The importance of temperature regulation in organisms Regulating temperature is essential to all organisms in order to maintain a constant internal environment

for metabolic reactions despite fluctuations in the external temperature. Most organisms rely on several mechanisms to make rapid responses to changes in temperature in order to enable reactions to occur at a constant and predictable rate. In mammals the core body temperature is around 37 degrees. This is a compromise between the optimum temperature for enzyme activity and the energy required to maintain this temperature. The optimum temperature for enzymes in the body is actually at 40 degrees but this is disadvantageous to maintain as maintaining that temperature requires increasing the metabolic rate is too energy costly. By having a core temperature of 40 degrees it allows fluctuations in the core temperature such that they wont damage the enz ymes and cease enzyme activity. Also other proteins in the body may have a lower optimum temperature so a temperature of 40 degrees would denature them. Alterations in temperature will affect metabolic reactions as these are controlled by enzymes which are temperature dependent. At low temperatures enzyme activity is inefficient as enzymes may not have enough kinetic energy which must be larger than the activation energy to initiate a reaction. With the temperature at around 37 degrees the substrate and enzyme molecules possess more kinetic energy so have greater than the activation energy. This increases the rate of reaction and enzyme activity is most efficient. At temperatures above 37 degrees the ionic and hydrogen bonds in the tertiary and secondary structure of enzymes are broken and so the structure of the enzyme unfolds resulting in the substrate being unable to bind to the enzymes active site since the active site has a shape that is no longer complementary to the substrate. At first the substrate and active site fit less easily but once the shapes are not complementary to each other the enzyme is said to be denatured and no longer functional. Examples of metabolic reactions which would be affected by temperature changes are respiration and photosynthesis. Both processes rely on ATP synthase which at high temperatures would become less efficient and eventually non-functional. Respiration partially relies on chemiosmosis which involved pumping out the hydrogen ions from the matrix into the inter-membrane space. Changes in temperature could make the protein channels change shape and no longer able to pump the ions across the membrane. The pump also needs ATP to actively transport the hydrogen ions. ATP is synthesised in respiration (which mentioned above) would also be affected by temperature changes. Facilitated diffusion is affected by temperature as it relies on protein molecules which would be denatured by high temperatures and at low temperatures the protein channel may not gain enough kinetic energy to bind to the particle being transported cross the membrane and so the transport will be hindered. Particles passing through water filled channels depend on the kinetic energy of the diffusing particles. A low temperature will mean these molecules do not have enough kinetic energy to pass through the membrane from a higher concentration of the particle to a lower concentration down a concentration gradient. Planst must keep a constant temperature as the rate of photosynthesis will increase with increasing temperature until the structure of enzymes involved begins to unfold. The Light Independent reaction is temperature dependent as it involves the enzyme rubisco which catalyses the reaction of ribulose biphosphate and carbon dioxide to gylcerate-3-phosphate. Temperature can also affect the rate of transpiration which could lead to a loss of water needed for photosynthesis, transport of ions and cell turgidity. In addition the diffusion of gases and water will be affected. Plants must obtain and remove gases for photosynthesis and respiration. The sodium-potassium pump is a vital intrinsic protein molecule used in restoring the resting potential of neurones and in the absorption of glucose into the blood from the ileum. Low temperatures result in less efficiency of the pump as it possesses less kinetic energy. A slight rise in temperature will increase the speed of an impulse as the pump will have kinetic energy greater than the activation energy to actively transport ions across the membrane. Higher temperatures will alter the shape of the pump such that it cannot transport the ions across the membrane and no ATP will be available as respiration is temperature dependent. This will result in less glucose being absorbed into the blood stream and so less respiration will be able to take place. As the Na/K pump is essential for impulse transmission, low temperatures will halt all impulses as the axon will be unable to be repolarised. Too high a temperature results in the Na/K pump becoming inefficient and denaturing. The sodium ion and potassium ion voltage gated channels are also sensitive to temperature changes as they are composed of polypeptides. The changes in temperature will prevent them functioning and so no action potentials will be initiated resulting in the organism being paralysed. Being able to maintain a constant internal temperature has allowed organisms, such a mammals, to be independent of their environment which explains why mammals can be found in polar Artic regions and in the desert. These organisms are called endotherms as they can regulate their core temperature. Certain mechanisms in response to a rise in temperature are vasodilation, sweating and lowering erector hair muscles. Vasodilation is where arterioles dilate and so more warm blood flows nearer the surface of the skin resulting in

