Advantages of Compartmentalisation

Compartmentalisation refers to the organisation of cellular structures into distinct compartments or organelles, each with specific functions and characteristics

Compartmentalisation enables key advantages, most of which are connected to two key advantages:

• The ability to concentrate metabolites and enzymes inside organelles (compartments), speeding up the rate of reactions

• Allows for the separation of incompatible biochemical processes

• pH can be kept at an ideal level

Lysosomes

The high concentration of enzymes within the lysosomes allow for efficient breakdown of cellular waste

If the enzymes were freely floating in the cytoplasm, they could damage essential cellular components

Compartmentalisation maintain san acidic environment in order to achieve this (the optimal pH of their enzymes is quite low).

Separating these organelles from the cytoplasm enables lysosomes to maintain the appropriate pH conditions for their specific functions.

Phagocytic Vacuoles - formed, then fused with lysosomes to breakdown the cellular engulfed materials

• Compartments that form around ingested particles during phagocytosis

• These vacuoles then fuse with lysosomes, creating a specialised environment for degradation and digestion of the engulfed material (without affecting the rest of the cell)