A vacuole is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in all plant and fungal cells and some protist, animal and bacterial cells..In general, the functions of the vacuole include:
- Isolating materials that might be harmful or a threat to the cell
- Containing waste products
- Containing water in plant cells
- Maintaining internal hydrostatic pressure or turgor within the cell
- Maintaining an acidic internal pH
- Containing small molecules
- Exporting unwanted substances from the cell
- Allows plants to support structures such as leaves and flowers due to the pressure of the central vacuole
- In seeds, stored proteins needed for germination are kept in 'protein bodies', which are modified vacuoles.
