Biology #10 Excretion and Osmoregulation

Biology
#10 Excretion and osmoregulation
1. What is excretion?
Excretion is the process by which waste and harmful substances, produced by

chemical reactions occurring inside body cells, i.e. the body’s metabolism, are
removed from the body.
Excretion must not be confused with egestion which is the removal of undigested
dietary fibre and other materials from the body as faeces. This dietary fibre is not
produced in the body’s metabolism, so its removal cannot be classed as
excretion.
2. What are some waste products that plants produce during metabolism?
➢ • Oxygen is produced in photosynthesis and is excreted during the day when the
rate of photosynthesis is higher than the rate of respiration.
➢ • Carbon dioxide is produced in respiration and is excreted during the night when
no photosynthesis is occurring.
➢ • Water is produced in respiration and is excreted during the night when no

photosynthesis is occurring.
➢ • Organic waste products such as tannins, alkaloids, anthocyanins, and salts of

organic acids such as calcium oxalate.
3. What is metabolism?
Metabolism is a term that is used to describe all chemical reactions involved in

maintaining the living state of the cells and the organism.
4. Explain the mechanism of excretion in plants?
Plants, unlike animals, do not have any specialised excretory organs.
• Oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour diffuse out through the stomata of
leaves and lenticels of bark-covered stems and roots.
• Organic waste products can be stored in dead, permanent tissue, e.g. heart
wood. They can also be converted to insoluble substances such as oils or
insoluble crystals, e.g. excess calcium ions combine with the waste product,
oxalic acid, to form calcium oxalate crystals. In this insoluble form, they do not
affect osmotic and metabolic processes in cells and can be stored in the cells of
leaves, bark, petals, fruits and seeds. They are then removed when the plant
sheds these structures.
5. What are some waste products that animals produce during metabolism?
Animals produce the following waste substances during metabolism:
➢ • Carbon dioxide is produced in respiration.
➢ • Water is produced in respiration.
➢ • Nitrogenous compounds are produced by the deamination of amino

acids in the liver, e.g. urea, ammonia which is very toxic, and uric acid
which is the least toxic.
➢ • Bile pigments, e.g. bilirubin, are produced by the breakdown of

haemoglobin from red blood cells in the liver.
➢ • Heat is produced in general metabolism.
6. What are the three regions that the kidney is divided into?
➢ an outer region called the cortex,

➢ an inner region called the medulla,
➢ and a central hollow region called the pelvis.
7. What are the excretory organs of animals?

Humans have several organs that excrete waste products.
• The kidneys excrete water, nitrogenous waste (mainly urea) and salts as urine.
• The lungs excrete carbon dioxide and water vapour during exhalation (see page
68).
• The skin excretes water, urea and salts as sweat. It also excretes heat (see
page 111).
• The liver excretes bile pigments. It also makes nitrogenous waste.
8. Which artery carries blood to the kidney and which vein carries blood away from
the kidney?
A renal artery carries blood to each kidney and a renal vein carries blood away.
9. What produces urine in the kidney?
Each kidney is composed of thousands of kidney tubules or nephrons that

produce urine.
10. What does each nephron begin with?
Each nephron begins with a cup-shaped Bowman’s capsule in the cortex which
surrounds an intertwined cluster of capillaries called a glomerulus.
11. After the bowman’s capsule the nephron is divided into three sections, what are
they?
• The first convoluted (coiled) tubule in the cortex.

• The loop of Henle in the medulla.
• The second convoluted (coiled) tubule in the cortex
12. What are the processes that nephrons use to produce urine?
• ultra-filtration or pressure filtration

• selective reabsorption.
13. What is osmoregulation in humans?

Osmoregulation is the regulation of the concentration of blood plasma and body
fluids. It is essential to prevent water moving into and out of body cells
unnecessarily.
• If the body fluids become too dilute, water enters body cells by osmosis. The
cells swell and may burst.
• If the body fluids become too concentrated, water leaves body cells by osmosis.
The cells shrink and the body becomes dehydrated. If too much water leaves
cells, metabolic reactions cannot take place and cells die.
14. How is water lost and gained in humans?
15. What is the function of the kidneys?
The kidneys regulate the concentration of body fluids by controlling how much
water is reabsorbed into the blood plasma during selective reabsorption which
determines how much water is lost in urine.
• If body fluids become too concentrated
Excessive sweating, drinking too little or eating a lot of salty foods causes body
fluids to become too concentrated. The hypothalamus of the brain detects that
the blood plasma is too concentrated and stimulates the pituitary gland at the
base of the brain to secrete antidiuretic hormone (ADH). The blood carries the
ADH to the kidneys where it makes the walls of the second convoluted tubules
and the collecting ducts more permeable to water. Most of the water is
reabsorbed from the filtrate back into the blood and very small quantities of
concentrated urine are produced.
16. What occurs during kidney failure?

When kidney failure occurs, the nephrons stop functioning properly so that they
are unable to remove waste from the blood and regulate the volume and
composition of blood plasma and body fluids. Harmful waste, especially urea,
builds up in the blood and can reach toxic levels resulting in death.
17. How is kidney failure treated?
Kidney failure can be treated by a kidney transplant or dialysis.
18. What occurs during dialysis?
During dialysis blood from a vein, usually in the arm, flows through a dialysis
machine and is then returned to the body. In the machine, the blood is separated
from dialysis fluid by a partially permeable membrane. Waste products, mainly
urea, pass from the blood into the dialysis fluid together with excess water and
excess salts. In this way, waste from the blood is removed and the volume and
composition of the blood plasma and body fluids are regulated. Dialysis must
occur at regular intervals; most people require three sessions a week, each
lasting 4 hours.
• If body fluids become too dilute
Drinking a lot of liquid makes body fluids too dilute. The hypothalamus detects
this and the pituitary gland stops secreting ADH. Without ADH, the walls of the
second convoluted tubules and collecting ducts remain almost impermeable to
water so very little water is reabsorbed from the filtrate back into the blood. Large
quantities of dilute urine are produced. Regulation of the concentration of blood
plasma and body fluids is one aspect of homeostasis, i.e. the maintenance of a
constant internal environment

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Biology

#10 Excretion and osmoregulation

Excretion is the process by which waste and harmful substances, produced by

➢ • Water is produced in respiration and is excreted during the night when no

➢ • Organic waste products such as tannins, alkaloids, anthocyanins, and salts of

Metabolism is a term that is used to describe all chemical reactions involved in

Plants, unlike animals, do not have any specialised excretory organs.

Animals produce the following waste substances during metabolism:

➢ • Carbon dioxide is produced in respiration.

➢ • Water is produced in respiration.

➢ • Nitrogenous compounds are produced by the deamination of amino

➢ • Bile pigments, e.g. bilirubin, are produced by the breakdown of

➢ • Heat is produced in general metabolism.

➢ an outer region called the cortex,

7. What are the excretory organs of animals?

• The liver excretes bile pigments. It also makes nitrogenous waste.

9. What produces urine in the kidney?

Each kidney is composed of thousands of kidney tubules or nephrons that

10. What does each nephron begin with?

• The first convoluted (coiled) tubule in the cortex.

• ultra-filtration or pressure filtration

13. What is osmoregulation in humans?

14. How is water lost and gained in humans?

15. What is the function of the kidneys?

• If body fluids become too concentrated

16. What occurs during kidney failure?

17. How is kidney failure treated?

Kidney failure can be treated by a kidney transplant or dialysis.

18. What occurs during dialysis?

• If body fluids become too dilute

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