All Topics  
Assimilation (biology)

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Assimilation (biology)
 
 
  Topics Assimilation (biology) Topic Home

Biological assimilation, or bioassimilation, involves one of two different processes to supply animal cells with nutrients. The first is the process of absorbing vitamins, minerals, and other chemicals from food within the gastrointestinal tract
Gastrointestinal tract

The digestive tract is the system of Organ s within multicellular animals that takes in food, digestion it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste....
. In humans this is done with a chemical breakdown (enzymes and acids) and physical breakdown (oral mastication
Mastication

Mastication or chewing is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion and it increases the surface area of foods to allow more efficient break down by enzymes....
 and stomach churning.) The second process of bioassimilation is the chemical alteration of substances in the bloodstream by the liver or cellular secretions.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Assimilation (biology)'
Start a new discussion about 'Assimilation (biology)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Biological assimilation, or bioassimilation, involves one of two different processes to supply animal cells with nutrients. The first is the process of absorbing vitamins, minerals, and other chemicals from food within the gastrointestinal tract
Gastrointestinal tract

The digestive tract is the system of Organ s within multicellular animals that takes in food, digestion it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste....
. In humans this is done with a chemical breakdown (enzymes and acids) and physical breakdown (oral mastication
Mastication

Mastication or chewing is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion and it increases the surface area of foods to allow more efficient break down by enzymes....
 and stomach churning.) The second process of bioassimilation is the chemical alteration of substances in the bloodstream by the liver or cellular secretions. Although many similar compounds can be absorbed in digestion bioassimilation, the bioavailability
Bioavailability

In pharmacology, bioavailability is used to describe the fraction of an administered dose of unchanged drug that reaches the systemic circulation, one of the principal pharmacokinetics properties of medication....
 of many compounds is dictated by this second process since both the liver and cellular secretions can be very specific in their metabolic action (see chirality (chemistry)
Chirality (chemistry)

The term chiral is used to describe an object that is non-Superposition on its mirror image.Human hands are perhaps the most universally recognized example of chirality: The left hand is a non-superposable mirror image of the right hand; no matter how the two hands are oriented, it is impossible for all the major features of both hands...
.)

Most foods are composed of largely indigestible components depending on the enzymes and effectiveness of an animals digestive tract. The most well known of these indigestible compounds is cellulose; the basic chemical polymer
Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties....
 in the makeup of plant cell walls. Most animals, however, do not produce cellulase; the enzyme needed to digest cellulose. However some animal species have developed symbiotic relationships with cellulase producing bacteria (see termites and metamonads.) This allows termites to use the energy dense cellulose carbohydrate. Other such enzymes are known to significantly improve bioassimilation of nutrients. Because of the use of bacterial derivatives enzymatic dietary supplements now contain such enzymes as Amylase, Glucoamylase, Protease, Invertase, Peptidase, Lipase, Lactase, Phytase, and Cellulase. These enzymes improve the overall bioassimilation in the digestive tract but are still not proven to increase bloodstream bioavailability. Basically the enzymes and other breakdowns make the bigger substances of food smaller so they can go through the rest of their digestion more easily.

Examples of biological assimilation

  • Photosynthesis
    Photosynthesis

    File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpgPhotosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight....
    , a process whereby carbon dioxide
    Carbon dioxide

    Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
     and water
    Water

    Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
     are transformed into a number of organic molecules in plant
    Plant

    Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
     cells
    Cell (biology)

    The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
    .
  • Nitrogen fixation
    Nitrogen fixation

    Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form in the Earth's atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds ....
     from the soil into organic molecules by symbiotic
    Symbiosis

    The term symbiosis commonly describes close and often long-term interactions between different biological species. The term was first used in 1879 by the Germany mycology Heinrich Anton de Bary, who defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms"....
     bacteria
    Bacteria

    The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
     which live in the root
    Root

    In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
    s of certain plants, such as Leguminosae.
  • Magnesium supplements orotate, oxide, sulfate, citrate, and glycerate are all structurally similar. However, oxide and sulfate are not water soluble and do not enter the blood stream while orotate and glycerate have Normal exiguous liver conversion. Chlorophyll sources or magnesium citrate are highly bioassimilable.


  • The absorption of nutrient
    Nutrient

    A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment....
    s into the body after digestion
    Digestion

    Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be Absorption, for instance, by a blood stream....
     in the intestine
    Intestine

    In anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the Gastrointestinal tract extending from the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine....
     and its transformation in biological tissue
    Biological tissue

    Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. Hence, a tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function....
    s and fluid
    Fluid

    A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. All liquids and all gases are fluids. Fluids are a subset of the Phase and include liquids, gas, Plasma physics and, to some extent, plasticity ....
    s.
  • Assimilation is occurring in every cell of the body to help develop new cells.


See also

  • Anabolism
    Anabolism

    Anabolism is the set of metabolic pathways that construct molecules from smaller units. These reactions require energy. One way of categorizing metabolic processes, whether at the cell ular, organ or organism level is as 'anabolic' or as 'catabolism', which is the opposite....
  • Biochemistry
    Biochemistry

    Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....


  • Bioavailability
    Bioavailability

    In pharmacology, bioavailability is used to describe the fraction of an administered dose of unchanged drug that reaches the systemic circulation, one of the principal pharmacokinetics properties of medication....


Citations

Longman Biology for IGCSE