Question

Both lysosomes and vacuoles are endomembrane structures, yet they differ in terms of their functions, comment.

Answer 1

The interior of a eukaryotic cell is composed of many membrane bound organelles. Each of the membrane-bound organelles has a distinct structure and function. But some of these organelles function in a coordinated manner and constitute an endomembrane system. The organelles include in this system are endoplasmic reticulum, golgi complex, lysosomes and vacuoles. Both lysosomes and vacuoles are endomembrane structures, yet they differ in terms of their functions.
Lysosomes are simple tiny spherical sac-like structures evenly distributed in the cytoplasm. They are rich in hydrolytic enzymes (hydrolases- lipases, proteases, carbohydrases). Lysosomes are responsible for intracellular and extracellular digestion, body defence and autophagy.
Vacuole is the membrane-bound space found in the cytoplasm. It contains water, sap, excretory products and other material not useful for the cell. They may store food reserve. They are also responsible for the osmoregulation and excretion in some protistan and algal cells.