Question

When biological membrane is frozen, it can be split along the middle of the phospholipid bilayers. Predict the effect of fatty acid saturation on the ease with which a membrane can be split by freeze fracturing.__________

Answer 1

Answer:

The answer to the question: Predict the effect of fatty acid saturation on the ease with which a membrane can be split by freeze fracturing, would be: just like high temperature and cholesterol presence will ensure the fluidity, or lack of it, of a plasma membrane, the presence of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids on the tail ends of phospholipids will increase the fluidity, or make it possible for the union between phospholipids to be broken up.

Thus, a phospholipid bilayer that is clustered with saturated fatty acids will shorten the distance between phospholipid molecules until they become like a rock wall and can be broken easily, because the tail ends tend to cluster together. This happens when temperature drops too low, especially under testing conditions like freezing them.

Under normal circumstances this will not happen because of cholesterol molecules and also because the presence of unsaturated fatty acids inside the lipid middle of the bilayer, where the tail ends are, prevent clustering of the tail ends and keep them moving.