Question

You are studying two populations of paramecia (freshwater protists): one population lives in a pond in Antarctica, and the other lives in a pond in southern Florida. If you examined the plasma membranes of both of these populations at the same time of year, what difference would you expect to find between their membranes? (Hint: consider saturation, tail length, etc. of the phospholipid chains.)

Answer 1

The cells from the Antarctic population will have more fluid plasma membranes, while the cells from the population in southern Florida will have a higher cholesterol concentration in their plasma membranes.

Step-by-step explanation:

The difference you would expect to find between the plasma membranes of the paramecia populations in the Antarctica and southern Florida ponds is that the cells from the Mediterranean coast (Antarctica) will have more fluid plasma membranes due to their exposure to lower temperatures, while the cells from the Mojave Desert (southern Florida) will have a higher cholesterol concentration in their plasma membranes to maintain membrane fluidity in higher temperatures.