Biology 2 Respiratory systems - rely on the diffusion of
gases down pressure gradients.
Module 14: GAS EXCHANGE Surface to Volume Ratio - As an animal
grows, the surface area increases at a lesser
Gas exchange - is a very vital process in all rate than its volume, making diffusion of
organisms. gases into the interior more difficult.
Plants exchange gases through the - Animals must have a body design
stomata while animals do it through that keeps internal cells close to the
different ways such as through their surface or must have a system to
skin, trachea, gills, or lungs in higher move the gases inward.
animals. Ventilation - The movement of the
In plants, carbon dioxide is the gas respiratory medium (air or water) over the
moved into the stomata of the respiratory surface.
leaves, and oxygen is liberated off Bony fish - moves the gill covers (operculum)
the atmosphere. for water carrying oxygen to flow across the
In animals, oxygen is being inhaled gill.
and carbon dioxide is given off. Humans - move the muscles of the thorax to
Without the important gas to the expand and contract the chest cavity and
organism, it will die. move air in and out of the lungs.
Obtaining knowledge about the
II. Structure for Gas Exchange in Plants
concepts of gas exchange will allow
Carbon dioxide - needed for photosynthesis
us to understand the value of
enters a leaf through open stomata, then
"breathing" for all organisms and
diffuses through air spaces to mesophyll
therefore lead us to protecting and
cells.
conserving them as we also take care
of our bodies to prevent us from
diseases and continue existing. Oxygen released by photosynthesis
diffuses in the opposite direction.
Understanding these things will make
us appreciate and be more grateful Note that the stomates in dicot
to our Creator who gave us life and leaves are scattered while in
co exist with other living things. monocot leaves, they are arranged
parallel to the veins.
Aerobic respiration - is an energy-releasing
pathway that requires oxygen (O2) and
produces carbon dioxide (CO2).
- Respiration supply cells with oxygen
from the environment, and deliver
waste carbon dioxide to that
environment.
I. Principles Influencing Gas Exchange Figure 1: Stomates in A) Dicot and B)
Respiratory surface or organ - is the part of Monocot leaves. C) Cross section of a leaf
an animal's body where gases are exchanged showing stomates
with the environment.
- To allow for gas exchange, it must be
moist, large enough, and protected
from desiccation.
Other means where gas exchange takes 3. External gills - in
place in plants are: invertebrates that live in
1. lenticels in stems aquatic habitats (crayfish,
2. Pneumatophores or the lateral roots lobster, sea star,
of mangroves nudibranch).
3. Root hairs in aerial roots. - gills are highly
folded, thin-walled,
vascularized
epidermis that
project outward
from the body
Figure 2: Other means of gas exchange in 4. Tracheal system - consists of
plants A),B) lenticels, C) pneumatophore,, D) repeatedly branching, air-
root hairs in aerial roots filled tubes that begin at
spiracles, which are small
III. Respiratory Pigments or Proteins openings across the body
Respiratory pigments - bind and transport surface.
gases. - Gas exchange occurs
Hemoglobin - is the respiratory pigment of at the tips of the
vertebrates while that of invertebrates finest branches,
(arthropods and molluscs) is hemocyanin. where gases dissolve
- helps enhance its capacity. in interstitial fluid
Blood - cannot carry sufficient oxygen and and diffuse through
carbon dioxide in dissolved form to meet the it to cells.
body's requirements. - Example: insects and
spiders.
Figure 3: A) Hemocyanin and B) haemoglobin
IV. Structure for Gas Exchange in Figure 4: Respiratory surfaces in
Animals invertebrates: A) Cell membrane, B)
A. Respiratory Surfaces in Integumentary exchange, C) Tracheal system
Invertebrates.
1. Cell surface or cell A. Respiratory Surfaces in Vertebrates
membrane - in unicellular 1. External gills - thin, vascularized
organisms like protists epidermis that project from the
2. Integumentary exchange - body surface of a few amphibians
the general body surface or like in larval salamander
skin used by animals with 2. Internal gills - rows of slits or
high surface-to-volume ratio pockets in adult fishes positioned
like in flatworms and at the back of the mouth such that
earthworms. water that enters the mouth can
flow over them as it exits just Gases diffuse across the inner
behind the head. respiratory surfaces of the lungs.
- Water flows over the gills and Pulmonary circulation allows the
blood circulates through diffusion of dissolved gases across
them in opposite directions. lung capillaries.
- This mechanism, called In body tissues, oxygen diffuses from
countercurrent flow, is blood to interstitial fluid to cells, the
highly efficient in extracting pathway of carbon dioxide is in
oxygen from water, whose reverse.
oxygen content is lower than All lungs receive deoxygenated
air. blood from the heart and return
3. Lungs - saclike internal respiratory oxygenated blood to the heart.
organs.
In oxygen-poor water, an ability to
gulp air and exchange gases across a
respiratory surface in lungs gave
fishes an advantage.
An ability to breathe air allowed
amphibians that descended from
these fishes to live on land.
Just about all land vertebrates have
lungs.
Frogs have small lungs that function
in oxygen uptake, but most carbon
dioxide diffuses outward across their
skin.
Toads, whose skin is usually dry, Figure 5: Respiratory surfaces in vertebrates:
have larger lungs. A) External gills, B) Internal gills, C)-D) Lungs
In reptiles, birds, and mammals, the
skin is waterproof, so the only
respiratory surface is the lining of the
lungs.