more heat being radiated from the skin. Sweating works as this uses heat energy and as the sweat glands release sweat onto the skin surface, the water evaporates from the skin taking heat energy with it, thus cooling the body down. When there is a fall in temperature endotherms can relax erector hair muscles, arterioles can constrict, shivering can begin and metabolic rate can increase to release more heat energy. Ectotherms however are unable to maintain their internal core temperature so rely on behavioural mechanisms for them to maintain their temp. They may press their body against the ground or expose themselves to the sun to gain heat or they may seek shade or shelter when they need to lower their core temperature. Some organisms are able to maintain their body temperature because of the colour if their skin/fur. Lizards found in warmer areas are lighter in colour than those found in colder locations as darker colours absorb more heat. Polar bears (although not ectotherms) for example, are able to keep warm because of their white fur (which is actually colourless) insulates their body in the polar Artic. Sloths survive on a low energy diet and so have a low metabolic rate and methods to conserve energy expenditure. A sloths core temperature can fluctuate by about 4 degrees because it has a limited ability to thermoregulate despite being an endotherm. It can therefore withstand unusually variable changes in temperature. However sloths still need to maintain a fairly constant core temperature and use behavioural methods such as moving in and out of sunlight to do so since they cannot sweat shiver or pant. Even microorganisms are sensitive to changes in temperature, and this is the reason why our body temperature rises when we get an infection. We get a fever because pyrogens such as Interleukin-1 flow in the blood stream to the hypothalamus (the part of the brain that controls temperature). Interleukin-1) is produced by macrophages when they come into contact with bacteria and viruses and stimulates the production of T-helper cells. Temperature changes are detected by thermoreceptors in the skin and in blood vessels in the hypothalamus. Impulses are send to the hypothalamus from the receptors in the skin through the autonomic system and provide information about the external temperature. The blood flows through the hypothalamus where there are two centres: the heat gain centre and the heat loss centre. When the core temperature has risen, the impulses are sent to the heat loss centre to activate the mechanisms that lower core temperature and impulses are sent to the relevant effectors to be stimulated (e.g impulses sent to the sweat glands to stimulate sweat production from the glands so water can evaporate from the skin) When the temperature has fallen, the heat gain centre is stimulated and impulses are sent to the relevant effectors to gain heat (e.g. impulses sent to skeletal muscles to stimulate involuntary rapid movements to gain heat energy). Organisms such as the shrew have a thin surface area to volume ratio. As a result they lose heat to the surroundings very quickly however they still need to keep a constant internal temperature. To counteract this problem the shrew has a high level of metabolic activity in order to replenish the heat energy that has been lost. The O2 dissociation curve of a shrew is more to the right because they have a lower affinity for oxygen. Instead shrews are able to release oxygen more readily to respiring cells to maintain the core temperature by releasing heat from respiration; oxygen dissociates more readily. Thus is because the hemoglobin in shrews has a shape adapted to a low oxygen affinity due to the sequence of amino acids in the polypeptides. Changes in temperature would alter the structure of hemoglobin as it is composed of four polypeptide chains. If the temperature decreases too far from the norm, hemoglobin transport and dissociation will be inefficient and very slow. If the temperature increases too far above the set point, the hemoglobin molecules secondary and tertiary structure will begin to unfold, bonds will break and its shape will change. It will no longer e complementary to the oxygen molecule and oxygen transport will stop. Since so many metabolic reactions are temperature dependent, it is vital to maintain a constant internal temperature despite changes in the external temperature. Maintaining a constant temperature is not simply for optimum functioning of proteins but to ensure processes such as cell division occur at a constant and predictable rate. Cell divisionwould cease at too high a temperature as this will break the hydrogen bonds in DNA and thus prevent DNA replication which occurs prior to cell division. DNA contains the instructions for coding all the polypeptides in an organism and is thus the hereditary material from one generation to the next. Damaging DNA will not only threaten the survival of individuals (as old or damaged cells cannot be replaced and proteins cannot be synthesised) but it will also prevent the development of future generations as ells division is fundamental to meiosis in the formation of gametes for reproduction.