15 HOMEOSTASIS

Protection of internal environment

From harms of external changes
External – continuous change
Internal – very little change
Requires many adaptations

Water, solutes, temperature

Osmoregulation
Regulation of water + solutes
Thermoregulation
Internal temperature
Within tolerable range

Condition is not fixed

Maintained within a range

Various control mechanisms

Intracellular – very little
Extracellular – little
Outside – very fluctuating

Like physical control systems

1. Receptor
Detect change
2. Control center
Decision making
3. Effector
Response
Feedback mechanism
Negative feedback

15.1 OSMOREGULATION

Water – essential for life

Each cell requires a specific amount
Amount of salt and protein in cell

Hypotonic Environment
Less salt in environment
More salt in cell
Water enters cell by osmosis
Cells become turgid
May be harmful
May even burst

Isotonic Environment
Equal amount in cell and outside
Water neither enters nor leaves

Hypertonic Environment
More salt in environment
Less salt in cell
Water leaves cell
Cell shrinks

To prevent shrinking or bursting

Cells have to osmoregulate
Both in plants and animals
Help them live in diverse habitats

15.1.1 OSMOREGULATION IN PL ANTS

Different plants live in different environments

Different conditions
Different requirements

Hydrophytes
Excess supply of water
Always flooded with water
Large surface area – transpiration
Stomata on upper surface
Promote loss of water
Like lotus, caltrop (‫)اھگنسڑا‬

Mesophytes
Moderate supply of water
Stomata on lower surface
Water abundant – stomata open
Water scarce – stomata closed
Upper surface has cuticle
Like brassica, rose

Xerophytes
Limited supply of water
Adaptations for reduced transpiration
Small thick leaves
Reduced surface area
Thick, waxy, leathery cuticle
Stomata sunken deep
Cacti shed leaved in dry condition
Stems are photosynthetic
Stem can store water
Like cactus, aloe Vera (‫)وکاردنگل‬

15.1.2 OSMOREGULATION IN AN IMALS

Cannot tolerate water loss

Quantity kept in balance
Two ways of maintenance

Osmoconformers
Live in environment which does not change
Concentration kept isotonic to environment
Do not actively adjust water / solutes

Osmoregulators
Differ considerably from environment
Actively adjust / regulate
Excess water removed in hypotonic
Excess salts removed in hypertonic
Different adaptations
Depending on type of environment

15.1.3 OSMOREGULATION IN DI FFERENT ENVIRONMENTS

Marine
Excess salts – water lost from body
1. Most invertebrates are conformers
2. Hagfishes are isotonic
3. Cartilaginous fishes – low salt in body
Kidneys excrete salts through gills
Salt excreting rectal glands
Active transport to remove salt
4. Fishes maintain low salt
Store large amounts of urea
To make body isotonic
Also trimethylamine oxide to protect from urea
5. Bony fishes – descended from freshwater fishes
Lose water due to less salts in body
Drink lot of sea water
Excrete concentrated urine
Salts are lost in urine

Freshwater
Water rushes in body
Cells constantly flooded
1. Protozoa pump water – contractile vacuole
2. Fishes – excessive very dilute urine
Eat salty food
Actively uptake salts through skin and gills

Terrestrial
Water loss by evaporation
Dehydration
Hard body surface – prevent loss
Waxy exoskeleton in arthropods
Keratinized skin in vertebrates
Drink water
Eat moist food
Metabolic and behavioral adaptations
Kangaroo rat – lives in desert
Never drinks water
Feeds on seeds
Seeds have carbohydrates
Produce water of metabolism
Concentrated urine
Reabsorb most water
Anhydrobiosis – can tolerate dehydration

15.2 EXCRETION IN VERTEBRATES

Ancestors had segmetally arranged structures

Like metanephridia
Hagfishes have segmented kidneys

Higher vertebrates have kidneys

Made up of many tubules
Usually not segmented
Have dense supply of capillaries
Basic unit is nephron

15.2.1 EXCRETION IN HUMANS

Metabolic wastes:
Urea – metabolism of proteins
Creatinine – from muscle creatine
Uric acid – from nucleic acids
Bilirubin – from hemoglobin
Toxins – pesticides / drug metabolism

15.2.1.1 EXCRETORY ORGANS:

Liver – major metabolic organ
Involved in homeostasis
Supports kidney by helping in excretion
Converts / detoxifies substances
For excretion

Urea is principle excretory product

Produced by liver
Excreted by kidneys
Metabolic pathway called urea cycle
Two ammonia + one CO2

