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Biology Essay : Ways in which water is important and the regulation of water are important to
organisms
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Water is useful and very important in many different organisms and the regulation of water is
essential for many processes within organisms
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Relating this to the importance of water is that if the blood glucose levels aren't
regulated this can also impact the water potential
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If water potential is too high (hypotonic) for example if an
individual has drank too much water or doesn't have enough salt in their diet it leads to a
high water potential and if its too high this can lead to cells bursting as too much water will
enter cells via osmosis this can huge impacts to an individual as many cellular processes
may not be able to continue which can be very damaging
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So this
results in less water is reabsorbed in the blood and more water is lost through urine (very
dilute) so this brings the water potential to a normal level
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This can occur if an individual isn't consuming enough water,
consuming too much salt/ions or excessive sweating
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Water has a high latent heat of vaporisation where the hydrogen
bonding between the water molecules means it requires a lot of energy to evaporate 1 gram
of water and this leads to sweating acting as a cooling system for the body in humans and
other animals
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So this is
important as it can act as a buffer against sudden temperature changes and it makes the
temperature of aquatic environments more stable e
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But also acts as a buffer for
terrestrial organisms and their environment
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For example, in digestion different enzymes such as amylase, protease and lipase undergo

hydrolysis
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Protease hydrolysis proteins into
amino acids where the endopeptidases and exopeptidases break peptide bonds between
amino acids which can then be used for the growth and repair of cells and protein synthesis
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Also water acting as a solvent is very useful as it can rapidly dissolve other substances like
gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide
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Water can also dissolve ATP and hydrolyse it
into ADP and Pi where it can be used for respiration and movement such as muscle
contractions
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The cohesion-tension theory is where water is lost via transpiration, the xylem
brings up water and its sticky cohesive properties builds its own body weight and the
transpiration pull brings the water up the xylem and the tension is between the cell walls and
the water molecule and this helps with photosynthesis where it can increase the growth and
distribution of plants
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Water is also linked with gaseous exchange systems in many varying ways
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However
xerophytic plants have many different adaptations which can reduce this water loss such as
sunken stomata in pits or grooves and hairy leaves which traps the moist air so it lowers the
water potential so less water is lost via transpiration and can completely shut their stomata
via guards cells
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This reduced water loss helps with the hydration of the
organism and therefore respiration can remain effective so cells aren't destroyed
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This is where fish use their gills which have gill filaments
which are highly branched and provide a large surface area to absorb the oxygen from the
water
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In the countercurrent exchange system this is where the lamellae opposes the flow of blood
in the opposite direction of the water
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Overall water is essential for living and if water wasn't as helpful and useful as it actually is
then life as a whole wouldn't be able to function

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