BIOLOGY LIFE PROCESSES: NUTRITION IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Nutrition in Plants
Nutrition may be defined as a series of processes by which an organism takes in and uses food for
promoting growth and replacing worn out or injured tissues.
Let us see the different types of nutrition.

Nutrition

Heterotrophic
Autotrophic Heterotrophs
Autotrophs cannot
can prepare prepare their
their own own food and
food. depend on
others.

Holozoic Saprotrophic Mutualistic

Parasitic
It involves Such Two
An organism
taking in microbes feed organisms are
survives on
complex food on dead and involved and
another
which is decaying benefitted
causing it
digested in plants and from each
harm.
the body. animals. other.

Herbivores
Carnivores Omnivores
Includes
Includes Includes
animals which
animals which animals which
eat only
eat only flesh. eat plants and
plants/plant
flesh.
products.

Autotrophic Nutrition

Plants show autotrophic mode of nutrition. They contain green pigment chlorophyll which helps them in
the manufacture of their own food by a process termed photosynthesis.

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 BIOLOGY LIFE PROCESSES: NUTRITION IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis occurs mostly in the leaves of plants. During the process, carbon dioxide and water is
converted into food and oxygen by the light energy trapped by chloroplast.

The process is summarised as follows:

Carbon dioxide + Water chloroplasts, light Food + Oxygen

mineral nutrients

Photosynthesis

The glucose produced is immediately used by the cells or stored as insoluble starch or used in
synthesising fats, proteins etc.

The oxygen released in the atmospheric air during photosynthesis is useful because oxygen is required
by all living beings including plants. Plants respire in oxygen in the dark.

Photosynthetic Equation

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 BIOLOGY LIFE PROCESSES: NUTRITION IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS
Requirements for Photosynthesis
Carbon Dioxide
•Tiny openings called
stoma found on the lower
side of the leaf take in
carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere.
•Two kidney-shaped cells
called guard cells regulate
the opening and closing of
the stomata.
•During the day, water from
adjacent cells enters the
guard cells causing them
to bulge; the inner walls
pull apart and stomata
open.
•The reverse happens in
the night.
•Oxygen, produced during
the process, and water
vapour move out through
the stomata.
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Water Mineral Nutrients
•The root system helps in •These play an important
absorption of water from role in photosynthesis and
the soil. are required for the
•The surface area of healthy growth of plants.
absorption is increased by •Soil is the main source of
the root hair found near nutrients for plants.
the root tip. •Fertilisers are added to
improve the quality of soil.
•Minerals which are
required in large quantities
are termed as
macronutrients. Examples:
Nitrogen, Phosphorus,
Potassium, Magnesium
etc.
•Minerals which are
needed in traces are
termed as micronutrients.
Examples: Iron,
Manganese, Zinc etc.
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Factors Affecting Photosynthesis

Light
Carbon dioxide
It provides the required energy for
It provides carbon and oxygen
driving the reactions. The rate of
necessary for the formation of
photosynthesis is directly influenced by
carbohydrates.
the amount of light obtained by the sun.

Factors Affecting
Photosynthesis

Temperature
Only a suitable temperature can bring
about the series of chemical reactions
required for the process of
photosynthesis. The optimum
temperature is 30°C.
Water
It is the source of hydrogen necessary
for the formation of carbohydrates.
It is also a good solvent for transporting
materials within the plant body.

Transport of Food to Different Parts of Plants

Transport of raw materials

The raw materials absorbed by the roots are transported to the leaves through xylem.

Transport of manufactured food

Phloem is responsible for the transportation of food materials. The end-product of photosynthesis is sugar
which is converted into starch. At night, this starch is converted back to soluble sugars for transportation
to the cells in other parts of the plant or to the storage organs, as required.

This transport of organic food in solution from one part of a plant to another through its tissues is referred
to as translocation.

Hence, a bunch of xylem cells and a bunch of phloem cells together make up a vascular bundle.

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 BIOLOGY LIFE PROCESSES: NUTRITION IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS

How do Plants Use the Food they produce?

The food produced during photosynthesis is transported and distributed to all living cells of the plant
where it is utilised in different ways.

•It is the process by which cells use sugar produced

Respiration during photosynthesis to obtain energy for important
activities.

•Besides being useful for growth, food is used for

producing cellular components needed for repair and
Growth and Repair replacement of the worn-out cells and tissues in the
plant.

•Excess food is translocated to the storage tissues

and organs and stored for further use.
Storage •Sometimes, the underground stems and roots
become fleshy with stored food so that new plant
shoots can grow from them.

Interrelationships among Organisms

In nature, organisms depend on one another in order to survive. Let us study the food chain which will
help us understand this concept better.
The food chain refers to a sequence of organisms each of which is a source of food for the next.

Grass Grasshopper Frog Snake Hawk

However, the above chain is only an example of organisms involved in the food chain. In reality, most
consumers eat, or are eaten by, more than one kind of organism. Thus, organisms in nature form a
complex network of feeding relationships called a food web. It is a complex, interlinked series of individual
food chains in an ecosystem.

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 BIOLOGY LIFE PROCESSES: NUTRITION IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Food Web

Parasitism
Parasites are organisms that live at the expense of other living organisms. They live on the surface or
within the bodies of other organisms (hosts), yielding shelter and nourishment from them. Although
parasites harm the host, they do not kill it.
Examples: Liver flukes, hook worms, tapeworms and round worms.

Roundworm Tapeworm

Such a one-sided relationship between two organisms where one is harmed and the other is benefitted is
termed parasitism.
Cuscuta or dodder has a special type of sucking roots called haustoria to draw nutrition from the host.

Cuscuta

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 BIOLOGY LIFE PROCESSES: NUTRITION IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Symbiosis
It is a close association between two organisms where both partners are benefitted. Such organisms are
so dependent on each other that one cannot lead an independent life in the absence of the other.
Let us study a few instances. Nitrogen fixing bacteria live in the root nodules of leguminous plants; they fix
atmospheric nitrogen and make it available to plants. In return, the plants provide shelter and nourishment
to the bacteria.

Root Nodules

Another example of symbiotic association is lichens, which is an association between algae and fungi.

Lichens

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 BIOLOGY LIFE PROCESSES: NUTRITION IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Termites cannot digest cellulose because of a lack of enzymes; hence, the protozoa lodged in their
intestines digest the cellulose for them. The protozoa obtain food and shelter in return.

Insectivorous
These plants are deficient in nitrogen; hence, they obtain it by capturing and digesting small insects.

Examples: Pitcher plants, Venus flytrap

In Venus flytrap, when an insect crawling on the leaf touches a hair, the two parts of the leaf snap shut,
thereby trapping the creature.

In pitcher plant, a syrupy juice is present in which the insect may drown, and the closing lid prevents its
escape.

Venus flytrap Pitcher plant

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