WJEC (England) Biology AS-level
2.3: Adaptations for transport
Notes
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Circulatory systems can either be open, for instance in insects or closed, like in fish and
mammals where the blood is confined to blood vessels only. Closed circulatory systems come
in two forms, either a single form which consists of a heart with two chambers meaning the
blood passes through the heart once for every circuit of the body or double, where the heart
has four chambers and blood passes through the heart twice for every circuit of the body.
Important structures and their functions
● Arteries – adapted to carrying blood away from the heart to the rest of the body, thick
walled to withstand high blood pressure, contain elastic tissue which allows them to
stretch and recoil thus smoothing blood flow, contain smooth muscle which enables
them to vary blood flow, lined with smooth endothelium to reduce friction and ease
the flow of blood.
● Arterioles – branch off arteries, have thinner and less muscular walls, their role is to
feed blood into capillaries.
● Capillaries – smallest blood vessels, site of metabolic exchange, only one cell thick
for fast exchange of substances.
● Venules – larger than capillaries but smaller than veins.
● Veins – carry blood from the body to the heart, contain wide lumen to maximum
volume of blood carried to the heart, thin walled as blood is under low pressure,
contain valves to prevent backflow of blood, no pulse of blood meaning there’s little
elastic tissue or smooth muscle as there is no need for stretching and recoiling.
Tissue fluid is a liquid containing dissolved oxygen and nutrients which serves as a means
of supplying the tissues with the essential solutes in exchange for waste products such as
carbon dioxide. Therefore, it enables exchange of substances between blood and cells.
Hydrostatic pressure is created when blood is pumped along the arteries, into arterioles and
then capillaries. This pressure forces blood fluid out of the capillaries. Only substances which
are small enough to escape through the gap in capillary are components of the tissue fluid –
this includes dissolved nutrients and oxygen. The fluid is referred to as tissue fluid, as
described above.
The fluid is also acted on by hydrostatic pressure which pushes some of the fluid back into
the capillaries. As both the tissue fluid and blood contain solutes, they have a negative water
potential. However, the potential of tissue fluid is less negative therefore meaning that water
moves down the water potential gradient from the tissue fluid to the blood by osmosis.
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The remaining tissue fluid which is not pushed back into the capillaries is carried back via the
lymphatic system. The lymphatic system contains lymph fluid, similar in content to tissue
fluid. However, lymph fluid contains less oxygen and nutrients compared to tissue fluid, as
its main purpose is to carry waste products. The lymph system also contains lymph nodes
which filter out bacteria and foreign material from the fluid with the help of lymphocytes
which destroy the invaders as part of the immune system defences.
Mammalian heart and cardiac cycle
Due to the heart’s ability to initiate its own contraction, it is referred to as myogenic. In the
wall of the right atrium there is a region of specialised fibres called the sinoatrial node which
is the pacemaker of the heart, as it initiates a wave of electrical stimulation which causes the
atria to contract at roughly the same time. The ventricles do not start contracting until the
atria have finished due to the presence of tissue at the base of the atria which is unable to
conduct the wave of excitation. The electrical wave eventually reaches the atrioventricular
node located between the two atria
which passes on the excitation to
ventricles, down the bundle of His to
the apex of the heart. The bundle of
His branches into Purkyne fibres
which carry the wave upwards. This
causes the ventricles to contract, thus
emptying them.
There are 3 stages of the cardiac
cycle:
1) Atrial systole – during atrial
systole the atria contract and this
forces the atrio-ventricular valves
open and blood flows into the
ventricles.
2) Ventricular systole –
contraction of the ventricles causes
the atrio-ventricular valves to close
and semi-lunar valves to open thus
allowing blood to leave the left
ventricle through the aorta and right
ventricle through the pulmonary
artery.
3) Cardiac diastole – atria and ventricles relax, elastic recoil of the heart lowers the
pressure inside the heart chambers and blood is drawn from the arteries and
veins thus causing semilunar valves in the aorta and pulmonary arteries to close,
preventing backflow of blood.
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Haemoglobin
Haemoglobin is a water soluble globular protein which consists of two beta polypeptide
chains and a haem group. It carries oxygen in the blood as oxygen can bind to the haem
(Fe2+) group and oxygen is then released when required. Each molecule can carry four
oxygen molecules.
