LIFE PROCESSES

Life processes
These are the processes which together perform this
maintenance job are life processes.

Maintenance Preventing
damage and Energy needed From food
process break down and nutrition
Since life on earth depends on carbon based molecules ,most of
foods are carbon based.
Food we take is different from need – so breakdown needed.
To Convert food into uniform source of energy.
Organic compound, chemical compounds in which one or more
atoms of carbon are covalently linked to atoms of other elements,
most commonly hydrogen, oxygen, or nitrogen.
 An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks
carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic
compound.
Series of chemical reaction. –
oxidation and reduction
Oxidation reaction is most
common chemical means to
break down molecules.
So organisms take oxygen from
outside.
Process of acquiring oxygen
from outside the body and to
use it in the process of break
down of food sources for
cellular needs is called as
respiration.
• SINGLE CELLED ORGANISMS –
No specific organs for taking in food
Exchange of gases or removal of
waste from surface as whole organism
is in contact with environment.
• IN MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS-
Various body parts have specialized in
function they perform.
Specific organ for food and oxygen
intake.
So need for developed for
transportation system
THE DIFFERENT PROCESSES INVOLVED IN HOLOZOIC
NUTRITION IN AMOEBA ARE:
Ingestion
 Ingestion is the process of taking in the food into the body
either by swallowing or absorbing it. This process is known as
phagocytosis.
Digestion
 Digestion is the process of breaking the insoluble and large
food molecules into soluble and minute molecules. The large
insoluble particles are broken down to the simpler molecules.
Absorption
In this process of absorption, the nutrients from the digested
food material are absorbed into the cell’s cytoplasm by leaving
behind the undigested particles. This process is called diffusion.
The excess food is stored in the form of glycogen and lipids.
Assimilation
Assimilation is the process of obtaining energy from
the absorbed food molecules. In amoeba, absorbed
food molecules are utilized for producing the energy
required to carry out different life processes within the
cell.
Egestion
Egestion is the process of excretion of undigested food
material. In amoeba, this process is carried out by
rupturing the cell membrane to remove the undigested
food material from its body.
Autotrophic nutrition means
that simple inorganic
substances are taken in and
used to synthesise organic
molecules.
Energy is needed to achieve
this.
In most instances the light
source is solar energy, the
process is called
photosynthesis.
Heterotrophic nutrition is a type of nutrition in which organisms
depend upon other organisms for food to survive.
 Heterotrophic organisms have to take in all the organic
substances they need to survive.
What happens in multicellular organisms like humans
Food intake --- digestion ----absorption of glucose into blood---glucose in
cells--respiration
Digestive system
Saliva contains salivary
amylase.
Starch ------ simple sugar
 Food pipe –oesophagus
Stomach – food mixes with
digestive juices.
Wall of stomach secrete
HCL, PEPSIN --- (Proteins -
peptides) and mucus.
• The salivary glands in
mammals are
exocrine glands that
produce saliva
through a system of
ducts. Humans have
three paired major
salivary glands
(parotid,
submandibular, and
sublingual) as well
as hundreds of
minor salivary
glands.
SMALL INTESTINE
Here complete digestion of
carbohydrates, proteins and fats take
place.
Receives secretion of liver and pancreas.
• Examples of digestive enzymes are:
Amylase, produced in the mouth.
break starch molecules ------smaller sugar molecules.
Pepsin, produced in the stomach. breaks proteins----- amino acids.
Trypsin, produced in the pancreas. breaks down proteins.
Pancreatic lipase, produced in the pancreas. break apart fats.
Deoxyribonuclease and ribonuclease, produced in the pancreas.
bonds in nucleic acids like DNA and RNA.
Bile salts are bile acids that help to break down fat.
Bile acids are made in the liver. When you eat a meal, bile is secreted into the
intestine, where it breaks down the fats.
Alpha cells (A cells) secrete
the hormone glucagon when
blood glucose is low.
 Beta cells (B cells) produce
insulin and are the most
abundant of the islet cells.
When blood glucose is high.
delta cells secrete the
hormone somatostatin.
Unabsorbed food ----large
intestine where its wall
absorbs more water from
this material. The rest of
material is removed from the
body.
Blood transports glucose,
oxygen, hormones to each
and every cells.
Respiratory system
Air passes through nostrils—
throat—lungs.
Rings of cartilage are present in the
throat so that air passage doesn’t
collapse.
Respiratory pigment is
haemoglobin.
It has high affinity for oxygen.
Basic unit of lungs where exchange
of gases take place is alveoli.
• HOW HEART WORKS
• Transport of blood in the human
body
Fishes – 2 chambers
Amphibians – 3 chambered heart
Reptiles – 3 chambered
Crocodile – 4 chambered
Birds and mammals – 4
chambered
Blood pressure – force exerted
against wall of vessel is BP.
Pressure inside artery during
ventricular systole is systolic
pressure. 120 mm of hg.
Pressure inside artery during
ventricular diastole is called
diastolic pressure. 80 mm of hg.
Clotting is a necessary process
that can prevent you from losing
too much blood in certain
instances, such as when you're
injured or cut.
Clotting is done by Platelets.
Fibrin protein also role in
clotting.
Red blood cells, most white
blood cells, and platelets are
produced in the bone marrow.
Two types of white blood
cells, T and B cells
(lymphocytes), are also
produced in the lymph nodes
and spleen, and T cells are
produced and mature in the
thymus gland.
Lymph :
Lymph is the fluid
that flows
through the
lymphatic system.
--lymph vessels
(channels) and
lymph nodes.
Function is to
return fluid from
the tissues to the
central
circulation.
The lymphatic system is part of the circulatory
system, comprising a network of inter-connected
tubes known as lymphatic vessels that carry a clear
fluid called lymph towards the heart.
The organs associated with the lymphatic system
are the spleen and thymus.
Excretion
Excretion is a process by
which metabolic waste is
eliminated from an organism.
Basic unit – nephron
Kidneys—ureters– urinary
bladder– urethra
Mammals usually get an adequate amount of water. Hence,
they can use water for excretion of urea with loss of water in
the form of urine.
Also, the presence of urinary bladder helps in storage of
urine until it is discharged.
Birds are obligate uricotelic as water is not easily available in
the excess. The urinary bladder is absent in birds and ureter
opens in cloaca directly.
 The body of birds must be kept the light for flight as the
presence of water will be disadvantages for them. Thus they
are uricotelic as urea needs more amount of water to
dissolve.