\'11 Verizon? 8:08 AM Discussion Problem Set 3 Problem Set 3: When crabs living

Question

'11 Verizon? 8:08 AM Discussion Problem Set 3 Problem Set 3: When crabs living in full-strength seawater swell during molting, they take on the water that bloats their bodies from the seawater in which they live. They obtain some of the water by drinking. The activity of NaK ATPase in their gills also increases when they swell during molting. What would the increase in gill NaK ATPase have to do with increasing water uptake in the crabs? Explain your answer Showing most recent Enter your response... Reply

Explanation / Answer

Crabs undergo haemolymphic osmoregulation. They actively take in or excrete ions upon change in salinity. Here, gills are the most important osmoregulatory organ. NaK ATPase is one of the key enzymes which is involved in the osmoregulatory process. It establishes an ion gradient across the epithelial cell membranes which is used to drive the flow of water into the cells and swell them up. Higher the activity of the enzyme, higher is the differences in the concentration gradient established for ion flow, allowing more water molecules to flow into the cell.

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