Topic 2.

31
Transport Systems In Animals
Organisation And Maintainence Of Organisms

Transport System

Al living organisms require energy.

This energy is released from food
during respiration.
Since every living cell in the body
requires energy, glucose and oxygen
must ne transported throughout the
body.
In small animals such as the
flatworms, substances are
transported by diffusion.

 The flatworm is
very thin and has a
high surface area
to volume ratio.
Its large surface
area allows easy
diffusion of
substances as the
distance from the
surface to the cells
is very small.

 Large organisms like humans have a

large volume and small surface area.
Therefore cells in the center of the
body are far away from the surface
and may also be some distance away
from the gut.
Food material and oxygen thus has to
move through large distances before
they can reach the cells by diffusion.

Mass Flow System

Such organisms therefore need an

elaborate transport system to
transport the materials.
In vertebrates this is the Blood
System which is the Mass Flow
System.
A mass flow system transports large
amounts of fluids to all parts of the
body.

Parts of the Mass Flow System

The Mass Flow System is made of 4

parts. These are
1) A medium his is the fluid that
travels around the body carrying
materials to be transported. In this
case it is the Blood.
2) A system of tubes: Helps in
transporting the medium (Blood) from
place to place. In this case these are
the Arteries and Veins.

 3) A pump: This supplies the pressure

to keep the fluid moving. This is the
Heart.
4) Sites Of Exchange: These allow the
materials transported by the blood to
enter the cells and tissues. These are
the Capillaries.

Blood

Blood is the circulatory medium.

An average sized human has about 5
dm3 blood.
Blood is made up of different types of
blood cells suspended in a watery
liquid called Plasma.
If a sample of blood is collected and to
this added an anticoagulant, and this
is allowed to stand for a few hours, it
will separate in different layers.

Components of Blood

 If a drop of blood is
placed on a slide
and stained with a
dye, the different
cell types can be
identified under a
microscope.

 A 1 cm3 drop of blood contains

5 000 000 000 ( Five thousand million
red blood cells).
8000 000 ( 8 million ) white blood
cells.
250 000 000 ( two hundred and fifty
million) platelets.

Structure And Function Of Blood Components

Cell Type: Red Blood Cell (Erythrocyte)

Function: Transports oxygen from lungs to
tissues
Structure related to function: Contains
haemoglobin an iron containing pigment
which carries oxygen from lungs to tissues.
It has no nucleus thus leaving more space to
be occupied by haemoglobin. Cells are small
and flexible so they can squeeze through
narrow capillaries.

Structure And Function Of Blood Components

Cell Type: White Blood Cells (Phagocytes)

Function: Removes any microorganisms
that may invade the body and cause
disease. Phagocytes engulf microorganisms.
Structure related to function: Irregularly
shaped nucleus allows cells to squeeze
through gaps between capillary walls.
Enzymes in cytoplasm digest engulfed
microorganisms. Sensitive cell surface
membranes can detect microorganims.

Structure And Function Of Blood Components

Cell Type: White Blood Cells

(Lymphocytes)
Function: Produce antibodies that
defend against disease.
Structure related to function:
Large nucleus that contains many
copies of genes that control antibody
production.

Structure And Function Of Blood Components

Cell Type: Platelets

Function: Cell fragments involved in
blood clotting.
Structure related to function: Can
release blood clotting enzymes.

Functions Of The Blood in general

One function of the RBC is the

transport of respiratory gases oxygen
and carbon dioxide.
The exchange of gases happens
between lungs and respiring tissues.
Plasma also has transport functions.
1) Watery liquid carries dissolved
food (glucose, amino acids), waste
materials (urea) and other important
molecules like hormones.

 2) Plasma is largely water so it has a

high specific heat capacity. Because
of this it can distribute heat very
efficiently to various parts of the
body.
Defence is another function of the
blood.

Functions of the Blood

Regulatory functions:
The presence of solutes affects the
water potential of the blood.
In turn this affects the water potential
gradient between the blood and tissue
fluid.
The water potential gradient is largely
affected by sodium ions and plasma
proteins and this regulates water
movement between blood and tissues.

 Water plays a role in heat distribution

between heat producing areas like
liver and heat losing areas like the
skin.
Blood helps maintain optimum pH in
tissues.

Protective Functions

1)Platelets, plasma proteins

(fibrinogen) and other factors like
calcium ions prevent blood loss and
entry of pathogens by initiating the
clotting response.
2) White blood cells protect from
disease.
- Phagocytes : Engulf pathogens.
- Lymphocytes: Produce and secrete
antibodies against the pathogens.

Transport Functions

1) Soluble products of digestion (glucose,

amino acids, fatty acids) and other
products like vitamins are transported from
the gut to the liver and then into the
general circulation.
2) Waste products of metabolism are
transported from production sites to
removal sites.
3) Respiratory gases are transported from
the uptake sites to sites of use.

 4) Hormones (insulin) are transported

from their sites of production to the
target organs.
Blood also has support functions.

Important terminology
Haematologist: A scientist who specialises
in the study of blood.
Anemia: Inability to transport oxygen. Can
be detected by noting a lower number of red
blood cells as compared to normal.
Sickle Cell Anemia: Some red blood cells
become sickle shaped instead of disc like.
Leukemia: Cancer of white blood cells. Can
be detected by large numbers of oddly
shaped white blood cells.

 AIDS: May be detected in the early stages by

the presence of antibodies to the HIV virus. The
person is then said to be HIV positive. In the
later stages the number of white blood cells is
reduced.
DNA Fingerprinting: Important in criminal
investigations.
Diabetes: Detected by high glucose
concentrations in the blood.
Eating disorders are detected by higher than
normal urea concentrations in the blood.

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