COMPARE AND CONTRAST

PROCESS IN PLANTS AND

ANIMALS
Transport and
Circulation, Regulation of
Body Fluids
Transport and Circulation
“Transport” and “Circulation”
 “Transport”
 Usually applies to structures that deliver
water and substances throughout the plant
body.
 “Circulation”

 is more applicable to animals.

Plant Transport

 Involves:
 A) Absorption of water through the roots
 B) Up and down movement of substances in
phloem
A) Absorption of water through the
roots
 A. Absorption of water plus macronutrients and
micronutrients through the root system is
possible by diffusion.
 Root hairs increase the surface area for
transport.
 Water molecules pass through the epidermis,
cortex, endodermis and pericycle; then they
move upwards by means of xylem vessels.
B) Up and down movement of substances
in phloem

 B. Phloem cells transport substances such as

products of photosynthesis, water and other
compounds up and down the plant body.
 Phloem tissues are adjacent to companion cells that
give them support and nourishment.
 There are two major hypotheses on how substances
can move up and down the plant body.
 1. Ascent of xylem sap
 2. Pressure flow or bulk flow.
B) Up and down movement of substances
in phloem

 1. Ascent of xylem sap

 a “push” from below by the water molecules
gushing upwards through xylem vessels.
 It can also be described as “pull” from
above by a combination of transpiration
(evaporation of water from the plant body)
and cohesion of water molecules through
hydrogen bonds.
 B) Up and down movement of substances
in phloem

 2. Pressure flow or bulk flow

 maintains that in the plant there is a source cell and a
sink cell. A “source” cell is where photosynthesis occurs
and a “sink” cell is where the nutrients are needed.
 Leaf cells are definitely source cells.

 Sucrose and other substances accumulate in the source

and due to high concentration they flow down (or up)
where they are needed.
B) Up and down movement of substances
in phloem

 Sink cells are growing parts of the plants- buds,

flowers, fruits, root tips. In this way, phloem tissues
carry materials down and up.
 Xylem lies adjacent to phloem tissues and water
may easily diffuse from xylem to phloem.
 Materials are transported up and down the plant
body by a combination of the actions of phloem
and xylem cells.
Animal Circulation
 transport in animals is basically due to the circulatory
system.
 A cardiovascular system consists of the heart, blood
and blood vessels.
 The heart is the pump that pushes blood to the lungs for
oxygenation and delivers it to different body parts. It
consists of several chambers, muscles and are connected
with blood vessels.
 Along the way, nutrients and other substances are
delivered to body tissues and wastes are removed to
be excreted out from the body.
 Animal Circulation
 Fish have one atrium and one ventricle.
 Amphibians have two atria and one common ventricle
where oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mix.
 In mammals and birds there is a complete separation
of the four chambers of the heart by a tissue, called
the septum.
 The major arteries, veins and heart chambers where
blood flows through.
Regulation of Body Fluids
Key terms related to the regulation of
body fluids
 Internal environment
the fluid environment that bathes the
cells (extracellular fluid) composed of
the interstitial fluid and blood.
 Osmolarity

solute concentration expressed in

milliosmoles per liter of solution
(mOsm/L).
Key terms related to the regulation of
body fluids
 Osmosis – the movement of water from a
region of higher osmolarity to a region of lower
osmolarity across a selectively permeable
membrane.
 Osmoregulation – the regulation of water and
ion balance.
 Excretion – the elimination of metabolic wastes
including nitrogenous wastes produced from the
breakdown of proteins; this process also helps in
the regulation of water and ion balance.
Two types of animals based on the
osmolarity of their body fluids in
relation to the environment
 I. Osmoconformers – allow the osmolarity of their
body fluids to match that of the environment;
 A. These include most marine invertebrates with body fluids
that are generally hyperosmotic to their surroundings
 B. Because their bodies are isosmotic to seawater, they
consume little or no energy in maintaining water balance
 II. Osmoregulators – keep the osmolarity of body
fluids different from that of the environment;
 A. These include most marine vertebrates, birds, mammals
 B. Either they discharge water in hypotonic environment or
they take in water in a hypertonic environment
 Three types of nitrogenous wastes
excreted by animals
 I. Ammonia – the primary nitrogenous waste for aquatic
invertebrates, teleosts, and larval amphibians
 A. It is readily soluble in water but is also highly toxic

