AIIMS2003BotanyCell - The Unit of Life
Assertion : A cell membrane shows fluid behaviour. Reason : A membrane is a mosaic or composite of diverse lipids and proteins.
Options
- AIf both Assertion and Reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion
- BIf both Assertion and Reason are true but the reason is not the correct explanation of the assertion
- CIf Assertion is true statement but Reason is false
- Dif both Assertion and Reason are false statements
Correct answer
A. If both Assertion and Reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion
Step-by-step solution
The structure of cell membrane can be described by the fluid-mosaic model. The essential feature of fluid-mosaic model (by Singer and Nicolson, 1972 ) is that cell membranes are considered to be quasifluid structures in which the lipids and proteins are in mosaic manner. The Singer-Nicolson model considered the lipid-protein association (mosaic) to be hydrophobic. The fluidity of the membrane is the result of this hydrophobic interaction, thus a cell membrane shows fluid behaviour.