Question

Do the cells of honeybee function best in a hypertonic, hypotonic, or isotonic environment? Describe one thing that honey bee can do to ensure its cells are in the correct environment.

Answer 1

Ans. The cells of honey bees can function best in isotonic environment. In isotonic environment, the osmotic concentration of the cells are similar with the environment and hence there is no net movement of solvent from each other. But in case of hypertonic environment, the cells of honeybee will get plasmolysed due to loss of water and the normal functioning of cells will get disturbed. On the other hand, the cells of honeybee will absorb water from the environment in case of hypotonic environment and hence the cells will be tugid and even may get burst due to the absence of cell walls. Hence, the functioning of cells will be affected. The cells maintain cellular ionic homeostatic condition by efflux of cellular ions from the cytoplasm through protein channels in case of hypotonic environment to reduce the osmotic concentration inside the cytoplasm of the cells. In case of hypertonic environment, the cells does not lose ions in order to maintain high osmotic pressure to avoid loss of water.