CHAPTER 5C

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

Transportation
Reproduction
Photosynthesis

James L,
General Biology I (MF009)
Foundation in Science
 Transport in Plants
 Vascular plants depend on the distribution of
water, dissolved mineral ions and organic
compounds to its cell.
 Plants distribute water and dissolved mineral
ions through water-conducting tubes of xylem.
 Plants distribute organic compounds through
sieve tubes of phloem.
An overview of transport in a vascular plant.
 Structure of Vascular Tissues
Xylem
 Water and mineral ions are transported from the
roots to the aerial parts of the plant in xylem
tissues.
 These tissues consist of tracheids, vessels, fibers
and parenchyma cells.
 Tracheids – elongated single cells with lignified
walls and tapered ends. The ends overlap with
those of adjacent tracheid, and pits allow water to
pass from one tracheid to the next.
 Vessels elements – found most in flowering
plants and are long tubular lignified wall structure
with perforation plates at each end. Vessel
elements placed end to end form a completely
hollow pipeline from the roots to the leaves.
 Structure of Vascular Tissues
Phloem
 Sucrose ( organic solute) are products of
photosynthesis is dissolved in water to form sap
and are transported through phloem.
 There tissues contain sieve tubes, sieve plates,
companion cells, fibers and parenchyma cells.
 Sieve tubes –Sieve tube elements linked end-to-
end to form sieve tubes and are separated by
perforated structure called sieve plates.
 Companion cells –They retain their nucleus,
ribosomes and other organelles. To supply
energy for sucrose loading.
 Sieve-tube members. Stacked end to end, sieve-tube members
form a sieve tube that conducts organic molecules throughout a
plant. Each sieve-tube member has sieve plates on its end walls
and at least one companion cell.

Structure of a
longitudinal section of a
sieve tube element and
companion cell, as seen
by an electron
microscope.
 Root Pressure
 Plants constantly lose water by
transpiration, all must be replaced Guttation

by water absorbed through root hairs.

 Most minerals ions are in a lower
concentration in the soil surrounding the roots
than they are in the cells.
 This creates a water potential gradient and
water moves by osmosis from the soil to the
cells.
 Water is forced up the stem by this root
pressure, but not to the top of the tree.
 Transpiration-cohesion-tension Theory
 Removal of water from leave surfaces is called
transpiration.
 Due to this loss of water, a tension is created
at the top of the xylem vessels. This creates a
pulling force, which draws the water through
vascular tissues from the roots to the stem in a
continuous columns.
 There are also strong forces between water
molecules that helps water molecules stick
together – cohesion.
 There is an attraction between water molecules
and the walls of the xylem cell – adhesion.
 Water movement up the stem
 Root pressure
 Mineral move into the xylem by active transport,
forcing water into xylem and pushes it up the stem.
 Transpirational pull
 Loss of water at leaves replaced by water moving up in
xylem. Cohesion-tension theory, cohesion btw water
molecules and tension in the water (which is why
xylem is strengthened by lignin) means the whole
column of water is pulled up in one stream.
 Capillary action
 Adhesion of water to xylem vessels as they are narrow
 Transpiration
 Stomatal pores are found in the epidermis of leaves,
flowers and stems for gas exchange.
 Surrounding each pore are guard cells, which control
the size of the opening.
 The neighboring cells are epidermal cells and are
referred to as subsidiary cells.
 Guard cells contain chloroplasts and the walls are
unevenly thickened.
 As water is taken into guard cells, increasing their
turgidity, they become more curved and the pore
opens wider.
 When the guard cells become less turgid, they
become less curved and the pore closes.
Factors Affecting Transpiration
 Light intensity – affects the opening and closing of stomata.

 Temperature – an increase in temperature increases the

random movement of molecules, leading to a faster rate of
diffusion.
 Humidity – if low, air is dry, rate increases; when high, air is
more saturated, so rate decreases.
 Air movement – in still air, water vapour molecules surround
the leaves; with air movement, water evaporates and rate
increases.
 Translocation
 Is the distribution of organic compounds in
phloem.
 Pressure-flow theory explains how solute
concentration and pressure drives translocation
between the source (region where sugar is
synthesized) and sink (region where sugar is
required).
 Cont… Translocation
Pressure-flow Mechanism
 When sugar is synthesized in the source, it is transported
across to the sieve tubes by active transport.
 Solute concentration builds up in the sieve tube.

 A concentration gradient occurs and water moves in by

osmosis, causes hydrostatic pressure to increase.
 This forces the solute to move down to the next sieve
tube.
 Water follows through.

 The process is repeated until the sugar is unloaded to the

sink.
Phloem transport by pressure
flow. Phloem sap flows from
sources to sinks. (1) A
photosynthesizing leaf cell is a
source because it produces
sugars. (2) Sugars are actively
transported into a sieve tube
during phloem loading. (3) As
sugar concentration increases in
the sieve tube, water is drawn in
from nearby xylem vessels. This
influx of water raises the pressure
in the sieve tube at the source. (4)
At sinks (in this example, a
storage parenchyma cell is a sink
because it stores sugars), sugars
are actively unloaded, lowering
sugar concentration in the sieve
tube and (5) causing water to exit
the phloem tube and be recycled
back to the xylem or drawn into
surrounding cells.
 Loading of
sucrose into
the phloem at
a source