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Related Concept Videos

Short-distance Transport of Resources02:12

Short-distance Transport of Resources

Short-distance transport refers to transport that occurs over a distance of just 2-3 cells, crossing the plasma membrane in the process. Small uncharged molecules, such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water, can diffuse across the plasma membrane on their own. In contrast, ions and larger molecules require the assistance of transport proteins due to their charge or size. Transport across membranes also occurs within individual cells, playing a variety of essential roles for the plant as a whole.
The Significance of Membrane Transport01:44

The Significance of Membrane Transport

The transport of solutes across the cell membrane is essential for metabolic processes, like maintaining cell size and volume, generating the action potential, exchanging nutrients and gases, etc. Membrane transport can be either passive or active. It can be simple diffusion, facilitated, or mediated transport aided by transport proteins such as transporters and channels.
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
Transcellular Transport of Solutes01:23

Transcellular Transport of Solutes

Transcellular transport of solutes is the movement of substances like monosaccharides and amino acids through polarized cells. This transport mechanism is primarily seen in epithelial and endothelial cells aided by membrane transport proteins such as channels and transporters. The tight junctions between these cells confine the membrane proteins to the two sides of the cell. The epithelial cells have distinct apical and basolateral domains. In contrast, the endothelial cells show the luminal...
Facilitated Diffusion01:16

Facilitated Diffusion

The plasma membrane, a critical structure in cellular biology, houses an array of transporters, or carrier proteins, interspersed within its lipid bilayer. These proteins play a crucial role in solute transport through facilitated diffusion, a form of passive diffusion that uses transporters to move the molecules across the membrane.
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
Membrane Transporters01:31

Membrane Transporters

Transporters are essential membrane transport proteins with functions related to cell nutrition, homeostasis, communication, etc. Approximately 7% of all genes in the human genome code for transporters or transporter-related proteins.
Transporters are mainly composed of alpha-helices, built from bundles of ten or more helices traversing the plasma membrane. The solute-binding sites are located midway, where some of the helices are broken or distorted, making space for the binding site through...
Active Transport01:14

Active Transport

Active transport is a critical biological process that allows cells to move solutes against an electrochemical gradient. This process requires direct energy input and is characterized by its selectivity, saturability, and susceptibility to competitive inhibition.
Primary active transporters, like Na+, K+ and -ATPase, directly utilize ATP to move ions across the membrane. These transporters play significant roles in various physiological processes. For instance, Na+, K+ and -ATPase maintain...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Combining Fluidic Devices with Microscopy and Flow Cytometry to Study Microbial Transport in Porous Media Across Spatial Scales
12:32

Combining Fluidic Devices with Microscopy and Flow Cytometry to Study Microbial Transport in Porous Media Across Spatial Scales

Published on: November 25, 2020

Biological solutions to transport network design.

Daniel P Bebber1, Juliet Hynes, Peter R Darrah

  • 1Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|July 12, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Fungal networks, unlike plant or animal transport systems, form adaptable, reticulated structures. These mycelial networks efficiently transport resources and resist damage, offering insights for designing artificial networks.

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Mycology
  • Network Science

Background:

  • Multicellular organisms rely on transport networks (e.g., vascular systems) for nutrient distribution and waste removal.
  • Animal and plant transport systems exhibit branching tree architectures governed by scaling laws.
  • Fungal mycelia form dynamic, reticulated networks through hyphal branching and fusion, adapting to patchy environments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the network structures, dynamic behaviors, and ecological functions of fungal transport systems.
  • To investigate the transport capacity and robustness of fungal networks.
  • To understand how fungal networks achieve efficiency and resilience with decreasing investment.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized Phanerochaete velutina, a woodland saprotroph, for experimental analysis.
  • Examined network growth, structure, and transport dynamics.
  • Assessed network robustness to damage and cost-effectiveness of network construction.

Main Results:

  • Fungal networks demonstrate high transport capacity and robustness to damage.
  • These properties improve as the fungal network grows.
  • The relative cost of building the network decreases with increased growth.
  • Selective reinforcement and recycling of transport pathways contribute to efficiency and robustness.

Conclusions:

  • Fungal mycelia achieve efficient transport and robustness with decreasing relative investment.
  • Indeterminate and decentralized fungal networks yield highly adaptive structures.
  • Studying fungal network adaptation through natural selection can inform the design of artificial networks.