osmotic environment

(noun)

environment with controlled net movement of molecules from a region of high solvent concentration to a region of low solvent concentration through a permeable membrane.

Examples of osmotic environment in the following topics:

  • Mycoplasmas and Other Cell-Wall-Deficient Bacteria

    • Cell walls are unnecessary here because the cells only live in the controlled osmotic environment of other cells.
    • Similarly, they have no need for genes encoding many different pathways for various carbon, nitrogen and energy sources, since their intracellular environment is completely predictable.
    • Because of the absence of cell walls, Mycoplasma have a spherical shape and are quickly killed if placed in an environment with very high or very low salt concentrations.
    • L-forms have varied shapes and are sensitive to osmotic shock .

  • Osmotic Pressure

    • It is also defined as the minimum pressure needed to nullify osmosis.The phenomenon of osmotic pressure arises from the tendency of a pure solvent to move through a semi-permeable membrane and into a solution containing a solute to which the membrane is impermeable.
    • Two of the most common substances used to create hypertonic environment for microorganisms and prevent them from growing are salt and sugar.
    • Removal of water and addition of salt to meat creates a solute-rich environment where osmotic pressure draws water out of microorganisms, thereby retarding their growth.
    • The purpose of sugaring is to create an environment hostile to microbial life and prevent food spoilage.

  • Nonthermophilic Crenarchaeota

    • Nonthermophilic Crenarchaeota can be extreme halophiles living in highly salty environments.
    • Crenarchaeota can be extreme halophiles, and include organisms living in highly salty environments (for example, halococcus).
    • Rhodopsin protein and other proteins serve to protect Halococcus from the extreme salinities of the environment.
    • To do this they use a solute, which is either found in their cell structure or is drawn from the external environment.
    • Special chlorine pumps allow the organisms to retain chloride to maintain osmotic balance with the salinity of their habitat.

  • Freshwater Environments

    • Fresh water creates a hypotonic environment for aquatic organisms.
    • Although most aquatic organisms have a limited ability to regulate their osmotic balance and therefore can only live within a narrow range of salinity, diadromous fish have the ability to migrate between fresh water and saline water bodies.

  • Osmotic Pressure

    • The correct osmotic pressure in the culture medium is essential for the survival of the cells.
    • Osmoregulation is the homeostasis mechanism of an organism to reach balance in osmotic pressure.
    • Having the correct osmotic pressure in the culture medium is essential.

  • Natural Killer Cells

    • The granzymes then break down the target cell, inducing death by either apoptosis or osmotic cell lysis.
    • Numerous experiments have demonstrated their ability to adjust to the immediate environment and formulate antigen-specific immunological memory, which is fundamental for responding to secondary infections with the same antigen.

  • The Cell Wall of Bacteria

    • A wall located outside the cell membrane provides the cell support, and protection against mechanical stress or damage from osmotic rupture and lysis .

  • Oligotrophs

    • An oligotroph is an organism that thrives in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients.
    • They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments.
    • An ecosystem or environment is said to be oligotrophic if it offers little to sustain life.
    • The term is commonly utilized to describe environments of water, ice, air, rock or soil with very low nutrient levels.
    • These hot springs are an example of harsh environments that some extremophiles can grow in.

  • Peptidoglycan Synthesis and Cell Division

    • Peptidoglycan serves a structural role in the bacterial cell wall giving it strength, as well as counteracting the osmotic pressure of the cytoplasm.

  • Microbial Environments and Microenvironments

    • The extraordinary biological diversity among microbes reflects their ability to occupy every habitable environment on the planet.
    • They live and thrive in all parts of the biosphere where there is liquid water, including hostile environments such as the poles, deserts, geysers, rocks, and the deep sea.
    • Microorganisms are ubiquitous despite the fact that the planet is host to extraordinarily diverse environments.
    • Extremely saline environments (including those in which the salt concentration is saturating)
    • Microbes, therefore, are not only adapted to their habitat, but also to the immediate environment, thus promoting increased diversity among microbial species within an ecosystem.