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What is a contractile vacuole in a paramecium for?

What is a contractile vacuole in a paramecium for?

Contractile vacuoles are responsible for osmoregulation, or the discharge of excess water from the cell, according to the authors of “Advanced Biology, 1st Ed.” (Nelson, 2000). When the contractile vacuole collapses, this excess water leaves the paramecium body through a pore in the pellicle (“Biology of Paramecium”).

What is the function of the contractile vacuole?

The contractile vacuole (CV) complex is an osmoregulatory organelle of free-living amoebae and protozoa, which controls the intracellular water balance by accumulating and expelling excess water out of the cell, allowing cells to survive under hypotonic stress as in pond water.

Why would an aquatic organism need a contractile vacuole?

Contractile vacuoles protect a cell from absorbing too much water and potentially exploding by excreting excess water. Wastes, such as ammonia, are soluble in water; they are excreted from the cell along with excess water by the contractile vacuoles.

Why does most marine amoeba lack contractile vacuole?

Marine amoebae lack contractile vacuoles and their enzymes and organelles are not damaged by the salt water in the sea or ocean (Blake, 1). Some also live in salt swamps, salty lakes, and salty rivers or streams.

Why do paramecium that live in freshwater have contractile vacuoles?

The contractile vacuole is a specialized type of vacuole that regulates the quantity of water inside a cell. In freshwater environments, the concentration of solutes is hypotonic, lesser outside than inside the cell. Under these conditions, osmosis causes water to accumulate in the cell from the external environment.

What would happen to a paramecium if the contractile vacuole stopped working?

If the paramecium was not able to contract its contractile vacuole, it would be in danger of bursting. The cell would not be able to hold too much water. This would happen faster if the paramecium was in water with a low salt concentration because there is more water and less salt, so the water would accumulate faster.

What will happen to contractile vacuole if the paramecium is placed in a concentrated salt solution?

A paramecium living in salt water wouldn’t need contractile vacuoles, because the water pressures are different than in fresh water. Therefore, according to the properties of osmosis, water will naturally move from inside the cell to outside, and there is no need for a contractile vacuole.

Could a paramecium survive if its contractile vacuole malfunctioned?

Why are contractile vacuoles useless in salt water?

In salt water, the solute concentration outside the cell is more than inside the cell so the water flows out of the cell down the concentration gradient. Therefore contractile vacuoles are not required for expelling water.

What would happen to the paramecium if the contractile vacuoles stopped working?

Which movement is seen in paramecium?

Movement. A Paramecium propels itself by whiplash movements of the cilia, which are arranged in tightly spaced rows around the outside of the body.