External Stimulus Is A Change in The Cell's Surroundings, While

Cell’s reaction to its environment
One of the characteristics of living things is that they can respond to stimuli. A stimulus is
an environmental change which induces or brings about a response in a cell or organism. An
external stimulus is a change in the cell’s surroundings, while an internal stimulus is a change
within the cell itself. The ability of a living organism to respond to stimuli is called irritability.
Types of responses
Organisms show irritability or sensitivity in a variety of ways. Responses that are due to
external stimuli may be tactic, nastic and tropic. Responses of organisms to stimuli are usually
advantageous to them.
Taxism or Tactic movement
Tactic movements (or Taxism) are directional movements in response to an external stimulus
that involve the whole organism, such as motile cells or organisms, moving towards or away from
the stimulus. Unlike tropisms, tactic movements are not related to growth but are rather
immediate responses. Tactic movements occur in motile organisms such as amoeba,
chlamydomonas, euglena and earthworms. They also occur in motile parts of organisms such as
male sex cells or sperms.
Tactic movements are named according to the type of external stimuli: phototaxis, if the
stimulus is light; chemotaxis, if it is a chemical; and thermotaxis, if it is a change in temperature.
Nastism or Nastic movement

Nastic movements are non-directional responses to stimuli, meaning the movement does not
depend on the direction of the stimulus. These movements are typically reversible and involve
changes in the turgor pressure of cells rather than growth. Nastic movements allow plants to
respond quickly to environmental changes, often as a protective mechanism or to optimize
conditions for processes like photosynthesis. Examples of nastic movements are:
i. Closing of the morning glory flower when the light intensity is low;
ii. Folding of the leaflets of the Mimosa plant when it is touched;
iii. Closing of the leaflets of flamboyant tree due to low light intensity
iv. The petals of sunflower which open in the light and close in the dark
Tropism or tropic movements
Tropic movements (or tropisms) are directional growth movements in plants that occur in
response to an external stimulus. The direction of the movement is determined by the direction
of the stimulus. Tropic movements are usually slow and involve the growth of the plant towards
or away from the stimulus.
A tropic movement is described as positive or negative depending on whether the bending

movement is towards or away from the direction of the stimulus respectively. Also, they are
named according to the stimuli, e.g. phototropism is a response to light, hydrotropism is a
response to water and geotropism is the response of roots and shoots of plants to gravity.
Movement
Movement is an activity which results in a change of shape, form or position of an
organism. Movement is a fundamental characteristic of many living organisms, enabling them to
interact with their environment, seek out nutrients, escape predators, and perform other vital
functions. Various organelles and structures are involved in locomotion, particularly in
unicellular organisms and specialized cells in multicellular organisms.
Cyclosis or Protoplasmic streaming
Cyclosis is the streaming of cytoplasmic fluid within a cell. This motion of fluid allows for
the transport of nutrients and organelles to different parts of the cell.
Organelles for movement
Some cells have special structural adaptations for movement. Sometimes they move
themselves, sometimes they move other substances. These structures are cilia, flagella and
pseudopodia.
Cilia are usually found in animal cells and some protists. They are small, and a cell
usually has many cilia. In paramecium, the beating of the cilia moves the whole organism
through the water. In multicellular organisms, cilia are found on membranes lining the surfaces
of the body. The beating of the cilia moves substances about, such as the mucus lining the
breathing system.
Flagella are long, thin and whip-like structures that move in a different way from cilia.
They are found on single-celled organisms and beat to move the organism around, for example,
euglena. For human sperm, the flagella move the male sex cells towards the female sex cell for
fertilisation.
Pseudopodia are temporary projections of the cell membrane. They aid movement by
contracting and extending repeatedly. The Amoeba has pseudopodia for locomotion.

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External Stimulus Is A Change in The Cell's Surroundings, While

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Cell’s reaction to its environment

Nastism or Nastic movement

A tropic movement is described as positive or negative depending on whether the bending

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