LIFE PROCESSES -

EXCRETION
 INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION – Excretion is the biological process by which an organism gets rid of excess or
toxic waste products of metabolism.

IMPORTANCE OF EXCRETION
▪ Removes unwanted by-products of metabolism and toxic chemical substances.
▪ Regulate the ionic concentration of body fluids.
▪ Regulates the water content of the body.
▪ Regulate the pH of body fluids.
MODE OF EXCRETION IN UNICELLULAR AND MULTICELLULAR
ORGANISMS

UNICELLULAR ORGANISMS – Waste products produced by cellular metabolism are diffused into the
surrounding water through general body surface, e.g. Amoeba and Paramecium. Some excretion occurs by
way of contractile vacuole (a vacuole in some protozoans that contracts regularly to discharge fluid and
especially water from the cell) also.

Note – The Major Excretory Products Of Animals

Are Nitrogenous Compounds Such As Ammonia
(Aquatic Animals), Uric Acid (Birds), Urea
(Human).

MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS – Specialised organs perform the function of excretion, e.g. flame cells
(Planaria), nephridia (earthworm), Malpighian tubules (insects), kidneys (human beings) etc.
 EXCRETION IN HUMAN BEINGS
The excretory system in human beings
consists of the following:

✔ a pair of kidneys
✔ a pair of ureters
✔ a urinary bladder
✔ a urethra

▪ The left kidney is placed slightly higher than the right

kidney to adjust in the abdominal cavity.
▪ Renal artery – carries oxygenated blood to the kidney.
▪ Renal vein – carries deoxygenated blood from the
kidneys.
STRUCTURE OF KIDNEY
• Reddish-brown , bean shaped structure located towards the back of
abdominal cavity on either side of the backbone.
• It has a length of 10-12 cm, a width of 5-7 cm and weighs around
120-170g.
• The kidneys have an inner concave structure.
• At the center, there is a notch called hilum through which the blood
vessels and nerves enter the organ.
• Towards the inner surface of the hilum, there is a large funnel-shaped
space called renal pelvis (continues outward as ureter).
• Inside the kidney, there are two zones- the outer zone is cortex and the
inner zone is medulla.
• Internally a kidney is made up of numerous microscopic excretory
units called nephrons (structural and functional unit of kidney).
• Each kidney contains about 1 million nephrons.
FUNCTIONs OF KIDNEY
Maintenance of osmoregulation (process of maintenance of salt and water balance in the
body).

Removal of nitrogenous wastes (urea and small amount of uric acid) from blood in the form of
urine.

Maintenance of constant concentration of blood plasma.

Regulates the pH of blood.

Maintenance of homeostasis (ability to maintain a constant internal environment in response

to environmental changes).
STRUCTURE OF NEPHRON
STRUCTURE OF NEPHRON
EACH NEPHRON HAS THE FOLLOWING PARTS:

Bowman’s capsule – It is a thin walled cup, something like a hollow ball pressed deep on one side. Its hollow
internal space continues into the tubule. Inside it there is a knot like mass of blood capillaries, called the
glomerulus. The Bowman’s capsule and the glomerulus together is called the Malpighian capsule. It is
located in the cortex of the kidney.
Bowman’s capsule + Glomerulus = Malpighian capsule.

NOTE

• AFFERENT ARTERIOLE – blood vessel through

which impure blood enters the nephron for
filtration; wider in diameter.

• EFFERENT ARTERIOLE – after filtration

purified blood leaves the nephron through
this blood vessel; narrow in diameter.
 Proximal Convoluted Tubule (PCT) – It is the starting
convoluted region of the nephron (“proximal” means
nearer, i.e. nearer to the Bowman’s capsule). Located in the
cortex of the kidney.

Loop of Henle (Middle U-shaped part) – It is the thinnest

part of the tubular structure of nephron and is shaped like
a hair pin. It runs in medulla to turn back and to re-enter
the cortex to continue into the next convoluted region of
the nephron. It has an ascending and a descending limb.

Distal Convoluted Tubule (DCT) – It is the end part of the

nephron (“distal” means far away, i.e. away from the
Bowman’s capsule). It opens into a collecting duct. The
collecting duct receives the contents of many nephrons and
pour it as urine in the pelvis of the kidney.

NOTE – efferent arteriole forms a network of thin blood

capillaries called the vasa recta (refer to the diagram on slide 7).
MAJOR PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE FORMATION OF URINE

Ultrafiltration of blood (glomerular filtration) – it is the first step in making urine. Impure blood
enters the glomerulus via the afferent arteriole and is filtered under high pressure in the
glomerulus. After that purified blood along with macromolecules such as proteins and blood
corpuscles are sent back to the body via the efferent arteriole. The fluid containing waste
materials is forced out of the glomerular capillaries and is called the glomerular filtrate. It contains
sodium, potassium, chloride ions, glucose, amino acids, urea, uric acid and large amount of water.
The filtrate then moves out of the Bowman’s capsule and enters the PCT.

