Question

Draw and label the plasma membrane of your organism’s cell. Label the phospholipids, a transmembrane protein and cholesterol and describe the function of each part .My organism is great white shark

Answer 1

The great white shark or Carcharodon carcharias is an animal, which means it has a cell membrane made of the following phospholipids:

• phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho)

,

• phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn)

,

• phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns)

,

• phosphatidylserine (PtdSer).

Phospholipids are amphipathic molecules, which means they have a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail, which organize themselves into a bilayer that makes the cell membrane and separates the outside of the cell from the inside of the cell. This membrane is selectively permeable and it doesn't let ions and polar molecules pass through.

In a white shark cell, it will be also cholesterol present in the membrane, which wouldn't be present in the case of a plant. Cholesterol helps the membrane to have rigidity and strength because it fills the spaces left between the tails of the phospholipids.

We can have the ion channels as an example of a transmembrane protein, they exist to let ions go in and out of the cell given that they can't diffuse across the cell membrane.