The leaf : Basic Structure And Development

Presented by :
Hafidz Fadilloh

Morphology

The leaf shows its a specialization photosynthetic organ by expanded flat form
of its blade, the lamina.

Leaf attach to the stem by petiole, but may be without a petiole .

Other common leaf forms are cotyledons as first leaf.

Histology of Angiosperm Leaf

Epidermis
The

main features of the leaf epidermis are compact arrangement of cells and
the presence of cuticle and stomata.

According to

presence of stomata, the leaf divided into amphistomatic ,

epistomatic leaf and hypostomatic leaf.

The

stomata may be on the same level as the other epidermical cells, or

located above the surface (raised stomata) or below it (sunken stomata). Fig.
1

Histology of Angiosperm Leaf

Mesophyll
Main
The

part of the ground tissue of a leaf blade is the mesophyll.

mesophyll containing many chloroplast.

Relatively

homogeneus, or may be differentiated into palisade and spongy

parenchyma.

The

palisade consist of cells elongated perpendicular to the surface of the

blade, and leaf may have one or more rows of it (fig.1)

The

spongy consist of cells of various shape, frequently irregular and

dominantly horizontal continuity parallel with the surface of leaf.

Histology of Angiosperm Leaf

Vascular

System

Vascular bundles are

called veins, pattern venation.

The

venitation appears in two main patterns, the reticulated and the parallel
(fig.1)

Leaves

with reticulate venetation often may have largest vein, and the
midvein is connected laterally with smaller veins (fig.2)

In

the parallel-veined leaves the main veins may vary in size, with the smaller
and larger alternating.

In

dicotyledons, the smaller vein are embedded in the mesophyll, but the
larger are enclosed in ground tissue (fig.3)

Histology of Angiosperm Leaf

Vascular

System

The

small vascular are enclosed in one or more layers of compactly arranged

cells forming bundle sheath.

Bundle

sheath may be parenchymatic or scerenchymatic, or combination of it.

Intermediary cells

concerned to retrieval of solute and their transfer to the

sieve elements with symplastic and apoplastic (fig.4)

Development : Initiatial leaf primordia

A leaf is initiated by cell divisions in the peripheral region of the shoot apex,
more or less far below the distal zone of the apical meristem.

In many angiosperms, the first divisions occur in one or more layers beneath the
preotoderm and are periclinal to the surface of the shoot apex.

The periclinal divisions followed by anticlinal divisions.

fig.5 fig.6

Growth of Leaf Blade

Leaf composed of several self-perpetuating layers.

Plate meristem produces parallel layers, cells dividing anticlinally gives rise
to majority of intercalary growth and results in the major increase in leaf size.

Periclinal divisions establish the number of layers (fig.8)

Leaves Structural Variation

Dicots Leaves
Mesophyll Variation

1. Undifferentiated mesophyll (mostly spongy). fig.8

2. Differentiated mesophyll - palisade on adaxial side
(bilateral). fig.9
3. Differentiated mesophyll - palisade on adaxial and abaxial
sides (isobilateral). A xeromorphic adaptation. fig.10
4. Aquatics. Submerged leaves are often highly dissected.
Mesophyll with many air spaces. Fig.11

Monocots Leaves
General Features

1. Some with blade and petiole, many with blade and

sheath (grasses and sedges)
2. Hydrophytes - abundant aerenchyma.
3. Carex (sedge) has large air cavities with thin-walled
cells inside. Fig.11

Grass Leaves
1 Vascular bundles of different sizes alternate, connected by commisural veins.
Fig.12
2. No differentiation into palisade and spongy mesophyll. Oriented with ends of
cells against bundle.
4 Bulliform cells and / or hinge cells on epidermis. Involved in rolling the leaf
under dessicating conditions or when developing from a bud.
5. Festucoid grasses have two layers of bundle sheath cells - the inner called the
mestome which is equivalent to an endodermis (has suberized lamella on walls).
This inner layer is absent in Panicoid grasses (just one layer of thick walled
cells). Fig.13

Grass Leaves and Photosynthesis

1. Two ways to fix carbon in plants: C3 (Calvin-Benson cycle), C4
(Hatch-Slack pathway). CAM metabolism is similar to C4 in that it
concentrates CO2 around Rubisco, increasing its efficiency.
a. C3 (3-phosphoglycerate) is the first product of photosynthesis.
But under warm conditions or low CO2, the C3 cycle is more
sensitive to photorespiration. Here Rubico picks up O2 instead of
CO2, so the substrate is oxidized instead of carboxylated.

b. C4 (oxaloacetate) is the first product of photosynthesis. CO2 initially enters

the mesophyll cells surrounding the bundle sheath where it is turned into
oxaloacetate by PEP carboxylase. The oxaloacetate is transported into the
bundle sheath cells and broken down, liberating CO2, which is fixed (turned
into glucose) in the Calvin cycle. Thus, the bundle-sheath cells isolate Rubisco
from atmospheric oxygen and provide an environment saturated with the CO2.

2. C4 occurs in plants from warm (tropical) regions; occurs in many families,

about half the grasses.
3. C4 metabolism impacts many areas: physiology, anatomy, ecology, evolution,
agriculture.
4. Anatomy differs between C3 and C4 plants. C3 bundle sheath with fewer,
smaller chloroplasts (relative to mesophyll cells). C4 bundle sheath with many
large chloroplasts, also many mitochondria and microbodies, more numerous
starch grains, reduced grana. Fig. 14

Gymnosperm Leaf Variations

Less variable than dicot leaves. May be broad like angiosperms (Gnetum,
Podocarpus), needles (Pinus, Picea), scales (Juniperus).

Most are evergreen, but not all, exceptions include Gnetum, Ginkgo and Conifers.

Pine needles originate on dwarf branches, singly or most commonly in groups of two
to several.

Depending on the number, the transactional form varies. Fig. 15

Shape is either round or triangular, sunken stomata, overarching subsidiary cells.

Fig.16

No palisade parenchyma - only spongy

Resin ducts (or canals), A mechanism for retaining water, deter pathogens and
herbivores, prevents freezing, and help absorb heat.

Water Availibity
Water availability strongly influences leaf
morphology and anatomy
1. Xerophytes. Plants adapted to dry
environments (xeromorphic =
structural features of a
xerophyte).
2. Mesophytes. Plants adapted to habitats that
are neither too wet or too dry
(mesomorphic).
3. Hydrophytes. Floating, emergent, or
submergent plants
(hydromorphic)

Xeromorphy
1. Leaves with high volume / surface ratio (i.e. small and
compact)
2. Palisade mesophyll strongly developed
3. Small intercellular spaces in mesophyll
4. Compact veins, with few bundle sheath extensions

5. Succulence water-filled cells. But also a response to low N

and salt spray (Baccharis)
6. Trichomes. Function in reflectance of solar radiation,
insulation against heating up,zreduce air flow, hence
evapotranspiration.

7. Thick epidermal cells and thick cuticles

8. Stomata present mainly on abaxial side of leaf, sunken
(cavities, crypts, grooves)

Thats all

Thank you very much

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Reticulate

Paralel

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A. Structure of midvein
B. Minor vein in mesophyll

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Continue line : Symplastic

Dotted line : Apoplast

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A-D Longitudinal sections (periclinal divisions)

E
Primordium before initiation
F-H Growth of blade (anticlinal divisions)

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A Transverse section of shoot at level of origin of leaf primordium

B-G Longitudinal sections
D-G Elongating primordium

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Brassica oleracea

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Ligustrum ovalifolium

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Nymphaea odorata

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