The affinity of oxygen for haemoglobin varies depending on the partial pressure of oxygen
which is a measure of oxygen concentration. The greater the concentration of dissolved
oxygen in cells the greater the partial pressure. Therefore, as partial pressure increases, the
affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen increases, that is oxygen binds to haemoglobin tightly.
This occurs in the lungs in the process known as loading. During respiration, oxygen is used
up therefore the partial pressure decreases, thus decreasing the affinity of oxygen for
haemoglobin. As a result of that, oxygen is released in respiring tissues where it is needed.
After the unloading process, the haemoglobin returns to the lungs where it binds to oxygen
again.
Dissociation curves illustrate the change in haemoglobin saturation as partial pressure
changes. The saturation of haemoglobin is affected by its affinity for oxygen, therefore in the
case where partial pressure is high, haemoglobin has high affinity for oxygen and is therefore
highly saturated, and vice versa.
Saturation can also have an effect on affinity, as after binding to the first oxygen molecule,
the affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen increases due to a change in shape, thus making it
easier for the other oxygen molecules to bind.
Fetal heamoglobin has a different affinity for oxygen compared to adult haemoglobin, as in
needs to be better at absorbing oxygen because by the time oxygen reaches the placenta, the
oxygen saturation of the blood has decreased. Therefore, fetal haemoglobin must have a
higher affinity for oxygen in order for the foetus to survive at low partial pressure.
The affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen is also affected by the partial pressure of carbon
dioxide. Carbon dioxide is released by respiring cells which require oxygen for the process
to occur. Therefore, in the presence of carbon dioxide, the affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen
decreases, thus causing it to be released. This is known as the Bohr effect.
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The vascular bundle
The vascular bundle in the roots:
● Xylem and phloem are components of the vascular bundle, which serves to enable
transport of substances as well as for structural support.
● The xylem vessels are arranged in an X shape in the centre of the vascular bundle.
This enables the plant to withstand various mechanical forces such as pulling.
● The X shape arrangement of xylem vessels is surrounded by endodermis, which is an
outer layer of cells which supply xylem vessels with water.
● An inner layer of meristem cells known as the pericycle
The vascular bundle in the stem:
● Xylem is located on the inside in non-wooded plants to provide support and
flexibility to the stem
● Phloem is found on the outside of the vascular bundle
● There is a layer of cambium in between xylem and phloem, that is meristem cells
which are involved in the production of new xylem and phloem tissue
The vascular bundle in the leaf:
● The vascular bundles form the midrib and veins of a leaf
● Dicotyledonous leaves have a network of veins, starting at the midrib and spreading
outwards which are involved in transport and support
Xylem and phloem
Xylem vessels have the following features:
● They transport water and minerals, and also serve to provide structural support
● They are long cylinders made of dead tissue with open ends, therefore they can form
a continuous column.
● Xylem vessels also contain pits which enable water to more sideways between the
vessels.
● They are thickened with a tough substance called lignin, which is deposited in spiral
patterns to enable the plant to remain flexible
The features of phloem vessels include:
● They’re tubes made of living cells
● Involved in translocation which is the movement of nutrients to storage organs and
growing parts of the plant
● Consist of sieve tube elements and companion cells
● Sieve tube elements form a tube to transport sugars such as sucrose, in the dissolved
form of sap
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● Companion cells are involved in ATP production for active processes such as
loading sucrose into sieve tubes
● Cytoplasm of sieve tube elements and companion cells is linked through structures
known as plasmodesmata which are gaps between cell walls which allow
communication and flow of substances such as minerals between the cells
Transpiration
Transpiration is the process where plants absorb water through the roots, which then moves
up through the plant and is released into the atmosphere as water vapour through pores in the
leaves. Carbon dioxide enters, while water and oxygen exit through a leaf’s stomata.
The transpiration stream, which is the movement of water up the stem enables processes
such as photosynthesis, growth and elongation as it supplies the plant with water which is
necessary for all these processes. Apart from this, the transpiration stream supplies the plant
with the required minerals, whilst enabling it to control its temperature via evaporation of
water.
Transpiration involves osmosis, where water moves from the xylem to the mesophyll cells.
Transpiration also involves evaporation from the surface of mesophyll cells into intercellular
spaces and diffusion of water vapour down a water vapour potential gradient out of the
stomata.
