Beta Vulgaris Lab Report

Phospholipids make up most of the cell membrane, in a phospholipid bilayer. Phospholipid molecules form two layers, with the hydrophilic (water loving) head facing the extracellular fluid and the cytosol (intracellular) fluid, and the hydrophobic (not water loving) tails facing one another. The cell membrane is constructed in such a way that it is semipermeable, and allows oxygen, CO2 and lipid soluble molecules through easily, while other molecules like glucose, amino acids, water, and ions cannot pass through quite as easily. That is the meaning behind the chant “some things can pass, others cannot!”.

This has been shown by a steady increase in Anthon cyanine leaked out of plant cells as the concentration and temperature increases. The purpose of a cell membrane is to control the transport of substances moving into and out of a cell. The membrane is an extremely thin layer (8 to 10 nanometers (nm)) thick, which is partially permeable. It consists mostly of lipids and proteins.

Proteins which make up about 70% of cell membranes are affected by the pH of ethanol. Proteins are made of amino-acids which can form hydrogen bonds with the many hydrogen atoms found in the molecule.

vulgaris plants, via the formation of a standard curve prepared using varying concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution. Following absorbance readings of the various BSA solutions, they were plotted against their concentrations providing an indirect measure for determining protein concentrations of the plant samples within the assay tubes, and through further calculations the sample protein concentration. The mean protein concentration for the control group was calculated to be 3.34 ± 1.30 mg/mL, while the mean treated group concentration was 2.01 ± 1.26 mg/mL. These results similarly like the chlorophyll results correlate with the literature articles, as a reduced protein content within the Paraquat treated plants can be expected to some extent (Chia et al., 1981). This reduction in protein concentration is the result of those superoxide anions produced by Paraquat, disrupting the chloroplast membranes and allowing for intracellular components including some proteins to leak out, hence the decrease in protein concentration in comparison to the non-treated plants (Qian et al., 2009). A slight outlier may exist within the treated groups protein concentrations as one of the groups provided a negative value for protein concentration which is not valid, but even after exclusion of that data value, results are still supportive of the expected outcome. Though these results support the claim of Paraquat toxicity causing membrane deterioration and leakiness, protein concentration values are rather more purposeful when used to analyze malondialdehyde (MDA) values on per mg of protein

Biological membranes must be semi-permeable to allow the passage of substances in and out of the cell. The semi-permeability allows the passage of substances such as proteins, nutrients, and more to be regulated. Only substances of a particular size can go into the cell and only these certain small substances will be allowed to exit the cell.

Introduction: The biological membranes are composed of phospholipid bilayers, each phospholipid with hydrophilic heads and hydrophobic tails, and proteins. This arrangement of the proteins and lipids produces a selectively permeable membrane. Many kinds of molecules surround or are contained within

A major determinant of diffusion in a biological system is membrane permeability. Small, uncharged molecules pass through cellular membranes easily, while most and/or charged molecules cannot pass through the membrane. The movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane, like the plasma membrane

The effect of alcohol on

Introduction: Cell membranes contain many different types of molecules which have different roles in the overall structure of the membrane. Phospholipids form a bilayer, which is the basic structure of the membrane. Their non-polar tails form a barrier to most water soluble substances. Membrane proteins serves as channels for transport of metabolites, some act as enzymes or carriers, while some are receptors. Lastly carbohydrate molecules of the membrane are relatively short-chain polysaccharides, which has multiple functions, for example, cell-cell recognition and acting as receptor sites for chemical signals.

For this lab 6 male Acheta domesticus were isolated in plastic containers, each was placed in a container that was 5 cm height and had 5.5 cm radius. Each of these containers was punctured with 10-15 minuscule holes for breathing on the lid and 5-8 holes on the sides. Inside of each container a damp paper towel was placed on the bottom and 2 pieces of food were placed on the paper towel. The Acheta domesticus were kept isolated in their personal containers for 7 days. At the end of these 7 days we split the 6 A. domesticus into 3 groups of 2. One of the two was marked with a paint pen, this marked male was the “intruder”. The remaining food was removed from the containers. The “intruder” is then placed into the container that holds the other

vulgaris were prepared by repeatedly rinsing in distilled water to remove surface betalain (Flinders, 2015). A control group and two treatments were taken, the control was at room temperature (25 degrees Celsius), and the treatments were at 50 degrees Celsius and 80 degrees Celsius. Cubes of B. vulgaris were placed into cuvettes with three ml of distilled water, the treatments were started five minutes apart to ensure each treatment was recorded at the correct time. The light absorbency of each treatment was then recorded using a spectrophotometer set at 540nm, the absorbency for each treatment was checked after 0 minutes, 15 minutes and, 30 minutes in the water baths. Before measuring the light absorbency of each treatment a cuvette with 3 millimetres of distilled water was placed in a spectrophotometer to set it to zero. The absorbency in the solution was measured in arbitrary units (AU), the higher the light absorbency, the higher the plasma membrane permeability. Each treatment was gently swirled before being placed into the spectrophotometer to disperse the colour. Each treatment had three replicates to guarantee an accurate average could be recorded. The results were then collated into tables and

Cell membrane is a selective boundary composed of a unique phospholipid bi-layer structure consisting of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates. This structure regulates the import and export to maintain homeostasis condition inside the cell. (Knox et al., 2014) The plasma membrane is referred as a fluid mosaic which also has selective permeability. The permeability of the membrane can be varied depending on the external conditions. (Mitchel, 2015)

All cells contain membranes that are selectively permeable, allowing certain things to pass into and leave out of the cell. The process in which molecules of a substance move from an area of high concentration to areas of low concentration is called Diffusion. Whereas Osmosis is the process in which water crosses membranes from regions of high water concentration to areas with low water concentration. While molecules in diffusion move down a concentration gradient, molecules during osmosis both move down a concentration gradient as well as across it. Both diffusion, and osmosis are types of passive transport, which do not require help.

Cell membranes are made up of phospholipids and proteins. Cell membranes are “selectively permeable. Some solutes cross the membrane freely, some cross with assistance and others do not cross at all.” When the cell membrane is damaged, the cell will not be able to control what crosses the membrane and the cell will leak. Chemicals can damage a cell membrane and cause increased permeability.

Only uncharged, small, polar molecules, (such as water) and hydrophobic molecules, (such as oxygen, carbon dioxide) and lipid-soluble molecules (such as hydrocarbons) can freely pass across the membrane. All ions and large polar molecules (such as glucose) are not permeable to the membrane.