Better Together: Vacuoles, the Inner Organelles That Keep on Cleansing
By: Joshua Everett and Rana Srouji
Eukaryotic cells, in order to maintain your homeostasis you must expel waste and allow nutrients to come through. But you cannot possibly do this alone! You need the help of two very important organelles that are the sac-filled, membrane bound, vacuoles. We serve to provide secretory, excretory, and storage functions. We have formed inside the earliest cells and continue to exist in one third of all living organisms because we are one of the most essential parts of a cell that help it to continue performing its duties.
We come in two different types, the food vacuole and the central vacuole. We have different structures and functions but the both of us have the same goal, to try to help our fellow organelles survive in this complex cell! As a food vacuole, I have a membrane that surrounds a mass of fluid that contains nutrients or waste products. I am responsible for digestion and excretion by which I take in nutrients by engulfing food, through an opening called an oral groove. In other words, I am a vesicle that forms around ingested foods. Lysosomes will fuse to me in attempt for the enzymes to break down the food. Afterwards, I connect with the cell membrane to release the waste products outside the cell. I am important for eukaryotic cells for I am the one responsible to maintain the sense of equilibrium so there is a balance of release of wastes and intake of nutrients.
Secondly, I am the central vacuole, one of the biggest and most important organelles in the plant cell. I am very important to the structure and support of the cell since I am able to maintain its turgor pressure. I have two main parts of my structure, a tonoplast and cell sap. The tonoplast is my membrane that contains transport proteins which enables substances to move in and out. My cell sap is the fluid within me that contains water, salts, enzymes, and inorganic ions. Also, it stores biological molecules, organic acids, sugars, lipids and pigments (to determine the color in flowers). My responsibilities within the cell are to maintain the turgor of the cell which is the pressure that is exerted onto the cell wall as a result from the contents of the cell. I determine the turgor of the cell based on the water content resulting from osmotic pressure. When there is an increase of water within me, I will swell (hypotonic solution) and increase the rigidity of the cell I’m in. The other organelles within the cell will press against the cell membrane and eventually reach the cell wall. If there is not enough of water in me, both the cell and I will shrink. In addition to my other jobs, I sometimes act as a storage center for reserve materials and for final waste products. My tonoplast contains transport proteins that will be able to allow some ions to pass in and out of the cell. As a result this changes the amount of solute in the contents of me, which will affect the turgor. When there is more solute within me then the turgor will increase, while when there is less solute, the turgor will decrease. As one of the biggests organelles in the cell, I am very much needed. I also aide in the removal of waste products such as my fellow organelle, the food vacuole. I am very important in maintaining homeostasis within the cell. I bring materials in an out of the cell which allows the cell to keep its rigid shape depending on the turgor pressure I control. I am able to control the pH levels so that enzymes are able to work properly so wastes products will be removed so that the cell is not contaminated but I also stores materials necessary for the cell.
Furthermore, all eukaryotic cells such as yourselves depend on many of your inner parts working together. We, the vacuoles, have always and will continue to help you maintain your homeostasis. Animal cells, you need me the food vacuole, in order to bring in nutrients and expel wastes. Plant cells, you need me the central vacuole for many constant functions. Vote us for cell congress, you won’t regret it.
Works Cited:
http://knowledgeclass.blogspot.com/2012/11/vacuoles.html
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