Transport In Plants Flashcards
What are the 3 main reasons a plant needs a transport system?
1- Metabolic demands
2- Size
3- SA:V ratio
What is a dicot plant?
Make seeds that contain 2 cotyledons - organs that acts as food stores for the developing embryo and form the first leaves when the seed first germinates
In the stem of a herbaceous dicot, where are the vascular bundles?
Around the edge for strength and support
What is a vascular bundle?
The xylem and phloem grouped together
In a herbaceous dicot root, where is the vascular bundle found?
In the middle to help the plant withstand the tugging strain from wind
In a herbaceous dicot leaf, where are the vascular bundles found?
In midrib which also helps to structure the leaf
What is a midrib?
The main vein in a leaf that carries the vascular bundle
What are the 2 main functions of the xylem?
- Transport water / mineral ions
- Support
What are xylem vessels?
- The main structures in the xylem
- They are long, hollow structures of dead cells fused end to end
How is lignin relevant to the xylem?
- Lines the walls of xylem vessels in ring, spiral or tube form
- Contain many bordered pits (unlignified areas) to allow water to leave
What is the phloem?
Living tissue that transports organic solutes around the plant
In what direction can organic solutes in the phloem travel?
Both up and down the plant
What are sieve tube elements?
Unlignified hollow structures that are the main transport vessels of the phloem
What are sieve plates?
Thin pores between sieve tube cells to allow phloem contents out
How are companion cells linked to the sieve tube elements?
Via many plasmodesmata
What are plasmodesmata?
Microscopic channels through cell wall linking the cytoplasm of adjacent cells
What do companion cells do?
- Supports sieve tube elements
- Provides ATP (sieve tube cells have no mitochondria)
What are root hair cells?
Exchange surface in plants where water is taken in from the soil
How are root hair cells adapted to perform their function?
- Microscopic size to easily penetrate the soil
- Large SA:V ratio
- Thin surface layer allows for a short diffusion and osmosis pathway
- High water potential gradient between cell and soil water
What are the 2 possible pathways water can take through a root hair cell?
Apoplast and symplast
Describe the symplast pathway
- Water moves across plasma membrane by osmosis
- Moves between cytoplasm of one cell to the next via plasmodesmata
Describe the apoplast pathway
- Water and minerals move through the cell walls
What is the endodermis?
The layer of cells surrounding the vascular tissue in the roots