ROOT STEM TRANSITION

BY
HETAKUMARI PILUDARIA
BSc (HONS) BIOTECHNOLOGY
SEM II
INTRODUCTION
 Root and stem form a continuous structure in plants called the axis.
 The vascular tissue in root is radial (xylem and phloem arranged

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separately in different radii) whereas in the stem is conjoint (xylem
and phloem are arranged together in same radii as vascular bundles).
 Thus, there should be a region in the axis where the vascular
structures of the root and the stem meet and merge together.
 This peculiar region is called the Root-Stem Transition Zone.

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 The epidermis, cortex, endodermis, pericycle and the secondary
vascular tissue are continuous from root to stem.

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 Only the primary vascular tissue in the axis undergoes a change in
their position and orientation.
 The exarch arrangement of xylem in root changes to endarch position
in the stem.
 In the transition zone, the vascular tissue undergoes many changes
such as Forking, Rotation and Fusion.

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 The vascular tissue also increases their diameter.
 The exact position of the transition zone is different in different plants.

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 Usually, the transition zone occurs at the tip of the radicle or at the
basal or middle or at the top portion of hypocotyl.
 The length of transition zone also varies from few millimeters to
several centimeters.
 The transition of vascular tissue may be gradual or abrupt in different
plants.
 The phloem tissue, in most of the cases, remains more or less same
position.
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 Different types of Root Stem Transitions are observed in plants
 Eames and MacDaneal (1947) described FOUR types of root stem

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transition in plants.
 They are:

(1). Fumaria Type (A – Type)

(2). Cucurbita Type (B – Type)
(3). Lathyrus Type (C – Type)
(4). Anemarrhena Type (D -Type)

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FUMARIA TYPE ROOT-STEM TRANSITION (TYPE A)
 Occurs in Fumaria, Mirabilis and Dipsacus.
 Each xylem strands in the root divides radially into two branches.

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 As the branches go upward they swing laterally.

 Among these two branches, one swing to the right and one swing to
left and join to the phloem strand inside.
 Phloem strand do not change its position or orientation and they pass
directly from the root to the stem.
 The number of vascular bundles formed in the stem will be equal to
the number of phloem strands occurs in the root.

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CUCURBITA TYPE ROOT-STEM TRANSITION (TYPE B)
 Found in Cucurbita, Acer, Phaseolus and Tropaeolum.
 In Cucurbita type both the xylem and phloem strand divide into two

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strands.
 Each xylem swing as in Fumaria type, and join with a strand of
phloem.
 Phloem does not change its orientation, but the xylem becomes
inverted.
 Number of vascular bundles formed in the stem will be twice the
number of phloem strands in the root.

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LATHYRUS TYPE ROOT-STEM TRANSITION (TYPE C)
 Found in Lathyrus and Medicago.
 Here the xylem strand does not divide but pass continuously into the

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stem.
 However the xylem strands twist 180 degrees.

 Meantime the phloem strands divide.

 The phloem strands then move laterally to the position of the xylem
strand and then they fuse together and join the xylem strand on the
outside
 In this type the number of vascular bundle formed in the stem will be
equal to the number of phloem strands found in the roots.
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ANEMARRHENA TYPE ROOT STEM TRANSITION (TYPE D)
 It is a very rare type of root-stem transition.
 Found in some monocot plants such as Anemarrhena.

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 Here half of the xylem strand divide radially, the rest remain undivided.
 The branches of the divided xylem swing laterally and join with the
undivided xylem strand which has now inverted its position.
 The phloem strands do not divide but fuse in pair with the xylem
strand.
 Thus a single vascular bundle in this type of stem composed of two
phloem strands and three xylem strands.
 The number of vascular bundles formed in the stem will be half the
number of vascular strands in the root.
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SIGNIFICANCE OF ROOT-STEM TRANSITION

 In the transition zone the internal tissue arrangement is completely

different from that of root and stem.

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 Thus, this region does not belong to any of those categories.

 Several interpretations are available to describe the structure and evo-

lutionary significance of the transition zone.

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 The root and shoot tips of the seedling have their own meristem which
forms the root and stem, respectively.

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 During development, vascular connections are established between
radicle and cotyledon via hyopocotyl.
 The epicotyl traces are joined with the radicle-hypocotyl-cotyledon
unit and tissues between the traces are mutually accommodated
(Esau, 1965).

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 The radial arrangement of xylem and phloem is usually considered as
primitive whereas the collateral arrangement of them is regarded as

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advanced.
 Therefore, the xylem and phloem arrangements at the upstream
transition zone represent the different evolutionary stages which
culminate into collateral arrangements in the stem.

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THANK YOU

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