Surface tension in biological systems - a common problem with a variety of solutions.

Autor: Soncini R; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Alfenas, MG, Brazil., Klein W; Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: wklein@usp.br.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology [Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol] 2023 Oct; Vol. 284, pp. 111475. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jul 06.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.111475
Abstrakt: Water is of fundamental importance to living organisms, not only as a universal solvent to maintain metabolic activity but also due to the effects the physical properties of water have on different organismal structures. In this review, we explore some examples of how living organisms deal with surfaces covered with or in contact with water. While we do not intend to describe all possible forms of interactions in every minute detail, we would like to draw attention to this intriguing interdisciplinary subject and discuss the positive and negative effects of the interaction forces between water molecules and organisms. Topics explored include locomotion on water, wettability of surfaces, benefits of retaining a film of air while submerged (Salvinia effect), surface tension of water inhibiting air-breathing, accumulation of water in small tubes, surface tension in non-mammalian and mammalian respiratory systems. In each topic, we address the importance of interactions with water and the adaptations seen in an organism to solve the surface-related challenges, trying to explore the different selective pressures acting onto different organisms allowing exploring or compensating these surface-related interactions.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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