 B. It can be excreted from the body only in dilute solutions.

 II. Urea – produced by mammals, most amphibians, some

reptiles, some marine fishes, and some terrestrial invertebrates
 A. It is formed by combining ammonia with bicarbonate ion
(HCO3 )̄ and converting the product into urea
 B. Although its formation requires more energy compared to
ammonia, it is about 100,000x less toxic than ammonia
 C. Its excretion requires only about 10% as much water
compared to ammonia
Three types of nitrogenous wastes
excreted by animals
 III. Uric acid – excreted by birds, insects, and
terrestrial reptiles
 A. It is relatively nontoxic but more energetically
expensive to produce than urea
 B. It is largely insoluble in water and it is excreted
as a semisolid paste or precipitate withvery little
water loss
 Excretory systems in invertebrates
 I. Cell surface or cell membrane – allows passage of
wastes in unicellular organisms
 II. Contractile vacuole – a specialized cytoplasmic
organelle in many freshwater protists (e.g. Paramecium)
that expels excess water out of the cell to prevent lysis
 III. Protonephridia or Flame Bulb System – network of
tubules that lack internal openings but have external
openings at the body surface called nephridiopores such
as in the flatworm, Dugesia.
 A. The smallest branches of the tubule network end
with a large cell called a flame bulb or cell
Excretory systems in invertebrates
 B. Water and solutes in body fluids enter the
flame cell and get filtered
 C. Specific molecules and ions are removed
by reabsorption while other ions and
nitrogenous wastes are released into the
tubule network and excreted via the
nephridiopore.
Excretory systems in invertebrates
 IV. Metanephridia – the excretory tubule of most
annelids and adult mollusks;
 A. The tubular network has a funnel-like internal
opening called a nephrostome that collects body fluids
 B. As the body fluids move through the network, some
molecules and ions are reabsorbed while other ions
and nitrogenous wastes are secreted into the tubule
 C. The bladder stores the nitrogenous wastes as urine
and later on excreted from the body surface via the
nephridiopore
Excretory systems in invertebrates
 V. Malpighian Tubules – the excretory tubules of
insects and other terrestrial arthropods attached to
their digestive tract (midgut);
 A. The tubules have ends that are immersed in the
hemolymph (circulatory fluid) while the distal ends empty
into the gut
 B. Malpighian tubules do not filter body fluids; instead they
employ secretion to generate the fluid for release from the
body
 C. In particular, they help actively secrete uric acid and ions
like Na+ and K+ into the tubules, allowing the water to
move osmotically from the hemolymph into the tubule
Excretory systems in invertebrates
 D. The fluid then passes into the hindgut (intestine
and rectum) of the insect as dilute urine
 E. Reabsorption of ions and water occurs in the
hindgut wall, causing the formation of uric acid
crystals that are released with the feces.
 Characteristics of the Mammalian
Urinary or Excretory System
 I. The mammalian urinary system consists of two kidneys,
each with a ureter, a tube leading to a urinary bladder
(for storage), with an open channel called urethra
leading to the body surface.
 II. The kidneys serve as specialized organs for
osmoregulation and excretion; they are composed of the
following:
 A. Renal capsule – the outer coat of connective tissue;
 B. Cortex – the zone near the capsule consisting of blood
vessels and nephrons
 C. Medulla – inner zone also consisting of blood vessels and
nephrons
Characteristics of the Mammalian
Urinary or Excretory System

 D. Nephrons – the functional units of the kidney

where urine is formed; and
 E. Renal pelvis – central cavity in the kidney where
urine coming from the nephrons is channeled before
going to the ureter.
Characteristics of the Mammalian
Urinary or Excretory System
 III. Each kidney contains about 1.3 M nephrons,
approximately 80 km long if connected end to end.