Also involved in synthesis, storage, conversion of many different molecules

Kidneys – excretory organ

Millions of units – nephrons
Blood supplied through renal artery
Blood returns through renal vein
Kidney – 1% weight but 20% blood supply
Urine collected in central cavity – pelvis
Leaves kidney through duct – ureter
Ureters drain into urinary bladder
Urine leaves during urination
Through tube called urethra
Empties in vagina in females
In penis in males
Sphincter muscle controls urination
15.3 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTI ON OF NEPHRON

15.4 PROBLEMS IN KIDNEYS

Function is to concentrate urine

May lead to problems
Serious diseases of kidney

15.4.1 KIDNEY STONES

Stony materials – crystals

Cause obstruction
Lead to infections
Specific chemical nature
Hypercalcemia
Hyperoxaluria
Oxalates – green vegetables, tomatoes
Calcium oxalate – 70%
Calcium phosphate – 15%
Uric acid – 10%
Precipitate during urine formation
Form stones
Lithotripsy
Removing stones
Usually by surgery
Non-surgical removal – lithotripsy
Exo-corporal shockwaves
Using x-rays or ultrasound
Breaks stone into sand
Removed through urine

15.4.2 RENAL FAILURE

Destruction of nephrons
Specially glomerulus
Increased levels of urea and wastes in blood
Lead to blood pressure and anemia
Dialysis
Function of kidney lost due to failure
Cannot remove nitrogenous wastes
Urea must be removed from blood
Passing through artificial kidney
Water and wastes are removed
1. hemodialysis – cleaning blood
Blood circulated through machine
Dialyzer – artificial kidney
Spaces separated by a membrane
Blood on 1 side
Wastes move to other side
2. Peritoneal dialysis
Peritoneal cavity in body
Filled with dialysis fluid
Through catheter
Water and wastes are exchanged
Repeated several times a day

15.4.3 KIDNEY TRANSPLANT

Dialysis – temporary measure

End stage kidney disease, uremia
Dialysis is not viable option
Matching kidney must be transplanted
Relatively permanent treatment
15.5 THERMOREGULATION

Maintenance of body temperature

Despite fluctuations in environment
Various control systems

15.5.1 THERMOREGULATION IN PLANTS

High temperature
- Denature enzymes
- Damages metabolism
- May kill or harm plants
Evaporative cooling
May cause water deficiency in dry weather
Low water – stomata close
Leaves wilt – may lead to harm
Many plants can survive 40C
Have heat-shock proteins
Protect enzymes from temp
Prevent denaturation

Low Temperature
- Altered membrane fluidity
- Lipids form crystalline structures
- Transport is affected
- Membrane protein structure affected
Increased unsaturated fatty acids in cold
Do not crystallize easily
Takes time to accumulate
So rapid chilling may be harmful

Freezing Temperature
- Ice crystals form
- may perforate membranes
- kills the cells
Oaks maples roses have adaptations
Alter solute concentration
Cytosol cools without ice formation
Cell wall may form ice crystals
But is harmless

15.5.2 THERMOREGULATION IN ANIMALS

Rate of change of body heat

Depends on heat production
And rate of heat gain and loss
Heat transfers in many ways
Infrared radiation and sunlight transfer heat
Radiation and evaporation can lead to cooling

15.5.2.1 ADAPTATIONS FOR THERMOREGULATION IN ANIMALS

Various mechanisms exist
Structural Adaptations
Dermal fat layer
Insulation
Pelage
Sweat glands
Panting
Physiological Adaptations
Regulation of blood flow
Plumage fluffing
Activation of sweat glands
Behavioral Adaptations
Movement
Squirrels in burrows
Lizards basking
Posture adjustment

15.5.3 THERMOREGULATION IN HUMANS

Body temperature: 36-38

Endotherms
High metabolic rate
Energy consumption round the clock
Wider diversity and distribution
Balance between production and loss/gain
Muscles produce heat
Shivering thermogenesis
Hormones (thyroid)
Increase metabolism
Non-shivering thermogenesis
Brown fat – rapid heat production
Increase blood flow to surface – heat lost
Evaporative cooling
Skin – organ of thermoregulation

15.5.3.1 COLD TEMPERATURE

Vasodilation
Vasoconstriction
Regional differences in temperature
Low temp in hands, legs
High temp in torso – vital organs

Fur raising – trapped air

Fatty layer
Marine – blubber

15.5.3.2 WARM TEMPERATURE

Blood vessels in skin
Evaporative cooling
Panting
Bats – saliva, urine

15.5.4 THERMOSTAT IN HUMANS

Feedback mechanism
Hypothalamus
Detects body temperature
Thermoreceptors in skin
More heat – cooling mechanisms
Less heat – heating mechanisms
Negative feedback

15.5.5 PYREXIA

Bacterial and viral infections

Leukocytes increase
Pyrogens – from bacteria and leukocytes
Set point displaced to +37
High temperature
Protection mechanisms activated