Vacuoles Are: Characteristics, Functions, Structures and Types

Vacuoles Are: Characteristics, Functions, Structures and Types – Is that what is called a vacuole in plants and animals?, On this occasion About the knowledge.co.id will discuss it and of course about other things that also cover it. Let's look at the discussion together in the article below to better understand it

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Vacuoles Are: Characteristics, Functions, Structures and Types

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A vacuole is a space inside a cell that contains cell sap fluid in the form of a cavity covered by a membrane (tonoplas). The liquid is in the form of water and substances such as enzymes, lipids, alkaloids, mineral salts, acids and bases are dissolved in it. In addition, there are also organic acids, amino acids, glucose, and gases. Vacuoles can be found in all plant cells but not in animal and bacterial cells, except in lower unicellular animals. To make it clearer, consider the image of the vacuole structure below.

Vacuoles are present in various plant cells, whereas in animal and bacterial cells vacuoles are not found, but in low-level single-celled organisms, these vacuoles can be found.

Vacuoles are also defined as plant cell organelles that have a membrane space, in which there are various nutrients, chemical reaction residues, water, and others.

In old leaf cells, vacuoles dominate most of the cell space so that cells are often seen as empty spaces because the cytosol is pushed to the edges of the cells.

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Characteristics of Vacuoles

The following characteristics of the vacuole include:

• Contains clear liquid.
• The size of the vacuole in plant cells is larger and filled with water, while the size of the vacuole in animal cells is smaller than that of plant cells, in animals it is only found in single-celled organisms.
• Vacuoles are made mainly of water and amino acids. Also, the fluids in the vacuoles include enzymes, sugars, mineral salts (potassium, sodium), oxygen, carbon dioxide and some pigments which are responsible for coloring plant leaves and flowers.
• The vacuole is surrounded by a lipid layer, which allows it to keep salt water out of the cytoplasm. This layer is called the "tonoplast".
• Vacuoles are formed when vesicles released by the endoplasmic reticulum and those released by the Golgi apparatus unite in a single organelle.
• They are found mainly in plant and fungal cells. However, some animal cells, bacteria and protists have vacuoles.
• Vacuoles do not have a specific size or shape. These two characteristics will depend on the individual needs of the cell.
• The new cell contains a series of tiny vacuoles; However, as the cell matures, these small organelles fuse into a single central vacuole.
• The central vacuole occupies 90% of the cell volume and can occupy 95% when it expands by absorption of water.
• Vacuoles in plants perform a similar function to lysosomes in animal cells, as both are sacs that contain digestive enzymes.

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Vacuole function

In general, the function of the vacuole is to add water through the membrane to create turgor pressure, namely the pressure that moves the cell membrane against the plant cell wall due to osmosis of low concentration water from external to internal vacuole which is higher concentration, the function of cell turgor is to maintain cell shape plant.

In plants, the vacuole has a very important role because the survival mechanism depends on the ability of the vacuole to maintain the concentration of dissolved substances in it. For example, the swaying process that occurs when the vacuole loses turgor pressure on the cell wall.

Inside the vacuole there are also most of the materials harmful to metabolism in cells because plants do not have an effective excretion system like animal cells. Cell life would be chaotic if there were no vacuoles because there were no biochemical reactions.

Another function of the vacuole in plant cells is to protect against predators containing toxic compounds, thorns, or an unpleasant odor for animals. Another role of the vacuole in plants is to enlarge and absorb water so that cells grow large with reserves in the new cytoplasm.

In addition, the functions of the vacuole include:

• As a storage location for flower, leaf and fruit dyes.
• As a regulation of cell turgidity.
• As a storage location for essential oils
• As a location for metabolic waste and secondary metabolism
• To carry out the distribution of substances within the cell.
• As a place to store the results of synthesis such as glucose, starch, phenol and also glycogen.
• As a regulator of osmotic pressure that occurs in cells.
• To help the growth and development of cells.
• To protect cells.
• To establish turgor pressure on the cell.
• As a storage location for certain materials/substances.
• As a disposal site / residual substance / garbage.
• As a location for the degradation of other cell organelles.

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Vacuole structure

Usually, plant vacuoles have a structure with a large size, even in adult plants all parts of the cytoplasm are almost fulfilled and the organelles of these vacuoles shrouded in a single membrane called tonoplast in which there is a liquid which is often called cell sap which is composed of water and various other solutes.

Usually, young cells have many vacuoles with small sizes and then will unite into one large vacuole as the plant cell develops. These cell organelles are composed of the endoplasmic reticulum which extends to form a small channel that called pravacuoles, then pravacuoles that are formed will unite to form ball-like organelles.

The main difference between plant and animal vacuoles is that generally, there are one or more vacuoles that play a role in animal cells. In addition, animal cell vacuoles have temporary structures whereas in most cases, cell vacuoles Plants have a permanent structure and plant vacuoles are larger than vacuoles animal.

The size of the vacuoles in plants is larger than in animals. This occurs because in animals and also humans directly use energy from cells, whereas plants indirectly use it. Plant cells need a lot of space as a storage place for nutrients, besides that there is a number of plants produce oil, tannins, gums and alkaloids which are then stored inside vacuole.

Vacuole content includes minerals, dyes, sucrose, fructose, tannins, glycosides, enzymes, starch, organic acids, etheric oils and various compounds, both organic and inorganic.

There are various substances and molecules that fill the vacuoles, including:

• Glycosides.
• Starch grains.
• Tannins or tanning substances.
• Organic acids, amino acids, glucose, and gases (oxygen or carbon dioxide).
• Enzymes, lipids, alkaloids, mineral salts, acids and bases.
• Organic salts that are stored or thrown out of the cell.
• Essential oils, substances that produce aroma in plants such as roseine in roses and zingiberine in ginger.
• Alkaloid substances, for example caffeine in coffee beans, nicotine in tobacco leaves, tein in tea leaves, theobromine in cocoa beans, solanine in potato tubers, and so on.

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Types of Vacuoles

The following types of vacuoles, including:

• Food Vacuoles

The function of the food vacuole is to process and distribute the results of food digestion to all parts of the body. The digested food is transferred to the cytosol for use and the indigestible substances are secreted from the cell. Food vacuoles are also known as non-contractile vacuoles.

• Contractile Vacuole

This vacuole is also called a pulsating vacuole, namely a vacuole that functions as an osmoregulator, namely a regulator of osmotic values ​​in the cell.

• Central Vacuole

In mature cells, the central vacuole fills 90-95% of the total volume. The vacuole membrane in plant cells is called tonoplast which is highly impermeable to water and water-soluble matter.

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Vacuoles in Animals

Not all animals have vacuoles, only unicellular organisms like protozoa. There are two types of vacuoles in animals including motion vacuoles or pulse vacuoles and also food vacuoles.

The function of the pulsating vacuole is to collect and secrete fluid left over from metabolic processes where the fluid is used to control water and salt levels in the body. While the function of the food vacuole is to store, process and distribute food to all parts of the plant cell.

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Vacuoles in Fungi

Vacuoles in fungi function much like those in plant cells, where there are many vacuoles Involved in processes including cell pH homeostasis and ion concentration, osmoregulation, and storing amino acid. The number of vacuoles contained in fungal cells is more than one.

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Vacuoles in Bacteria

The largest vacuoles were found in three bacterial genera, namely thioploca, beggiatoa, and thiomargarita. The size of the vacuole in bacteria is about 40-98% of cells. The presence of a free permeable gas in some types of cyanobacteria, allows the bacteria to have buoyancy.

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