vacuole

(noun)

a large, membrane-bound, fluid-filled compartment in a cell's cytoplasm

Related Terms

  • crista
  • endosymbiosis

Examples of vacuole in the following topics:

  • Vacuoles

  • Vesicles and Vacuoles

    • Vesicles and vacuoles are membrane-bound sacs that function in storage and transport.
    • The membrane of a vacuole does not fuse with the membranes of other cellular components.
    • Vacuoles are an essential component of plant cells.
    • As the central vacuole shrinks, it leaves the cell wall unsupported.
    • The central vacuole also supports the expansion of the cell.
  • Contractile Vacuoles in Microorganisms

    • Contractile vacuoles absorb excess water and wastes from a microorganism's cell and excrete them into the environment by contracting.
    • Previously, a CV was known as a pulsatile or pulsating vacuole.
    • CVs should not be confused with vacuoles which store food or water.
    • After the canals fill with water, it is pumped into the vacuole.
    • When the vacuole is full, it expels the water through a pore in the cytoplasm that can be opened and closed.
  • Comparing Plant and Animal Cells

    • Plant cells have a cell wall, chloroplasts and other specialized plastids, and a large central vacuole, whereas animal cells do not.
    • In plant cells, the digestive processes take place in vacuoles.
    • The central vacuole plays a key role in regulating the cell's concentration of water in changing environmental conditions.
    • As the central vacuole shrinks, it leaves the cell wall unsupported.
    • The central vacuole also supports the expansion of the cell.
  • Characteristics of Eukaryotic Cells

    • Vesicles and vacuoles are membrane-bound sacs that function in storage and transport.
    • Other than the fact that vacuoles are somewhat larger than vesicles, there is a very subtle distinction between them: the membranes of vesicles can fuse with either the plasma membrane or other membrane systems within the cell.
    • In addition, plant cells have a cell wall, a large central vacuole, chloroplasts, and other specialized plastids, whereas animal cells do not.
    • The cell wall protects the cell, provides structural support, and gives shape to the cell while the central vacuole plays a key role in regulating the cell's concentration of water in changing environmental conditions.
    • Plant cells have a cell wall, chloroplasts, plasmodesmata, and plastids used for storage, and a large central vacuole, whereas animal cells do not.
  • Chromalveolata: Alveolates

    • The apicomplexan protists are so named because their microtubules, fibrin, and vacuoles are asymmetrically distributed at one end of the cell in a structure called an apical complex .
    • Food captured in the oral groove enters a food vacuole where it combines with digestive enzymes.
    • In addition to a vacuole-based digestive system, Paramecium also uses contractile vacuoles: osmoregulatory vesicles that fill with water as it enters the cell by osmosis and then contract to squeeze water from the cell.
    • Contractile vacuoles allow the organism to excrete excess water.
  • Ovarian Cysts

    • An ovarian cyst is a fluid-filled vacuole within or on an ovary.
  • Overview of the Endocrine System

    • Endocrine glands are typically well vascularized and the cells comprising the tissue are typically rich in intracellular vacuoles or granules that store hormones prior to release.
  • Osmoregulation

    • For example, paramecia and amoebas, which are protists that lack cell walls, have contractile vacuoles.
    • A paramecium's contractile vacuole, here visualized using bright field light microscopy at 480x magnification, continuously pumps water out of the organism's body to keep it from bursting in a hypotonic medium.
  • Sea Coral and Sea Anemone Zooxanthellae

    • The vacuole structure containing the symbiont is therefore termed the symbiosome, and only a single symbiont cell is found within each symbiosome.
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