Selective reabsorption of substances (water, glucose, amino acids, sodium ions, chloride ions
etc) from the filtrate – certain substances present in the filtrate are useful to the body and are not
excreted. So they are reabsorbed in the body. Around 99% of the filtrate is reabsorbed by the
tubular parts of nephron.

Secretion of certain substances (some drugs like penicillin, urea, hydrogen ions, ammonium
ions, potassium ions etc.) into the filtrate – in this step certain unwanted substances and waste
products are secreted from the blood into the tubular region of nephron so that they mix up with
the filtrate and can be eliminated out of the body in the form of urine.
 PARTS OF NEPHRON ACTIVITY
GLOMERULUS Ultrafiltration.

BOWMAN’S CAPSULE Receives glomerular filtrate.

PROXIMAL CONVOLUTED TUBULE Reabsorption of most of water and much of glucose,

sodium ions and chloride ions.

LOOP OF HENLE Absorption of water and sodium ions.

DISTAL CONVOLUTED TUBULE ▪ Reabsorption of remaining chlorides and some

water.
▪ Secretion of hydrogen ions, potassium ions, foreign
chemicals such as penicillin and other drugs into
the forming urine.
URINE EXCRETION
Final urine passes into the collecting ducts and then to the renal pelvis.
From the pelvis, through the ureter it goes to the urinary bladder.
Urine is stored temporarily in the urinary bladder.
When the bladder is filled up, urine is expelled out of the body through the
urethra under impulse from the nervous system.
Such a process is called is micturition.

VASOPRESSIN/ANTI DIURETIC HORMONE(ADH)-

Reabsorption of water from tubular part of nephron-
maintains water balance
CONSTITUENTS OF URINE
95% WATER

5% SOLID WASTES
▪ ORGANIC – UREA, CREATININE, URIC ACID ETC.
▪ INORGANIC – SODIUM CHLORIDE, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, AMMONIA ETC.

NOTE – URINE IS YELLOW IN COLOR DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF THE PIGMENT UROCHROME.
HEMODIALYSIS
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROCESS

Kidney filters approximately 180 liters of blood every day. If the kidneys are not functioning properly, waste
starts accumulating in the blood. This results in coma and even death. To cure this, the patient is subjected to
dialysis. Dialysis maintains the body balance in the following ways:
• It controls blood pressure.
• It removes excess water and metabolic wastes from the body.
• Prevents chemicals such as potassium, bicarbonate and sodium from reaching hazardous levels.

Dialysis is used for people with a critical kidney disorder – renal failure, infections of the kidney, reduced blood
flow to the kidneys thereby reducing the activity of kidneys etc. This treatment may continue for months or
years since most kidney failures are irreversible.
 HOW IS THE PROCESS OF HEMODIALYSIS CARRIED OUT?

▪ Haemodialysis machine (artificial kidney) contain a number of tubes with a semi-permeable lining (like that
of cell membrane), suspended in a tank filled with dialysing fluid.
▪ The fluid has the same osmotic pressure as that of blood but is devoid of nitrogenous waste.
▪ Blood from the patient’s artery is passed through these tubes.
▪ During this passage the waste products from the blood pass into the dialysing fluid by diffusion.
▪ The purified blood is pumped back into the patient’s vein.
EXCRETION IN PLANTS
Elimination of toxic and waste products from the body is called excretion. Organisms like animals have an
advanced and specialized system for excretion. But plants lack a well-developed excretory system like that
in animals. They do not have special organs for excretion. Thus excretion in plants is not so complex.

EXCRETORY PRODUCTS
• The cellular respiration, photosynthesis, and other metabolic reactions produce a lot of excretory
products in plants. Carbon dioxide, excess water produced during respiration and nitrogenous
compounds produced during protein metabolism are the major excretory products in plants.
• Plants produce two gaseous waste products i.e. oxygen during photosynthesis and carbon dioxide
during respiration. Excretion of gaseous waste in plants takes place through stomatal pores on leaves.
Oxygen released during photosynthesis is used for respiration while carbon dioxide released during
respiration is used for photosynthesis.
• Excess of water is also excreted from the plant body through the stomatal pores and from the surfaces
of fruits and stems. The process of elimination of water is called transpiration.
Other than gaseous wastes, metabolism in plants also generates organic by-products. These wastes are stored
in different forms in different parts. The gums, oils, latex, resins, etc. are some waste products stored in plant
parts like barks, stems (old xylem), leaves, etc. Eventually, plants shed off these parts. Many plant waste
products are stored in cellular vacuoles.

The oil produced from orange, eucalyptus, jasmine, latex from the rubber tree, papaya tree, and gums from
acacia, are different forms of stored waste products. Sometimes they even excrete into the soil.
END