEMILUNAR VALVES:-

i. PULMONARY SEMILUNAR VALVE: Present at the opening of pulmonary artery in the right ventricle.
ii. AORTIC SEMILUNAR VALVE: Present at the opening of aorta in the left ventricle.

FUNCTIONS OF VALVE:-

*To prevent back flow of blood and mixing of blood.

Vessels entering and leaving the heart.

a) VENACAVA (SUPERIOR / ANTERIOR) AND (INFERIOR / POSTERIOR): It is the largest vein which brings
deoxygenated blood from all body parts and pours this blood into the right atrium.
b) AORTA: It is the largest artery which sends the oxygenated blood from the left atrium to all body parts.
c) PULMONARY ARTERY: It is the only artery that carries deoxygenated blood and passes the blood from right
ventricle to the lungs.
d) PULMONARY VEIN: It is the only vein that carries oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium.

BLOOD PRESSURE

The pressure exerted by the blood on the walls of the blood vessels is known as blood pressure (BP). It is measured by
using Sphygmomanometer. The two limits of the blood pressure are systolic pressure - 120 mm of Hg, Diastolic
Pressure- 80mm of Hg.

BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 3

Our Pump- The Heart

The heart is a muscular organ which is a big as our fist. Because both Oxygen and Carbon dioxide have to be transported
by the blood the heart has different chambers to prevent the oxygen rich blood from mixing with the blood containing
carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide rich blood has to reach the lungs for the carbon dioxide to be removed and the
oxygenated blood from the lungs has to be brought back to the heart. This oxygen rich blood is then pumped to the rest of
the body.
The oxygen rich blood from the lungs comes to the thin-walled upper chamber of the heart on the left, the left Atrium.
The left Atrium relaxes when it is collecting this blood. It then contracts while the next chamber the left ventricle expands
so that the blood is transferred to it. When the muscular left ventricle contracts in its turn the blood is pumped out of the
heart. At the same time de-oxygenated blood comes from the body to the upper chamber on the right, the right Atrium as
it expands. As the right Atrium contracts, the corresponding lower chamber the right ventricle dilates. This transfers blood
to the right ventricle which in turn pumps it to the lungs for oxygenation. Since ventricles have to pump blood to various
organs, they have become muscular walls than the atria do. Valves ensure that blood does not flow backwards when the
Atria or ventricles contract.

OXYGEN ENTERS THE BLOOD IN THE LUNGS:

The separation of the right side and the left side of the heart is useful to keep oxygenated and deoxygenated blood from
mixing. Such separation allows a highly efficient supply of oxygen to the body. This is useful in animals that have high
energy needs which constantly use energy to maintain their body temperature. In animals that do not use energy for this
purpose the body temperature depends on the temperature in the environment. Such as amphibians or many reptiles have
three chambered hearts and tolerate some mixing of the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood streams. Fishes, on the other
hand, have only two chambers to the hearts, and the blood is pumped to the gills, is oxygenated there and passes directly
to the rest of the body. Thus, blood goes only once through the heart in the fish during one cycle of passage through the
body. On the other hand, it goes through the heart ‘twice ’in one complete cycle of the body in other vertebrates. This is
known as double circulation.

CIRCULATION OF BLOOD: The Circulation of blood in the human body is composed of a closed circuit (it flows
within the heart and the blood vessels).

DOUBLE CIRCULATION:

Systemic Circulation- It begins with the large aorta which arises from the left ventricle. It gives off a large number of
arteries which enter the body parts. From these parts the deoxygenated blood is collected by the veins (superior and
inferior vena cava) which pour blood into the right atrium.

Pulmonary Circulation- It begins with the pulmonary trunk which arises from the right ventricle and takes the blood to
the lungs for purification.

THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

It consists of lymph, lymph vessels and lymph nodes. (Picture is given for identification, need not learn to draw or
label)

BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 4

Lymph- It is a colourless fluid resembling blood except that it has no haemoglobin. It consists of blood plasma, proteins
and WBC’s.

Functions of Lymph

 It carries digested and absorbed fat from intestine and drains excess of tissue fluid back into blood.
 It protects the body by using lymphocytes at lymph nodes, to kill the germs drained out from the body tissue.

Lymph Vessels- Lymph also called as extra cellular fluid flows through the lymphatic vessels which have thin walls that
resemble that of veins. The Lymphatic vessels also possess values. The movement of lymph in the vessels is due to the
contractions of the walls of the vessels and the body muscles in which they are present.

Lymph Nodes- These are small globular masses of lymphatic tissues which are arranged in groups.

TRANSPORTATION OF MATERIALS IN PLANTS

The Transportation of food, water and other materials are done through vascular bundles. Xylem and Phloem forms the
vascular bundle (Vascular tissues / conducting tissues)

Mechanism of transport of water & minerals in plants

 The xylem vessels and tracheids of roots stem and leaves are interconnected to form a continuous water conducting
channels reaching all parts of the plant.

BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 5

 The cells of root in contact with soil actively take up minerals ion which create an ion concentration difference
between roots cells and the soil.
 Due to this concentration difference water moves into the root cells by osmosis from cell to cell and finally reaching
the xylem tissues, creating a water column that is pushed upwards. This push by the root cells is called root pressure.
 This root pressure is not enough to move water over the heights of tall trees. So the use another strategy to move
water i.e. transpiration.
 The water which is lost through stomata during transpiration is replaced by water from the xylem vessels in the leaf.
 This evaporation of water from the leaf cells creates a suction force which pulls water from the xylem cells of the
root. And the root cells pull the water and minerals dissolved in it.
 The pull created by the transpiration in the plant cell is called transpiration pull.
 Transpiration pull is more important during the day time but the root pressure is more important during the night time
when stomata are closed.

ACTIVE TRANSPORT
The movement of ions into the root hair cells by using energy is called active transport. (When the mineral ions in the soil
water are at a lower concentration than inside the root hair cells).
PASSIVE TRANSPORT
Absorption of water and minerals without using energy.
TRANSLOCATION
The transport of soluble products of photosynthesis from leaves to other parts of the plant body through the phloem tissue
is called translocation. The transport of food and other substances takes place in the sieve tubes helped by companion cells
attached to the sieve tube (bidirectional).
EXCRETION SYSTEM IN HUMANS:

KIDNEY: It consists of a pair of kidneys which are bean shaped and are located on the either side of the abdominal cavity
just below the level of stomach. It shows two regions an outer dark cortex and inner lighter medulla. The medulla is

BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 6

composed of a finely striped substance arranged in conical pyramids. The apex of each pyramid projects into the pelvis of
the kidney. The kidney is composed of an enormous number of minute tubules called uriniferous tubules or nephrons or
renal tubule (structural and functional unit of kidney)
URETERS: There are two ureters arising from the kidney which run downwards(tube-like) and open into the urinary
bladder.
URINARY BLADDER: It is a bag like structure in which urine is stored and is under the nerve control.
URETHRA: The urethra leads to the exterior.
FUNCTIONS OF KIDNEY
*It removes the poisonous substances like urea, other waste salts and excess of water from the blood in the form of urine.
*It regulates the water balance and pH of the blood (Homeostasis/Osmoregulation)
STRUCTURE OF NEPHRONS

The nephron has following parts:

BOWMAN’S CAPSULE: It is a cup like structure which has a mass of blood capillaries called glomerulus. Bowman’s
capsule together with glomerulus is called as Malpighian capsule/Renal capsule
PROXIMAL/FIRST CONVOLUTED TUBULE (PCT): is the starting convoluted region of the tubule. They lie in the
cortex of the kidney.
MIDDLE U-SHAPED PART (LOOP OF HENLE): is shaped like a hair-pin, it runs in medulla to turn back and to
renter the cortex to continue into the next convoluted region of the tubule.
DISTAL /SECOND CONVOLUTED TUBULE (DCT): is the end part of the kidney tubule .It opens into a collecting
tubule .The collecting duct receives the contents of many kidney tubules and pours it as urine in the pelvis of the kidney.

BLOOD SUPPLY TO THE KIDNEY TUBULES:

BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 7

Renal artery brings oxygenated blood to kidney and renal vein carries deoxygenated blood from the kidney. Each renal
artery branches and rebranches to arterioles and enters Bowman’s capsule as afferent arteriole .They break into a number
of capillaries which form glomerulus .The reuniting capillaries of the glomerulus form efferent arteriole.
MECHANISM OF URINE FORMATION
The purpose of urine formation is to filter out the waste products from the blood. It involves three steps:
ULTRAFILTRATION-Blood gets filtered from the glomerulus under high pressure to form primary urine (glomerulus
filtrate) which contains large amount of water, amino acids, glucose, urea, uric acid and some salts.
SELECTIVE REABSORPTION- Some useful substances like glucose, amino acids, salts and small amount of water are
selectively reabsorbed from the filtrate into the blood as it passes through the tubules.
TUBULAR SECRETION-Some secretions in the wall of the distal convoluted tubule like potassium ions and sodium
salts to diffuse in and out of it forming final urine. This enters the collecting duct and then into the ureters and to the
bladder.
ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY- It is a device to remove nitrogenous waste products from the blood through dialysis or
haemodialysis. It is used when both the kidneys fail to function.
STRUCTURE OF ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY (picture only for identification)

*It contains a number of tubes with a semipermeable lining suspended in a tank filled with dialysing fluid.
*Fluid has the same osmotic pressure as the blood except that it has no nitrogenous waste.
*The patient’s blood is passed through these tubes.
*During this passage the waste products from the blood passes into the dialysing fluid by diffusion.
*The purified blood is pumped back into the patient.
*This is similar to the function of kidney but the difference is that there is no reabsorption involved.
FUNCTIONS OF ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY
*It helps to remove the harmful waste, extra salt and water from the body.
*It maintains the sodium and potassium salts in the body.

EXCRETION IN PLANTS

BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 8

*The main waste products produce d by the plants are watervapour, oxygen and carbon dioxide which is removed through
stomata and lenticels by diffusion.
*The excess of water is removed out by the process of transpiration.
*Some wastes are stored in the cell vacuoles.
*Some are stored as resins and gums.
*Some waste accumulates in the leaves, barks which is thrown out periodically by shedding of leaves, peeling of barks
and felling of fruits.

REFER ACTIVITY FROM THE TEXT BOOK

BHPS/BIO NOTES /X/PART II Page 9