question_answer 12)

Both lysosomes and vacuoles are endomembrane structures, yet they differ in terms of their functions. Comment.

Answer:

Both lysosomes and vacuoles are covered by a single membrane. Both of them perform different types of functions. Lysosomes contain hydrolysing enzymes and can hydrolyse all types of organic substances, except cellulose. They perform phagocytic function. Therefore, they are known as suicidal bags. The vacuoles are non-cytoplasmic sacs which are also covered by a membrane. The sap vacuoles store sap or water with dissolved organic and inorganic substances. They maintain osmotic pressure or turgidity. Some freshwater invertebrates such as Amoeba, Paramecium occur contractile vacuoles, which perform osmoregulation and excretion. There is another type of vacuoles such as food vacuole which store food and gas vacuoles which store metabolic gases and take part in buoyancy regulation. Thus, both lysosomes and vacuoles differ from each other in the type of functions they perform.