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Storage Sacs of cells-Vacuoles
Cell Organelles-Vacuoles
Vacuoles
A vacuole is an organelle found in plant,animal, and even single celled protists, but not in bacteria.
- A vacuole is used by cells in order to store water and some wastes.
- In plants the vacuole is very large, and in animals they are small and there may be more than one vacuole.
- Some protist have a contractile vacuole that regulates the amount of water found in the protist.
- The structure of vacuoles is rather simple. It is contructed of a membrane that surrounds a mass of fluid. In that fluid are nutrients or waste products.
- Most of a plant cell's volume will depend on the material found in vacuoles.
- Those vacuoles gain and reduce water depending on how much water is available to the plant. A drooping plant has lost a lot of its normal water and the vacuoles are shrinking.
Why is a vacuole important?
Vacuoles may serve a wide variety of functions in a cell, and their importance depends on what role they take up within the cell. Typically, their task include,
- Isolating harmful materials
- Storing waste material
- Storing valuable water in a plant cell
- Helping maintain the pressure within a cell
- Balancing the pH of a cell
- Exporting products out of the cell