Birds have small, inelastic lungs that
do not expand and contract when
the bird breathes. Instead, large
expandable air sacs attached to the Figure 6: Summary of respiratory surfaces or
lungs inflate and deflate. organs in animals.
Air flow in a mammalian lung is
bidirectional. The route air travels to B. Breathing Mechanisms in
the respiratory surface is a dead end, Vertebrates
so fresh air and oxygen-depleted air Amphibians - ventilate their lungs by positive
mix. As a result, mammalian lungs pressure breathing which forces air down the
are less efficient at oxygen delivery trachea.
than bird's lungs. Birds - use a system of air sacs as blower to
Air moves by bulk flow into and out keep air flowing through the lungs in one
of the lung. direction only, preventing the mixing of
incoming and outgoing air.
Mammals - ventilate their lungs by negative Blood oxygenated in these capillaries
pressure breathing which pulls air into the returns to the heart, which then
lungs when the volume of the lung expands pumps it to the body's tissues.
as the rib muscles and diaphragm contract.
However, the incoming and outgoing
air mix, decreasing the efficiency of
ventilation.
In humans, air enters or leaves the
respiratory system through nasal
cavities where air is filtered by hair
and cilia, warmed by blood vessels,
and moistened with mucus.
Figure 7: A) Respiratory organs, B) Alveoli
C. Human Respiratory System
Air enters the nose. D. Coordination of Gas Exchange and
From the nostrils, air enters the nasal Circulation
cavity, where it is warmed and 1. Oxygen - diffuses down a
moistened. The moist, warm air then pressure gradient from the
flows into the pharynx, or throat. lungs into the blood plasma to
Air continues to the larynx, a short red blood cells that binds to
airway commonly referred to as the haemoglobin (four molecules
voice box because it contains a pair per haemoglobin to form
of vocal cords. oxyhemoglobin).
Contraction of the vocal cords Hemoglobin - gives up its oxygen in tissues
changes the size of the glottis, the where partial pressure of oxygen is low,
gap between them. blood is warmer, partial pressure of carbon
When the glottis is wide open, air dioxide is higher, and pH is lower; these four
flows through it silently. conditions occur in tissues with high
The epiglottis, a tissue flap at the metabolism.
entrance to the larynx, points 2. Carbon dioxide - diffuses down
upward. With the epiglottis in its its partial pressure gradient
upward position, air can enter the from the tissues into the blood
trachea, or windpipe. plasma and red blood cells to air
The trachea branches into two in alveoli.
airways, one to each lung. Each Seven percent is dissolved in plasma,
airway is a bronchus. 23% binds with haemoglobin to form
Once inside the lung, air moves carbaminohemoglobin, and 70% is in
through finer and finer branchings of bicarbonate form.
a "bronchial tree", called Bicarbonate and carbonic acid formation - is
bronchioles. enhanced by the enzyme carbonic
At the tips of the finest bronchioles anhydrase, which is located in the red blood
are respiratory alveoli, little air sacs cells.
where gases are exchanged.
Air in alveoli exchanges gases with
blood flowing through pulmonary
capillaries.
E. Coordination with Air flow with - Bacteria can colonize the
Blood flow mucus, leading to more
Gas exchange in the alveoli is inflammation, more
most efficient when air flow mucus, and more
equals the rate of blood flow. coughing.
Local controls within the lungs 2. Pneumonia - is an infectious
correct imbalances in air and disease involving inflammation
blood flow by constricting or and fluid build up in the lungs.
dilating both bronchioles and 3. Asthma - an inhaled allergen or
arterioles. irritant triggers inflammation
F. Control of Respiration in and constriction of airways,
Vertebrates making breathing difficult.
The nervous system controls
oxygen and carbon dioxide levels
for the entire body by regulating - An acute asthma attack,
the rate and depth of breathing. is treated with inhaled
The brain monitors the pH of the drugs that cause smooth
cerebrospinal fluid through muscle ringing the
sensors. airways to relax.
Secondary control is exerted by 4. Emphysema - tissue-destroying
sensors in the aorta and carotid bacterial enzymes digest the
arteries that monitor blood thin, elastic alveolar wall.
levels of oxygen as well as carbon - As these walls disappear,
dioxide (via blood pH). the area of the
G. Respiratory Adaptations to Extreme respiratory surface
Conditions declines.
Animals that inhabit high - Over time, the lungs
altitudes have larger hearts and become distended and
lungs, and haemoglobin with a inelastic, leaving the
high affinity for binding oxygen. person constantly feeling
Many diving animals have short of breath.
unusually high hematocrits (ratio
of the volume of packed red Smoking tobacco or breathing secondhand
blood cells to the volume of tobacco smoke - has a wide range of
whole blood) and also muscles negative health effects.
with high amounts of myoglobin Tobacco smokers - have more cardiovascular
(an oxygen-binding protein found disease, with a risk of heart attack four to
in muscle cells). five times than of nonsmokers.
H. Respiratory Problems and Public Tobacco smoke - also contains many
Health carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals).
1. Bronchitis - is a common Lungs - are most often affected; more than
respiratory disorder in which 80% of lung cancers occur in smokers.
the mucus-producing lining of
the bronchi becomes inflamed.
- Inflamed epithelial cells
secrete extra mucus that
triggers coughing.
Figure 10: Symptoms of pneumonia
Figure 9: Smoking and emphysema