Re: How much of the volume of a plant cell do vacuoles occupy?

In many plant cells, vacuoles ( single or multiple of them ) can occupy up 
to 90% of cell volume. With such a big volume, vacoule plays important roles 
in turgor regulation, storage and waste degenerating. Firstly, the solutions 
in vacuole normally are in high concentration, this may cause water uptake 
into vacuole, thus the concentration of solutes in cytoplasm are controlled. 
Secondly, many substances are stored in vacuole; some of them are metabolism 
waste, while others are food or energy reserves, such as carbohydrates. 
Finally, many enzymes find their place in vacuole when they are not used by 
plant cell, this prevents the enzymes from being denatured. so in a word, 
vacuole is important to plant cell, no matter judging from its volume 
occupancy or from its functions.


Reference: Plant Biochemistry, 1997, Academic Press, edited by P.M Dey & 
J.B. Harborne