# Crenation

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Scalloped edging

Diagram of a crenated leaf

**Crenation** (from modern Latin *crenatus* meaning "scalloped or notched", from popular Latin *crena* meaning "notch")[1] in botany and zoology, describes an object's shape, especially a leaf or shell, as being round-toothed or having a scalloped edge.[1]

The descriptor can apply to objects of different types, including cells, where one mechanism of crenation is the contraction of a cell after exposure to a [hypertonic solution](/source/Tonicity#Hypertonic_solution), due to the loss of water through [osmosis](/source/Osmosis).[2]: 229–230 In a hypertonic environment, the cell has a lower concentration of [solutes](/source/Solutes) than the surrounding [extracellular fluid](/source/Extracellular_fluid), and [water](/source/Water) [diffuses](/source/Diffusion) out of the cell by osmosis, causing the [cytoplasm](/source/Cytoplasm) to decrease in volume. As a result, the cell shrinks and the [cell membrane](/source/Cell_membrane) develops abnormal notchings. [Pickling cucumbers](/source/Pickled_cucumber) and [salt-curing](/source/Curing_(food_preservation)) of meat are two practical applications of crenation.[2]: 229

[Plasmolysis](/source/Plasmolysis) is the term which describes plant cells when the cytoplasm shrinks from the cell wall in a hypertonic environment. In plasmolysis, the cell wall stays intact, but the plasma membrane shrinks and the chloroplasts of the plant cell concentrate in the center of the cell.

## Red blood cells

In (d) the RBCs are rendered crenated from a [hypertonic](/source/Hypertonic) solution

Crenation is also used to describe a feature of [red blood cells](/source/Red_blood_cells). These erythrocytes look as if they have projections extending from a smaller central area, like a spiked ball. The crenations may be either large, irregular spicules of [acanthocytes](/source/Acanthocyte), or smaller, more numerous, regularly irregular projections of [echinocytes](/source/Echinocyte).[3] Acanthocytes and echinocytes may arise from abnormalities of the cell membrane lipids or proteins, or from other disease processes, or as an [ex vivo](/source/Ex_vivo) [artifact](/source/Artifact_(error)).

## See also

- [Crenellation](/source/Crenellation)

- [Cytorrhysis](/source/Cytorrhysis)

- [Hemolysis](/source/Hemolysis)

- [Plasmolysis](/source/Plasmolysis)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Oxford_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Oxford_1-1) ["Crenate"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120731043554/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/crenate). *Oxford Dictionaries*. Archived from [the original](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/crenate) on July 31, 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Stoker_2012_6_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Stoker_2012_6_2-1) Stoker, HS (2012). *General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry* (6th ed.). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1133103943](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1133103943).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Williams_2010_8_3-0)** Kaushansky, K; Lichtman, M; Beutler, E; Kipps, T; Prchal, J; Seligsohn, U. (2010). *Williams Hematology* (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0071621519](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0071621519).

## External links

- [Image from Cornell.edu](https://www.diaglab.vet.cornell.edu/clinpath/modules/heme1/crenated.htm)

- [Crenation](http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Crenation+) at medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Crenation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crenation) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crenation?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.