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Related Concept Videos

Diffusion01:21

Diffusion

5.7K
Diffusion is a type of passive transport. In passive transport, a substance tends to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the concentration is equal across the space. For example, take the diffusion of substances through the air. When someone opens a perfume bottle in a room filled with people, the perfume is at its highest concentration in the bottle and is at its lowest at the edges of the room. The perfume vapor will diffuse, or spread away, from the...
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Diffusion01:12

Diffusion

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Diffusion is the passive movement of substances down their concentration gradients—requiring no expenditure of cellular energy. Substances, such as molecules or ions, diffuse from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration in the cytosol or across membranes. Eventually, the concentration will even out, with the substance moving randomly but causing no net change in concentration. Such a state is called dynamic equilibrium, which is essential for maintaining overall...
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Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics01:17

Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics

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Passive diffusion is a critical process that allows small lipophilic drugs to cross the cell membrane along a concentration gradient. This mechanism's efficiency depends on four primary factors: the membrane's surface area, the drug's lipid-water partition coefficient, the concentration gradient, and the membrane's thickness.
When administered orally, drugs establish a substantial concentration gradient between the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen and the bloodstream, expediting...
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Protein Diffusion in the Membrane01:24

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane

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Proteins show rotational as well as lateral diffusion across the membrane. The lateral diffusion of proteins was confirmed through the cell fusion experiment where mouse and human cells were fused, resulting in hybrid cells. When the human and mouse cells fused, the specific membrane proteins on human and mouse cells were marked with the red and green-fluorescent markers, respectively. Initially, the red and green fluorescence was located on the respective hemisphere of the cell. As time...
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Facilitated Transport01:19

Facilitated Transport

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The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, substances need to be able to transverse both regions. The hydrophobic area of membranes repels substances such as charged ions. Therefore, such substances need special membrane proteins to cross a membrane successfully. In  facilitated transport, also known as facilitated diffusion, molecules and ions travel across a...
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Facilitated Transport01:19

Facilitated Transport

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The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, substances need to be able to transverse both regions. The hydrophobic area of membranes repels substances such as charged ions. Therefore, such substances need special membrane proteins to cross a membrane successfully. In  facilitated transport, also known as facilitated diffusion, molecules and ions travel across a...
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The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow
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Selective advantage of diffusing faster.

Simone Pigolotti1, Roberto Benzi2

  • 1Departament de Fisica i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya Edifici GAIA, Rambla Sant Nebridi 22, 08222 Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain.

Physical Review Letters
|May 27, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Even small differences in diffusion rates can bias biological competition, favoring faster-moving species. This study quantifies this selective advantage in a spatial competition model.

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Area of Science:

  • Mathematical Biology
  • Population Dynamics
  • Statistical Physics

Background:

  • Biological competition models often assume equal mobility.
  • Spatial models like the voter model exhibit coarsening properties.
  • Differences in diffusion can impact species interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effect of differing diffusion constants on a stochastic spatial model of biological competition.
  • To quantify the selective advantage conferred by higher mobility.
  • To derive analytical formulas for species growth and fixation probability.

Main Methods:

  • Development of an off-lattice stochastic spatial competition model.
  • Theoretical analysis of the model with varying diffusion constants.
  • Derivation of analytical formulas for growth and fixation.

Main Results:

  • A small difference in diffusion constants (even a few percent) can strongly bias the coarsening process.
  • The more agile species gains a significant selective advantage.
  • Analytical formulas quantify the average growth and fixation probability of the faster species.

Conclusions:

  • Differential diffusivity is a crucial factor in biological competition dynamics.
  • Even minor mobility differences can lead to competitive exclusion.
  • The model provides a framework for understanding spatial effects in ecological competition.