IMPORTANCEOF LIFE

PROCESSES

By: Joanna Coutinho

INTRODUCTIONLife processes are the basic processes in living organisms which are

necessary for maintaining their life.

The basic life processes are – nutrition, respiration, transportation, and excretion :-

i) Nutrition :– is the process of taking food by an organism and its utilization by the body for life processes.

ii) Respiration :– is the process by which food is burnt in the cells of the body with the help of oxygen to release energy.

iii) Transportation :– is the process by which food, oxygen, water, waste products are carried from one part of the body to the other.

iv) Excretion :- is the process by which waste products are removed from the body.

NUTRITION IN HUMAN BEINGSLike a finely-tuned racing car, your body needs the right fuel (food) and regular

maintenance (exercise, lifestyle and mental attitude) to achieve its true health

potential. Nothing is more important than healthy eating. Put in the wrong fuel or

let it go without regular use and there's no way it can deliver its full power and

performance. Without healthy eating, your body's engine will cough, splutter and eventually stall.

To have a healthy nutrition means managing calorie intake to maintain a healthy

weight. Eating a balanced diet is vital for good health and wellbeing. Food

provides our bodies with the energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals

to live, grow and function properly. We need a wide variety of different foods to

provide the right amounts of nutrients for good health. The keys to good nutrition

are balance, variety and moderation. To stay healthy, your body needs the three

main components of nutrition ie. right balance of carbohydrates, fats and protein .

MAINTAINING A BALANCED DIET BY HEALTHY EATING CAN:

Give you vitality and energy for life

Help you stay at a weight that's right for you

Boost your immune system

Improve sports performance

Delay the effects of aging

Keep you active and fit into old age

Help beat tiredness and fatigue

Protect teeth and keep gums healthy

Enhance your ability to concentrate and possible alter mood

Ward off serious illnesses like heart disease, certain cancers, mature-age onset diabetes, and gall bladder disease

NUTRITION IN PLANTSPlants use inorganic minerals for nutrition, whether grown in the field or in a container. Complex interactions involving weathering of rock minerals, decaying organic matter, animals, and microbes take place to form inorganic minerals in soil. Roots absorb mineral nutrients as ions in soil water. Many factors influence nutrient uptake for plants. Ions can be readily available to roots or could be "tied up" by other elements or the soil itself. Soil too high in pH (alkaline) or too low (acid) makes minerals unavailable to plants.

PRIMARY (MACRO) NUTRIENTS OF PLANTSPrimary (macro) nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They are the most frequently required in a crop fertilization program. Also, they are need in the greatest total quantity by plants as fertilizer.

NITROGEN

· Necessary for formation of amino acids, the building blocks of protein· Essential for plant cell division, vital for plant growth· Directly involved in photosynthesis· Necessary component of vitamins· Aids in production and use of carbohydrates· Affects energy reactions in the plant

PHOSPHORUS

· Involved in photosynthesis, respiration, energy storage and transfer, cell division, and enlargement· Promotes early root formation and growth· Improves quality of fruits, vegetables, and grains· Vital to seed formation· Helps plants survive harsh winter conditions· Increases water-use efficiency· Hastens maturity

POTASSIUM

· Carbohydrate metabolism and the break down and translocation of starches· Increases photosynthesis and water-use efficiency· Essential to protein synthesis· Important in fruit formation· Activates enzymes and controls their reaction rates· Improves quality of seeds and fruit and improves winter hardiness· Increases disease resistance

SECONDARY NUTRIENTSThe secondary nutrients are calcium, magnesium, and sulphur. For most crops, these three are needed in lesser amounts that the primary nutrients. They are growing in importance in crop fertilization programs due to more stringent clean air standards and efforts to improve the environment.

CALCIUM· Utilized for Continuous cell division and formation· Involved in nitrogen metabolism· Reduces plant respiration· Aids translocation of photosynthesis from leaves to fruiting organs· Increases fruit set· Essential for nut development in peanuts· Stimulates microbial activity

MAGNESIUM· Key element of chlorophyll production· Improves utilization and mobility of phosphorus· Activator and component of many plant enzymes· Directly related to grass tetany· Increases iron utilization in plants· Influences earliness and uniformity of maturity

SULPHUR· Integral part of amino acids· Helps develop enzymes and vitamins· Promotes nodule formation on legumes· Aids in seed production· Necessary in chlorophyll formation (though it isn’t one of the constituents)

MICRONUTRIENTSThe micronutrients are boron, chlorine, cooper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc. These plant food elements are used in very small amounts, but they are just as important to plant development and profitable crop production as the major nutrients. Especially, they work "behind the scene" as activators of many plant functions.

