BSC 2011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Metabolic Waste, Tonicity, Osmosis
25 Mar 2015
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Bsc2011 - integrated principles of biology 2 - lecture 24: salt water balance and. Ammonia is a toxic byproduct of amino acid and nucleic acid metabolism. Aquatic animals allow water to dilute and carry ammonia away. Ammonia is soluble in water and aquatic animals secrete nh3 through gills along with co2. In a closed system aquarium, ammonia will build up and eventually kill the fish. In an established aquarium, bacteria will convert the ammonia in the water to something less toxic. You can inoculate a new aquarium by taking a filter from an old aquarium and using it in the new one. Ammonia is toxic and requires a lot of water to get rid of it. Because of limited water, terrestrial animals must convert ammonia to less toxic forms and temporarily store nitrogenous waste. Terrestrial animals must conserve water and therefore convert nh3 to less toxic urea or uric acid. Mammals convert ammonia by-product to urea (2-nitrogen molecule).
