Question

Do vacuoles store energy?

Answer 1

Hint: Vacuoles are the cell organelle found specifically in the plant cells having a large size. These are membrane-bound cell organelles that are filled with water, containing inorganic and organic molecules. The main function of the vacuole is to maintain the osmotic balance. They also contain water and waste.

Complete answer:
Vacuoles are the organelle in the cells that help in maintaining the quantity of water and regulate the osmotic balance in the cell. The vacuole is bound by a single membrane-like structure called Tonoplast which is a single membrane that binds the vacuoles and separates them from the cytoplasm. They do not store energy rather help in the maintenance of osmotic pressure.
In plants, tonoplasts facilitate the uphill transport of many ions and other materials, making their concentration higher in vacuole than in the cytoplasm. Toxins in vacuoles are stored from the rest of the cell, where they can be proved to be harmful.
Functions of vacuole:
- Vacuoles maintain the shape of the plant cell by creating turgor pressure (internal hydrostatic pressure).
- Vacuoles store those pigments that are responsible for the color of the plant structures such as petals.
- Vacuoles aid in the storage of water, food, and other substances.
- Vacuoles in some cases contain chemicals that would otherwise react with the cytosol.
- The cytoplasmic pH of the cell is maintained with the help of vacuoles in plants.
- The process of degradative processes, osmoregulation, and storing amino acids in certain fungi such as yeast is done by vacuoles.
- Vacuoles are called gas vacuoles in some cyanobacteria as they contain certain gases that help in controlling buoyancy.
- Vacuoles are involved in the containment, transport, and disposal of some proteins and lipids to the extracellular environment of the cell in the case of animal cells.

Note:
Vacuoles are present in all plant and fungal cells where it is larger in size while it is smaller in size in the case of the animal cells. The vacuole is often considered the largest organelle in the cell. The vacuole that are very small in size and are membrane-bound will form a vacuole called a vesicle.