Chapter 9 - Transport In Plants Flashcards
Need for transport system
- long distance from external surface to cells
- small SA:V = diffusion not fast enough/efficient
- metabolic rate = low metabolic activity = oxygen can be obtained from diffusion but they require lots of sugar and water = can’t get from diffusion
Procedure to observe position of xylem vessels in leaf stalks
Put stalks in stain
Cut transversely
Similarities between xylem and phloem
- made up of cells joined end to end
- complex tissues
- both use mass flow
Differences between xylem and phloem
Xylem = lignified phloem = not lignified
Xylem = wide lumen phloem = small lumen
Xylem = no sieve plates phloem = sieve plates
Phloem carries carbs and xylem doesn’t
Precautions when using a potometer
- cut shoot = prevents air lock
- keep light intensity constant = affects rate of transpiration
- keep screw clip closed = prevents entry of water whilst measuring
Plan an investigation into rate of transpiration
- measure distance moved by bubble at regular intervals
- repeat experiment at least 3 times = can identify anomalies + take mean
- plot graph to compare results visually (time on x and distance moved on y)
- control light intensity using a lamp and wind movement using a fan
Precautions whne setting up potometer
- cut stem underwater = no air can enter stem
- insert stem under water = air could block xylem
- joint must be sealed tight = air could block xylem
Precautions when using potometer 2
- use syringe to move bubble = so same bubble can be reused
- don’t allow bubble to move too far = so it doesn’t enter xylem
Translocation 3 stages
Phloem loading
Mass flow
Phloem unloading
Phloem loading
- glucose converted to an assimilate
- apoplast route
- active process = proton pump in companion cells pump out H+ = H+ concentration gradient
- cotransport of H+ and sucrose into companion cell
- entry of solutes decreases water potential of phloem
- water enters phloem from surrounding cells
- results in higher hydrostatic pressure
Structural adaptations of companion cells
Many mitochondria
Increase surface area of cell surface membrane
Mass flow
- bulk transport of sucrose caused by pressure difference
- assimilates enter sieve tube elements = lowers water potential = water enters by osmosis = increases hydrostatic pressure
- Sugars leave the sieve tube = increases w.p. in sieve tube. Water leaves sieve tube by osmosis which lowers the hydrostatic pressure
- movement from source to sink
- sugar moves from high to low hydrostatic pressure
Phloem unloading
- diffusion of sucrose from phloem to surrounding cells
- sucrose converted back to glucose
- glucose used for respiration
- converted to start for storage
- concentration gradient of sucrose maintained between phloem and cells
- loss of sucrose increases w.p. Of phloem = water leaves phloem to surrounding cells = lowers hydrostatic pressure
Why are carbs transported as sucrose
Soluble = can be transported in sap
Metabolically inactive so not used during transport
How do some plants of the plant act as a source and sink
- certain parts can store and release carbohydrates when needed
- e.g. root can act as a sink or source at diff times of year
Vascular tissues
Xylem and phloem
Xylem function
Transports water and minerals up the plant
Phloem function
Transports sugars and other assimilates up or down the plant
Pericycle
Many meristem cells inside the endodermis
Diagram of roots (transversely cut)
Stem diagram (transversely cut)
Packaging tissues
Sclerenchyma and collenchyma
Function of packaging tissues
Mechanical support
- facilitate the transport of water and nutrients throughout the plants
Cambium
Layer between xylem and phloem which is a layer of stem cells
Plant leaf transverse section diagram
Xylem on top, phloem at bottomn
Ways a plant can be cut
longitudinally (front layer and back layer) or transversely (top layer and bottom layer)
Xylem structure
- hollow in the middle
- Made up of dead cells = lignin present on the walls which causes the cells to die = makes them waterproof
- Continuous column
Function of lignin
- adds strength which prevents the walls from collapsing good because xylem needs to withstand pressure
- makes cell walls impermeable to water
Ways lignin can thicken walls
- added in spirals, rings (annular), reticulate (broken/half rings)
Pits
Some parts of the xylem don’t have lignin = lateral movement of water
Adaptations of xylem
No top and bottom walls between cells to form continuous hollow tubes through which water is drawn upwards towards the leaves by transpiration
o Cells are essentially dead, without organelles or cytoplasm, to allow free movement of water
o Outer walls are thickened with a substance called lignin, strengthening the tubes, which helps support the plant
Adaptations of xylem
o No top and bottom walls between cells to form continuous hollow tubes through which water is drawn upwards towards the leaves by transpiration
o Cells are essentially dead, without organelles or cytoplasm, to allow free movement of water
o Outer walls are thickened with a substance called lignin, strengthening the tubes, which helps support the plant
Adaptations of phloem
Made of living cells which are supported by companion cells
o joined end-to-end and contain holes in the end cell walls (sieve plates) forming tubes that allow sugars and amino acids to flow easily through (by translocation)
o have very few subcellular structures to aid the flow of materials
Phloem components
Sieve tube and companion cells
Sieve tube
made up of individual cells = sieve tube elements = don’t have a nucleus = very little cytoplasm = not good at performing things = sieve tube elements are connected to eachother through sieve plates
Companion cells
large nucleus, large cytoplasm, all the main organelles to perform all the metabolic tasks of a cell
3 pathways of water moving through a plant
Apoplast
Symplast
Vacuolar
Apoplast pathway
water can move through spaces in the cell walls
Symplast pathway
water can move through the cell’s cytoplasm and through the plasmodesmatas (gaps in the cell wall)
Vacuolar pathway
water goes through the cytoplasm and specifically through the vacuole
Transpiration
loss of water vapour from the upper parts of the plant, specifically the stomata