The rate of transpiration can be investigated with the help of a potometer where water lost by
the leaf is replaced by water in the capillary tube. Therefore, measuring the movement of the
meniscus can be used to determine the rate of transpiration. Factors which affect the rate of
transpiration include number of leaves, number/size or position of stomata, presence of
waxy cuticle, the amount of light present, the temperature, humidity, air movement and
water availability.
Xerophytes are plants adapted to living in dry conditions. They are able to survive in such
conditions because of various adaptations which serve to minimise the water loss. The
adaptations include smaller leaves which reduce the surface area for water loss. Both densely
packed mesophyll and thick waxy cuticle to prevent water loss via evaporation. Moreover,
xerophytes respond to low water availability by closing the stomata to prevent water loss.
Apart from this, they contain hairs and pits which serve as a means of trapping moist air, thus
reducing the water vapour potential. Xerophytes also roll the leaves to reduce the exposure of
lower epidermis to the atmosphere, thus trapping air.
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Movement of water in the root
Water enters through the root hair cells and moves into the xylem tissue located in the centre
of the root. This movement occurs as a result of a water potential gradient, as the water
potential is higher inside the soil than inside the root hair cells, due to the dissolved
substances in the cell sap.
Therefore, the purpose of root hair cells it to provide a large surface area for the movement
of water to occur.
Minerals are also absorbed through the root hair cells by active transport, as they need to be
pumped against the concentration gradient.
There are two ways the water taken up by the root hair cells can move across the cortex
of the root into xylem:
● It can either occur via the symplast pathway where water enters the cytoplasm
through the plasma membrane and passes from one cell to the next through
plasmodesmata, the channels which connect the cytoplasm of one cell to the next.
● The other pathway is the apoplast pathway where the water moves through the water
filled spaces between cellulose molecules in the cell walls. In this pathway, water
doesn’t pass through any plasma membranes therefore it can carry dissolved mineral
ions and salts.
● When the water reaches a part of the root called the endodermis, it encounters a layer
of suberin which is known as the Casparian strip, which cannot be penetrated by
water.
● Therefore, in order for the water to cross the endodermis, the water that has been
moving through the cell walls must now enter the symplast pathway.
● Once it has moved across the endodermis, the water continues down the water
potential gradient from cell to cell until it reaches a pit in the xylem vessel which is
the entry point of water.
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Water moving in the xylem up the stem
The water is removed from the top of the xylem vessels into the mesophyll cells down the
water potential gradient. The push of water upwards is aided by the root pressure which is
where the action of the endodermis moving minerals into the xylem by active transport,
drives water into the xylem by osmosis, thus pushing it upwards.
The flow of water is also maintained with the help of surface tension of water and the
attractive forces between water molecules known as cohesion. The action of these two forces
in combination is known as the tension-cohesion theory, which is further supported by
capillary action where the forces involved in cohesion cause the water molecule to adhere to
the walls of xylem, thus pulling water up.
Translocation
Translocation is an energy requiring process which serves as a means of transporting
assimilates such as sucrose in the phloem between sources which release sucrose such as
leaves and sinks e.g. roots and meristem which remove sucrose from the phloem.
Sucrose enters the phloem in a process known as
active loading where companion cells use ATP to
transport hydrogen ions into the surrounding tissue,
thus creating a diffusion gradient, which causes
the H+ ions to diffuse back into the companion
cells. It is a form of facilitated diffusion involving
cotransporter proteins which allows the returning
H+ ions to bring sucrose molecules into the
companion cells, thus causing the concentration of
sucrose in the companion cells to increase. As a
result of that, the sucrose diffuses out of the
companion cells down the concentration gradient
into the sieve tube elements through links known
as plasmodesmata.
As sucrose enters the sieve tube elements, the
water potential inside the tube is reduced,
therefore causing water to enter via osmosis, as a
result increasing the hydrostatic pressure of the
sieve tube. Therefore, water moves down the sieve
tube from an area of higher pressure to an area of
lower pressure. Eventually, sucrose is removed from the sieve tube elements by diffusion or
active transport into the surrounding cells, thus increasing the water potential in the sieve
tube. This in turn means that water leaves the sieve tube by osmosis, as a result reducing the
pressure in the phloem at the sink.
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Therefore, in summary the mass flow of water from the source to the sink down the
hydrostatic pressure gradient is a means of supplying assimilates such as sucrose to where
they are needed.
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