Transport in plants Flashcards
Why do plants need a transport system
- larger plants have a small surface area to volume ratio so they need specialised exchange surfaces and transport systems as they do not have enough surface area to take everything they need in by diffusion
- absorb water and mineral ions from roots, they need to make sugars so need to move water and minerals up the leaves and sugar down to the rest of the plant
What does the xylem and phloem do
xylem = moves mineral ions and water upwards phloem = moves sugars up and down
Where is the vascular tissue distributed
distributed evenly throughout the plant and found in vascular bundles
What doe the vascular tissue contain
contains sclerenchyma and collenchyma these give the plant strength
what plant does the vascular tissue and xylem and phloem in
dicotyledonous plant
Where is xylem and phloem found in the young root
vascular bindle is found at the centre of a young root, the central core of the xylem is found as an x shape and phloem found between the arms of x shape, this provides strength to withstand pulling forces to which the roots are exposed to
What is around the vascular bundle
a special sheath of cells called the endodermis this gets water into the xylem vessel, inside the endodermis is a layer of cells called the pericycle
Where is xylem and phloem in the leaf
vascular bundles for the midrib and veins of a leaf, the xylem is on top of the phloem - in a dicotylendonous lead it has a network of veins that get smaller as they spread away from the midrib
Where is xylem and phloem in the stem
vascular bundle is found near the outer edge of the stem
- in non-woody plants the bindles are separate and discrete but in woody plant they are separate in young stems but a
- continuous ring in older stems, a complete ring provides strength and flexibility
- xylem Is to the inside and phloem is to the outside
What is the structure and function of xylem
vessels carry water and dissolved mineral ions
- fibres help support the plant
- living parenchyma cells act as packing tissue to separate and support the vessels
What do the xylem contain
ligin - makes it waterproof, strengthens the walls, prevents it from collapsing this keeps the vessel open at all times even when the water is in short supply
- they are spiral, annular or reticulate in shape which prevents the stem from being to rigid and allows flexibility
- in some places the ligin is not complete this is called bordered pits
- long column of dead cells with no content
Why isn’t the flow of water stopped in the xylem tube
- no cross walls
- no cell content, nucleus or cytoplasm
- thick ligin prevents walls from collapsing
What are the adaptions of xylem to its function
- made from dead cells to form an continuous column
- tubes are narrow so water column does not break easily and capillary action can be effective
- bordered pits allow water to move sideways from one vessel to another
- ligin patterns allow xylem to stretch as plant grows and allows stem to bend
what does the sucrose dissolve in
it dissolves in water to form sap
What does the phloem consist of
consists of sieve tube elements and companion cells
Describe the role of the companion cells
between sieve tubes are small cells with large nucleus and dense cytoplasm - lots of mitochondria to produce energy this is needed for active processes, they load assimilates actively into the sieve tube
Describe the sieve tube elements
elongated sieve tube elements and lined up end to end to form sieve tubes
- contain no nucleus and very little cytoplasm this leaves space for the mass flow of sap
- sieve plates at the end of sieve tubes this allows movement of sap from one element to the next
- thin walls
What is a property of cellulose
cellulose cell walls of a plant cell are permeable to water this allows the water molecules to freely move between the cellulose molecules or gaps between cells
What are plant cells joined by
joined by cytoplasmic bridges these are cell junctions at which one cell is connected to that of another through a gap in the cell wall these junctions are called plasmodesmata
Describe the apoplast pathway
water passes through the spaces in the cell wall and between the cells
- water moves by mass flow rather than osmosis therefore dissolved mineral ions an salts can be carried
- does not pass through any plasma membrane into the cells
Describe the symplast pathway
water enters the cell cytoplasm through the next plasma membrane, it can pass through the plasmodesmata from one cell to the next