Topic 6 - Plant Structures And Their Functions Flashcards
What do plants use to make their own food?
Photosynthesis
In what subcellular structure does photosynthesis happen inside of?
Photosynthesis happens inside of the chloroplasts, they contain chlorophyll which absorb the light.
Word equation for photosynthesis …
Symbol equation
Is photosynthesis an endothermic or extothermic reaction?
Photosynthesis is an endothermic reaction. Energy is taken in
What is the rate of photosynthesis affected by?
-light intensity
-the concentration of CO2
- the temperature
-amount of chlorophyll
Any of these can become the limiting factor and stop photosynthesis from stopping any faster.
At what temperature do the enzymes needed for the photosynthesis reaction become denatured ?
What is the optimum temperature for a plant?
Around 45 degrees
Optimum - 21 degrees
What does not enough light do to the rate of photosynthesis?
It slows it down.
How’s energy transferred to the plant for photosynthesis ?
Light
What happens to the rate of photosynthesis as we increase light intensity?
As we increase light intensity , the rate of photosynthesis increases. They are directly proportional. However this is only up to a certain point.
How do we measure lights intensity?
Using a light meter
What happens to the light intensity as the distance of the lamp increases?
As the distance of the lamp increases, the light intensity decreases.
What is the inverse square law.
Light intensity ∝
Light intensity ∝ 1/ Distance (d)^2
∝means directly proportional to
What does the inverse square law mean?
If you halve the distance , the light intensity will be 4 times greater.
What happens to the rate of photosynthesis when we increase CO2 concentration?
The rate of photosynthesis is directly proportional to the CO2 concentration. It will increase up to a certain point until it’s no longer a limiting factor.
How do we test for starch in a leaf?
How do we know if there is starch present?
Do the iodine test
1) place leaf in boiling water for 30 seconds- This kills it and breaks down its cell wall.
2) place leaf in boiling ethanol- removes chlorophyll, making the leaf pale in colour. This is the control.
3)spread the leaf onto a white til and add iodine to test for the presence of starch.
We know there’s starch present if the iodine changes colour from yellow-brown to blue-black
How do root hairs take in minerals?
They use active transport as the ground around them usually has a low concentration of nutrients than in the plant roots. Mineral ions are absorbed through microscopic hairs on the roots of a cell.
How do root hairs take in water?
Using osmosis. The millions of microscopic hairs on the roots absorb the water using osmosis
What process does the phloem do?
The phloem does translocation
What are assimilates?
Main assimilate in plants
Assimilates is the mixture inside the phloem. It’s very hard to separate. Sucrose
What is the main assimilate in plants?
Sucrose NOT Glucose
What is translocation?
Translocation is the movement of assimilates made by plant cells along the phloem.
What is the ‘source’ in the phloem?
The source is anywhere sucrose is released into the phloem. It produces the energy
What is the ‘sink’ in the phloem?
The sink is anywhere sucrose is removed from the phloem. It steals energy
Source, sink or neither? Why?
Leaf in summer-
Developing bud-
Xylem-
Actively growing root tips-
Leaf in summer - source as it’s doing photosynthesis and making sugars
Developing bud- sink as it needs energy to grow
Xylem- neither as it’s not involved with the transport of sucrose
Actively growing root tip- source as it needs energy to grow
How do we get sugars into the phloem and transported within it? (5 steps)
1) companion cells use ATP to actively transport hydrogen ions into the surrounding tissue.
2) this creates a diffusion gradient with a high concentration of hydrogen ions outside the companion cells.
3)hydrogen ions move back into the companion cells and bring sucrose with them.
4)this causes the concentration of sucrose in the companion cells to increase
5)sucrose moves from the companion cells to the sieve tube elements using plasmodesmata
What do xylem tubes do?
Carry water and minerals up the plant.
What do xylem tubes do?
Carry water and minerals up the plant.
What process takes water up the plant?
Transpiration
What are xylem tubes made up off?
What material strengthens them?
Dead cells joined end to end with no end walls in between them and a hole in the middle. Strengthened with a material called lignin
What factors can affect transpiration rate ? And how?
-Temp , warm means the water particles have more energy to diffuse out the stomata
-light intensity, stomata open up more in the light.
-airflow(wind speed), if the airflow is poor water vapour surrounds the leaf, this means there’s a high concentration of water particles outside the leaf and diffusion happens slow
-surface area of the leaf