Effect of Temperature on Cell Membrane
Introduction
To determine the effects of stressful experimental treatments on living membranes we are going to examine how fresh beets roots react when they are exposed to different temperatures.
Membranes are an important feature of plant cells and they act as a barrier that separates the interior of the cell from the external environment (Campbell 133). They organize specific chemicals and reactions into specific compartments within the cell. Generally, cell membranes consist of phospholipids bilayer that is impermeable to most polar molecules because of its hydrophobic interior . Moreover, phospholipids show hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties, which means the head of the molecule is attracted to water and the tail excludes water and other polar molecules from interacting (Kono 7101). However, if given enough time, we can observe that almost any molecule will diffuse across the bilayers.
The aim of this experiment is to investigate the integration of the cell membranes. Cell membranes are an important part of the living system; therefore, they are sensitive to environmental conditions. Their functionality changes with respect to the environments such as temperature (Maynard G. Hale) . In the experiment, we use the red beets in order to see how the structure of the membrane relates to its function. Red beets cells contain central vacuoles that house a pigment called Betacyanin. When beet cells remain intact, Betacyanin stays within the cell. Once the beet cells are disrupted, betacyanin will leak out and create a pink/red color in the environment. An increase in membrane damage will cause more betacyanin leakage; hence, we will see a higher absorbance reading on the spectrophotometer. Thanks to betacyanin release and measuring absorbance we can conclude how much the cell membranes are damaged. In this experiment, we expose beet cell to two different environments. First, we determined the maximam wavelength absorption. by measuring the betacyanine in
To determine the effects of stressful experimental treatments on living membranes we are going to examine how fresh beets roots react when they are exposed to different temperatures.
Membranes are an important feature of plant cells and they act as a barrier that separates the interior of the cell from the external environment (Campbell 133). They organize specific chemicals and reactions into specific compartments within the cell. Generally, cell membranes consist of phospholipids bilayer that is impermeable to most polar molecules because of its hydrophobic interior . Moreover, phospholipids show hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties, which means the head of the molecule is attracted to water and the tail excludes water and other polar molecules from interacting (Kono 7101). However, if given enough time, we can observe that almost any molecule will diffuse across the bilayers.
The aim of this experiment is to investigate the integration of the cell membranes. Cell membranes are an important part of the living system; therefore, they are sensitive to environmental conditions. Their functionality changes with respect to the environments such as temperature (Maynard G. Hale) . In the experiment, we use the red beets in order to see how the structure of the membrane relates to its function. Red beets cells contain central vacuoles that house a pigment called Betacyanin. When beet cells remain intact, Betacyanin stays within the cell. Once the beet cells are disrupted, betacyanin will leak out and create a pink/red color in the environment. An increase in membrane damage will cause more betacyanin leakage; hence, we will see a higher absorbance reading on the spectrophotometer. Thanks to betacyanin release and measuring absorbance we can conclude how much the cell membranes are damaged. In this experiment, we expose beet cell to two different environments. First, we determined the maximam wavelength absorption. by measuring the betacyanine in