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Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's body fluids, detected by osmoreceptors, to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is, it maintains the fluid balance and the concentration of electrolytes (salts in solution which in this case is represented by body fluid) to keep the body fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated.
In biology, homeostasis (British also homoeostasis; / h ɒ m i oʊ ˈ s t eɪ s ɪ s,-m i ə-/) is the state of steady internal physical and chemical conditions maintained by living systems. [1] This is the condition of optimal functioning for the organism and includes many variables, such as body temperature and fluid balance , being kept ...
Homeostatic capacity refers to the capability of systems to self-stabilize in response to external forces or stressors, or more simply the capability of systems to maintain homeostasis. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] For living organisms , it is life's foundational trait, consisting of a hierarchy and network of traits endowed by nature and shaped by natural ...
In biochemistry, steady state refers to the maintenance of constant internal concentrations of molecules and ions in the cells and organs of living systems. [1] Living organisms remain at a dynamic steady state where their internal composition at both cellular and gross levels are relatively constant, but different from equilibrium concentrations. [1]
The internal environment (or milieu intérieur in French; French pronunciation: [mi.ljø ɛ̃.te.ʁjœʁ]) was a concept developed by Claude Bernard, [1] [2] a French physiologist in the 19th century, to describe the interstitial fluid and its physiological capacity to ensure protective stability for the tissues and organs of multicellular organisms.
An advantage of osmoconformation is that such organisms don’t need to expend as much energy as osmoregulators in order to regulate ion gradients. However, to ensure that the correct types of ions are in the desired location, a small amount of energy is expended on ion transport .
Fluid balance is an aspect of the homeostasis of organisms in which the amount of water in the organism needs to be controlled, via osmoregulation and behavior, such that the concentrations of electrolytes (salts in solution) in the various body fluids are kept within healthy ranges.
The best-understood contractile vacuoles belong to the protists Paramecium, Amoeba, Dictyostelium and Trypanosoma, and to a lesser extent the green alga Chlamydomonas. Not all species that possess a contractile vacuole are freshwater organisms ; some marine , soil microorganisms and parasites also have a contractile vacuole.