B3.
3 Muscle and motility
Form and function—Organisms
Additional higher level: 3 hours
Guiding questions
• How do muscles contract and cause movement?
• What are the benefits to animals of having muscle tissue?
Additional higher level
Note: There is no SL content in B3.3.
B3.3.1—Adaptations for movement as a universal feature of living organisms
Students should explore the concept of movement by considering a range of organisms including
one motile and one sessile species.
Movement is a function of life.
Mobility is the ability of an organism to locomote and move from one location to another.
Motility is a characteristic of all organisms whereby they independently move using metabolic energy.
(i.e. peristalsis and segmentation in the digestive tract are forms of motility in humans)
Sessility refers to a trait by which an organism is fixed in its location and unable to move.
(i.e. plants are sessile since they are fixed in the ground but are motile due to their tropisms)
B3.3.9—Reasons for locomotion
Include foraging for food, escaping from danger, searching for a mate and migration, with at least
one example of each.
• Foraging for food: bees fly to search for nectar, predators move to catch prey.
• Escaping from danger: prey (like rabbits) move to escape danger.
• Mate searching: to avoid inbreeding, animals travel to search for mates.
• Migration: birds migrate during colder seasons.
B3.3.10—Adaptations for swimming in marine mammals
Include streamlining, adaptation of limbs to form flippers and of the tail to form a fluke with up-
and-down movement, and changes to the airways to allow periodic breathing between dives.
• Streamlining: marine animals are shaped to minimize water resistance by reducing drag and friction
through smooth + hairless skin and tapering towards the rear.
• Adapted limbs: marine limbs form flippers to allow for steering, and their fluked tails with up-and-
down movement provides increased thrust.
• Airways: the mouth and lungs are not connected (like in humans), and the blowhole enables them
to breathe.
B3.3.4—Structure and function of motor units in skeletal muscle
Include the motor neuron, muscle fibres and the neuromuscular junctions that connect them.
Muscles are composed of muscle fibers, which are made of myofibrils.
A neuromuscular junction is a synapse connecting the axon terminal of a motor neuron and the
sarcolemma of a muscle fiber using acetylcholine (Ach) as the neurotransmitter in order to pass the
electrical signal to the muscle and cause contraction. Transmitting the action potential to the muscle causes
Ca2+ ions to be released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, initiating muscle contraction.
Figure 1: structure of muscle fibers and neuromuscular junction (Gordon Betts).
B3.3.2—Sliding filament model of muscle contraction
Students should understand how a sarcomere contracts by the sliding of actin and myosin
filaments.
Sarcomeres are the functional unit of muscles.
Muscle contraction is the shortening of muscle fibers, which involves crossbridge cycle:
• Ca2+ ions bind to troponin to change the conformation of tropomyosin in order to expose and
uncover the myosin binding-sites on the actin filaments
• The myosin head needs to power up before binding to actin, so ATP hydrolysis occurs to produce
ADP + Pi, which releases some energy that is used by myosin to move its head backwards into a
high energy state (it becomes “cocked”)
• With now enough energy, myosin attaches to actin, triggering the release of the stored energy in
myosin and prompting ADP and Pi to detach from myosin. This causes the myosin head to bend,
which slides the actin towards the H-zone (this is called the power stroke)
• Myosin remains attached to actin until a new ATP molecule binds to it, dismantling the cross-bridge
between myosin and actin
• ATP is hydrolyzed to ADP + Pi, returning myosin back to its “cocked” position, repeating the cycle
Figure 2: muscle contraction mechanism (Lumen Learning).
B3.3.3—Role of the protein titin and antagonistic muscles in muscle relaxation
The immense protein titin helps sarcomeres to recoil after stretching and also prevents
overstretching. Antagonistic muscles are needed because muscle tissue can only exert force
when it contracts.