 IV. About 1,600 liters of blood pass through the

kidneys each day (300x the blood volume);
approximately 180 liters become filtrate but only
about 1.5 liters of urine get excreted.

 V. More than 99% of the water and almost all sugar,

vitamins and other organic nutrients are reabsorbed
across the tubule epithelium.
 Components of Nephrons
 Nephrons
 functional units of kidneys

 I. Nephrons generally have the following components:

 A. Bowman’s capsule – an infolded region that encloses a ball

of blood capillaries called glomerulus where initial filtration of
the blood plasma occurs.
 B. Renal tubules – receive and modify the glomerular filtrate;
consist of a proximal convoluted tubule, followed by a U-shaped
loop of Henle, and a distal convoluted tubule.
 C. Peritubular capillaries – bring substances to and take
substances away from the renal tubules.
 D. Collecting duct – receives the urine from the renal tubule
leading to the renal pelvis.
Components of Nephrons
 II. Nephrons filter and retain water and solutes, leaving
concentrated urine to be collected in the central renal pelvis.
 III. The glomerulus serve as initial site for filtration and the
glomerular filtrate produced is directed into the Bowman’s
capsule.
 IV. The Bowman’s capsule collects the filtrate and directs it
though the continuous renal tubules: proximal tubule → loop
of Henle → distal tubule → collecting duct → renal pelvis.
 V. The peritubular capillaries exit the glomerulus, converge,
then branch again around the nephron tubules where they
participate in reclaiming water and essential solutes.
The mechanism of urine formation in
mammalian nephrons
 I. Urine formation involves three processes:
 A. In filtration, blood pressure forces filtrate (water
and small solutes) out of the glomerular capillaries.
 1. Blood cells, proteins, and other large solutes
cannot
pass the capillary wall and they remain in the
blood.
 2. Filtrate is collected by the Bowman’s capsule
and funneled into the proximal tubule.
The mechanism of urine formation in
mammalian nephrons
 B. During tubular reabsorption, useful materials
such as salts, water, glucose, and amino acids
move out from therenal tubules and into
adjacent peritubular capillaries.
 C. Tubular secretion results in movement of
surplus hydrogen and potassium ions, uric acid,
toxins and other drugs from the blood into the
renal tubules.
The mechanism of urine formation in
mammalian nephrons
 II. There are several factors influencing filtration:
 A. Blood enters the glomerulus under high pressure
in
 order to facilitate filtration; arterioles present in
the
 glomerulus tend to have wider diameters than most.

 B. Glomerular capillaries are highly “leaky” to

water and small solutes.
 C. The volume of blood flow affects the rate of
filtration.
Regulation of mammalian kidney
function
 I. Receptors in the juxtaglomerular apparatus function in
the kidney’s autoregulation system.
 A. The receptors trigger constriction or dilation of the
afferent arteriole to keep blood flow and filtration constant
during small variations in blood pressure.
 II. Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) promotes water
conservation.
 A. It is secreted from the hypothalamus via the pituitary
when osmoreceptors detect an increase in the osmolarity of
body fluids.
 B. It makes the walls of distal tubules and collecting ducts
more permeable to water, and thus the urine becomes more
concentrated.
Regulation of mammalian kidney
function
 III. Aldosterone enhances sodium reabsorption.
 A. When too much sodium is lost, extracellular fluid volume
is reduced, and pressure receptors detect corresponding
drop in blood pressure.
 B. In response, the kidney secretes an enzyme, renin, which
indirectly stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete
aldosterone, which in turn stimulates reabsorption in the
distal tubule and collecting ducts.
 IV. Cells in the hypothalamus thirst center inhibit saliva
production and stimulate the urge to drink when there is
an increase in the solute concentration in extracellular
fluid.
The role of the kidneys in the body’s
acid-base balance
 I. Over-all acid-base balance is maintained by
controlling hydrogen ions through buffer
systems, respiration, and excretion by the
kidneys.
 II. Only the urinary system can eliminate excess
hydrogen ions, permanently, and restore the
bicarbonate buffering ions to the blood.