Solute Transport_ Sinauer Associates英文教材.pdfVIP

This material cannot be copied, disseminated, or used in any way without the express permission of the publisher. Copyright 2006 Sinauer Associates, Inc. Chapter 6 Solute Transport THE INTERIOR OF A PLANT CELL IS SEPARATED from the plant cell wall and the environment by a plasma mem- brane that is only two lipid molecules thick. This thin layer separates a relatively constant internal environment from highly variable external surroundings. In addition to form- ing a hydrophobic barrier to diffusion, the membrane must facilitate and continuously regulate the inward and outward traffic of selected molecules and ions as the cell takes up nutrients, exports solutes, and regulates its turgor pressure. The same is true of the internal membranes that separate the various compartments within each cell. The plasma membrane also relays information about the physical environment, about molecular signals from other cells, and about the presence of invading pathogens. Often these signal transduction processes are mediated by changes in ion fluxes across the membrane. Molecular and ionic movement from one location to another is known as transport. Local transport of solutes into or within cells is regulated mainly by membranes. Larg- er-scale transport between plant and environment, or