BORON· Essential of germination of pollon grains and growth of pollen tubes· Essential for seed and cell wall formation· Promotes maturity· Necessary for sugar translocation· Affects nitrogen and carbohydrate

CHLORINE· Not much information about its functions· Interferes with P uptake· Enhances maturity of small grains on some soils

COPPER· Catalyzes several plant processes· Major function in photosynthesis· Major function in reproductive stages· Indirect role in chlorophyll production· Increases sugar content· Intensifies color· Improves flavor of fruits and vegetables

MICRONUTRIENTS

IRON· Promotes formation of chlorophyll· Acts as an oxygen carrier· Reactions involving cell division and growth

MAGANESE· Functions as a part of certain enzyme systems· Aids in chlorophyll synthesis· Increases the availability of P and CA

MOLYBDENUM· Required to form the enzyme "nitrate reductas" which reduces nitrates to ammonium in plant· Aids in the formation of legume nodules· Needed to convert inorganic phosphates to organic forms in the plant

ZINC· Aids plant growth hormones and enzyme system· Necessary for chlorophyll production· Necessary for carbohydrate formation· Necessary for starch formation· Aids in seed formation

In addition to the 13 nutrients listed above, plants require carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, which are extracted from air and water to make up the bulk of plant weight

RESPIRATION IN HUMAN BEINGS• Respiration involves the breaking down of

food to produce energy. It also helps provide required oxygen for the cells and to expel out the toxic carbon dioxide out of the cells.

• Respiration is the process that gets oxygen to the tissues of the body. In mammals, this involves inhalation through the nose into the lungs, where oxygen enters the blood. Oxygenated blood delivers oxygen to the tissues and removes carbon dioxide (the waste gas produced by metabolism). The end of the respiratory cycle occurs when the carbon dioxide is exhaled. Without the circulatory system (heart and blood vessels), the respiratory system would be ineffective.

RESPIRATION IN PLANTS

• Respiration is an important process in nature. It is a process by which the solar energy trapped by the plants in the food can be utilised. The organic compounds are broken down to release energy. This energy is in the form of ATP molecules and is made available for all the vital activities of the organism. ATP can also be stored.

• Photosynthesis utilises carbon dioxide and releases oxygen whereas respiration makes use of this oxygen and releases carbon dioxide, which is then used by plants. Respiration and photosynthesis are complementary to each other and together maintain the delicate oxygen-carbon dioxide balance in nature.

TRANSPORTATION IN HUMAN BEINGS

The transportation system in human beings is called the circulatory system. The materials are transported from one part of the body to another by a mass flow system which is the circulatory system.

In animals, particularly the more advanced forms, have a higher metabolic rate. This means that they require more nutrients and oxygen at a faster rate. They also produce more wastes that have to be removed from the cells in less time.

TRANSPORTATION IN PLANTSIn unicellular organisms a single cell carries out all the life processes as the cell

itself is the organism. In advanced forms like the few-celled algae, protozoa, sponges, etc., the size of the organism ensures that all the cells are not very far from each other.

The materials to be transported across the plant body are water, minerals and food. Apart from these nutrients, substances like the hormones also have to be transported. It is a physical process that involves the movement of solute particles from the region of their higher concentration to the region of their lower concentration. Transport of materials within the cell is by diffusion. The entry of carbon dioxide into the stomata is by diffusion. Plants absorb water from the soil through the roots. Thus, water has to be transported upwards to the other parts of the plant. This upward movement of water is called ascent of sap. It is called the sap as it contains many dissolved minerals. Ascent of sap involves root pressure and transpiration pull. Minerals are absorbed from the soil along with water as they are dissolved in water. They are taken up in the ionic form. Food is manufactured in the form of carbohydrates (sucrose) in the leaves. Thus, food is transported as sucrose along phloem. From the leaves the prepared food has to be transported to the roots, the younger top regions of the plant, the flowers and fruits. Thus, the food has to move in not only downward but also upward direction.

EXCRETIONExcretion is the process by which the waste products produced during metabolic activities is removed from the body.

In unicellular organism the waste products are removed from the cells into the surroundings by diffusion.

In multicellular organisms the waste prducts are removed through specialised organs.