Essential Elements

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 Have you ever wondered what maintains this body of yours? Well, the first thing that will come to your mind is food and water. Right but Why? How? What in this food keeps us alive and maintains our proper health?







The basic building block of all matter are atoms. Atoms interact together to form complex molecules and compounds. Scientists have found 92 naturally occurring elements in the world. A single element is composed of a single atom ( Note: natural states of these elements are found as mostly compounds) with neutrons and protons at the nucleus (center) and electrons revolving around them.






The food you eat and the water you drink contain these elements. Out of these elements, the elements that gives the organism the necessary / required attributes to maintain the proper structure and metabolism and to complete life cycles and produce fertile off springs are called Essential Elements.




Now to give you a better understanding of Essential Elements, let us take for an example a company which is located in a large building. What are the most necessary attributes that the Manager of this Company has to focus on, in order to make sure the company runs smoothly and develop further in the future?



First thing first she/he has to make sure the building in which the company and its employees are stated in, is in the proper condition. Therefore, the manager has to employ engineers to maintain the building whether it be a fault in the structural integrity or any other damages to the building [ which is similar to how Calcium, an essential element, in certain food that we consume involve in maintaining bone tissue of the skeletal system in humans].






Then she/he has to maintain an efficient administrative system in order for the employees to carry out their tasks efficiently [ which is similar to K/Na, essential elements, which are involved in the proper functioning of the nervous system in humans].






Finally if the company is able to maintain these essential attributes it will further contribute to developing the company and form branches of its parent company [ which is similar to producing fertile off springs in organisms].





From the analogy above the engineers who maintained the building, the employers and employees who maintained an efficient administrative system were all essential in maintaining that company and developing the company and producing branches of itself.

This is how Essential Elements associate and contribute to organisms.



Essential Elements can be categorized based on the molecular weight compared to the dry weight of the organisms.

Accordingly there are 2,

MACRO ELEMENTS

MICRO ELEMENTS


·         Dry weight; is the weight that is remaining once the water content of that organism is removed.

·         Macro Element; Essential Elements which have a greater molecular weight than 0.01% of the dry weight of an organism.

·         Micro Element; Essential Elements which have a lesser molecular weight than 0.01% of the dry weight of an organism.



Percentage Mass (W/W%)=

(mass of an Essential Element)/(Dry Weight of the Organism) ×100%



Therefore when,



Molecular weight(mass) > 0.01/100 ×Dry Weight of an Organism

It is a Macro Element.



And when,



Molecular weight(mass) < 0.01/100 ×Dry Weight of an Organism

It is a Micro Element.




Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen they involve in making up the 4 major biological molecules that are present in each and every organism. Therefore, they allocate a large percentage of the organism. According to the general statistics, that accounts up to 96% of the Total dry weight of an organism.

In addition, Phosphorous, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulphur and Calcium account to 3 – 4 % of the Total Dry Weight of an organism.

Since each of the above elements account to more than 0.01 % of the Dry Weight of an organism they are considered as Macro Elements.

Iron, Chlorine, Molybdenum, Zinc, Boron, Sodium, and Copper these elements account to only a percentage less than 0.01 % of the Dry Weight of an organism therefore they are considered as Micro Elements.

An exception can be seen with Fe and Cl which act as Macro Elements in animals while Micro Elements in plants.



Functions of essential elements range from acting as structural components to involving in chemical and metabolic processes within the organism.


·         Macro Elements they mainly can be seen as structural components in organisms in addition certain macro elements are involved in chemical and metabolic processes as well.

C, H, O – Involve as structural components of Carbohydrates, Proteins, Lipids and Nucleic acids

N – Act as a structural component of amino acids, proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acids and enzymes

P – Act as a structural component in phospholipids, ADP/ATP, nucleic acids

Fe – Structural components of Haemoglobin, Cytochrome and Nitrogenase enzymes

Ca – Structural component of bonne tissue, middle lamellae and chlorophyll

Mg – Structural component of middle lamellae

K – Involve in opening and closing of stomata, transmission of nerve impulses in neurons



·         Micro Elements they mostly involve in physiological functions in addition they act as structural components of certain enzymes as well.

B – Involve in Ca2+ uptake and use and in cell elongation and differentiation

Cl - Maintain osmotic and ionic balance in cells

Zn - Act as an enzyme activator

I – Tissue metabolism

Mn - Reproduction and Immunity


·         What micro elements involve in bone metabolism?

   Zn, Cu, Mn



        What micro elements involve in carbohydrate metabolism?

Zn, Cr, Mn


What micro elements involve in Amino acids and Uric acid metabolism?

Mo




CRITICAL CONCENTRATON



All these essential elements can be found at an optimum concentration level within the organisms. What would happen if a particular essential element were to be found in lesser or greater amounts than the optimum level?

Critical concentration is the optimum concentration level at which an essential element should be present within an organism. If the concentration level of an essential element is found to be below this then it is referred to as being Deficient. This results in malfunctioning of physiological processes and cause deficiency symptoms.

Ex:

·         Fe deficiency – Fe deficiency anemia in Humans

·         Zn deficiency - Delayed wound healing

If the concentration level is found to be greater than the Critical Concentration, it results in Toxicity.

Ex:

·         Cu toxicity - Vomiting/ diarrhea

·         Co toxicity - Co poisoning

 

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