Titin is the largest known polypeptide and has several functions:
• Connects the myosin filaments with the Z-line and ensures they are fixed in the correct place
• Elastic and stores potential energy useful during recoil after contraction
• Prevents overstretching of sarcomere
Since muscles can only pull and not push, when a muscle contracts the other relaxes (they act as
antagonistic pairs) in order to ensure controlled force and movement. Antagonism is not an intrinsic
property of a specific muscle; it depends on which muscle is currently contracting.
B3.3.5—Roles of skeletons as anchorage for muscles and as levers
Students should appreciate that arthropods have exoskeletons and vertebrates have
endoskeletons.
Arthropods (i.e. spiders and crabs) have exoskeletons and vertebrates have endoskeletons. Joints act as
fulcrums, bones as levers, and muscles exert force to produce a bone movement whose range of motion
depends on the type of joint.
B3.3.6—Movement at a synovial joint
Include the roles of bones, cartilage, synovial fluid, ligaments, muscles and tendons. Use the
human hip joint as an example. Students are not required to name muscles and ligaments, but
they should be able to name the femur and pelvis.
Figure 3: hip joint anatomy (Gordon Betts).
• Bones: act as levers and their shape (multiaxial ball-and-socket) determines range of motion.
• Cartilage: reduce friction between bones and absorbs shock.
• Synovial fluid: reduces friction and lubricates.
• Ligaments: collagen-rich to help prevent dislocations and damage from abnormal movements.
• Tendons: attach bone to muscle and provide tensile strength.
• Muscles: provide the force that causes movement.
B3.3.7—Range of motion of a joint
Application of skills: Students should compare the range of motion of a joint in a number of
dimensions. Students should measure joint angles using computer analysis of images or a
goniometer.
The range of motion of a joint is determined by its structure, and can be measured using computer analysis
of images or a goniometer.
B3.3.8—Internal and external intercostal muscles as an example of antagonistic muscle action to
facilitate internal body movements
Students should appreciate that the different orientations of muscle fibres in the internal and
external layers of intercostal muscles mean that they move the ribcage in opposite directions and
that, when one of these layers contracts, it stretches the other, storing potential energy in the
sarcomere protein titin.
Figure 4: diagram of intercostal muscles and a few ribs (Gordon Betts).
When internal intercostal muscles contract, external intercostals relax and the ribcage moves inwards and
downwards.
When external intercostal muscles contract, internal intercostals relax and the ribcage moves outwards and
upwards.
In either case, the relaxed intercostal (stretched by the contracted one) stores potential energy through titin.
Linking questions
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of dispersal of offspring from their parents?
• In what ways does locomotion contribute to evolution within living organisms?
Review questions
• State the function of acetylcholine in muscle contraction. [1]
• Outline the sliding filament theory. [2]
• Outline the antagonistic action of the intercostal muscles. [2]
• Distinguish between motility and sessility, giving an example for each. [3]
• Outline the reasons for locomotion in living organisms. [3]
• Outline the role of titin in muscular movement. [3]
• Outline the roles of the different structures in the hip joint. [3]
• Explain how marine animals are adapted for swimming. [3]
• Outline the evolutionary advantages of locomotion for species. [3]
• Describe the cross-bridge cycle. [4]
• Explain how muscle fibers are adapted to their function. [4]
• Explain why an action potential in a single motor neuron can cause multiple muscle fibers to
contract [4].
• Explain the structure and function of motor units in skeletal muscle. [5]
• Discuss the role of ATP in muscle contraction. [7]
• Explain how the sliding filament theory describes the process of muscle contraction at the
molecular level. [8]
• Explain how the musculoskeletal system moves, supports, and protects the human body. [8]
References
Ann Clark, Mary, et al. Biology 2e. E-book, OpenStax, 2018, [Link]
OpenStax.
Gordon Betts, J., et al. Anatomy and Physiology 2e. E-book, OpenStax, 2022, [Link]
physiology-2e/pages/1-introduction. OpenStax.
Lumen Learning. ATP And Muscle Contraction | Biology for Majors II. [Link]/wm-
biology2/chapter/atp-and-muscle-contraction.
