In cold temperatures, phospholipid bilayers with saturated fatty acid tails are more rigid, while phospholipid bilayers with unsaturated fatty acid tails maintain the fluidity and flexibility that cells require. Based on the shape of each fatty acid tail, explain why this is the case.

Question

Biology

Leyla Garza

7 January, 21:24

In cold temperatures, phospholipid bilayers with saturated fatty acid tails are more rigid, while phospholipid bilayers with unsaturated fatty acid tails maintain the fluidity and flexibility that cells require. Based on the shape of each fatty acid tail, explain why this is the case.

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Answers (1)

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Darrell Abbott · Answer 1

The reason why, in cold temperatures and depending on the type of fatty acids, the phospholipid bilayer is less or more fluid is due to the different molecular interactions that occur between the tails of both types of fatty acids. the unsaturated - which determines the fluidity of the cell membrane.

Explanation:

Temperature and saturation of fatty acid tails are two factors that affect the fluidity of the phospholipid bilayer in cell membranes.

Under normal conditions, low temperatures decrease the fluidity of the phospholipid bilayer, since it decreases the kinetic energy and increases the molecular interactions, which increases the stiffness.

However, unsaturated fatty acids - those that contain double bonds in their molecules - have a configuration that allows their tails to be more separated in their arrangement in the bilayer, which avoids the increase in molecular interactions and maintains to a certain extent the membrane fluidity, despite low temperatures.