PLANTS

seeing more than

just green things
PLANT
CLASSIFICATION
FERNS
MOSSES
Gymnosperm or Angiosperm?
ovule (pollen cone)
hermaphrodites
 Plant Tissues 1: Meristems
• 2 types of growth regions where undifferentiated cells divide
rapidly and tissue cell division (mitosis) occurs
• Apical
– occur at the tips of the roots and shoots
– produce growth in length called primary growth
• 1) Protoderm (gives rise to the epidermis)
• 2) Ground meristem (ground tissue – cortex & pith)
• 3) Procambium (gives rise to the vascular tissue)
• Lateral
– located around the edge of stems and roots
– produce growth in circumference called secondary growth
• 1) Vascular cambium (located between the xylem and
phloem, producing additional vascular tissues)
• 2) Cork cambium (located outside phloem, producing cork)
 Plant Tissues 2: Dermal
• 2 types provides protection against fungi & bacteria, sun, etc.
• Epidermis
– the outer protective layer of specialized, flattened polygonal cells
– ROOTS:
• root hairs increase the surface area for absorption to take place
– STEMS:
• often covered with hairs called trichomes
• secretes a waxy layer called the cuticle that reduces water loss
– LEAVES:
• specialized pair of cells called guard cells surround pore-like
openings underneath all leaves (called stomata - stoma)
• close (relaxed – water out) and open (pressure – water in) by
changing water pressure within the cell to shrink or swell which
permit gas exchange (water, carbon dioxide, oxygen)
• Periderm
– closely packed cork cells protecting a woody stem
 Plant Tissues 3: Ground
• 3 types provides metabolism, storage and support
• Parenchyma
– large, loosely packed, rectangular cells with thin cell walls
– for photosynthesis and food storage
– mostly in “non-woody” plants
• Collenchyma
– elongated cells with uneven, flexible cell walls
– supports the growth regions of a plant
• Sclerenchyma
– short-lived cells with thick cell walls
– serves to support the plant
– mostly in “woody” plants
 Plant Tissues 4: Vascular (bundles)
• 2 types provides transport
• Xylem
– conducts water and minerals
– elongated schlerenchyma cells (dead at maturity)
– tracheary elements like tracheids and vessel members
– Responsible for TRANSPIRATION
• Phloem
– conducts food (sugars and amino acids)
– Parenchyma companion cells (living at maturity)
– Sieve elements like sieve tube members (sieve plate)
– Responsible for TRANSLOCATION:
roots (starch)  stem (sucrose)  buds (glucose)  leaves (excess
glucose from photosynthesis become starch grains in chloroplasts
which breakdown into glucose again to be stored in the roots)
This is an active process (requires ATP) and cannot be explained by
diffusion since going from low to high food concentration gradient.
 Capillary Action
CAPILLARY ACTION is the phenomenon by which the water column remains intact within a very fine
tube.
• Adhesion occurs from the attraction of unlike molecules.
• Cohesion occurs from the attraction of alike molecules.
• Imagine a graduated cylinder:
– the forces of adhesion between water molecules and the sides of the column is greater than
the cohesive forces between the water molecules
– therefore water stick to the sides and create a dip towards the center of the liquid – the
meniscus
 ROOT PRESSURE:
– water in the soil tends to be poorer in solutes than the water in the plant cells due to the
plant's active absorption of dissolved nutrients
– the resulting solute potential gradient causes water to flow into the roots (which can push
water one or two feet above the ground)
TRANSPIRATION PULL:
– water is evaporating through the guard cells of the stomata through transpiration
– water must be replaced with more water to sustain the column
– as water evaporates from the leaves (low pressure), it is constantly being replaced with
water that is entering the plants through the roots (high pressure), creating a positive
pressure gradient where water will flow from high pressure to low pressure (roots to leaves)
• With a pressure gradient that is promoting water to travel up the stem, individual water molecules
are acting like a person climbing a ladder.
• As water clings to the sides of the tube (adhesive force), it pulls on adjacent water molecules
(cohesive force), and those in effect pull on water molecules beneath it.
• Water continues to climb up the column while pulling the others along with it.
Typical Plant
The Root System
• Underground (usually)
• Anchor the plant in the soil
• Absorb water and nutrients
• Conduct water and
nutrients
• Food Storage

The Shoot System

• Above ground (usually)
• Elevates the plant above
the soil
• Many functions including:
– photosynthesis
– reproduction &
dispersal
– food and water
conduction
Plant Development
 SEED
• The seed is a complex multi-
cellular structure that contains a
protective shell called the testa,
the embryo of the new plant and
a supply of food for the embryo
until it has formed sufficient roots
and leaves to obtain its own
food.
• The food supply (carbohydrates,
lipids, proteins) is called the
endosperm which may be
inside or outside the seed leaves
called cotyledons.
• To start germination, the seed
leaves absorb water and swell,
then the root (called the radicle)
emerges, followed by the shoot
(called the plumule).
Monocot Seed - CORN
• will not separate into
two halves
• have one seed leaf
which is generally
long and thin like a
grass
• examples are: corn,
rice, wheat, coconuts,
grasses
Dicot Seed - BEAN
• will separate
into two
halves
• these halves
are two seed
leaves
• examples
are: beans,
peas,
peanuts,
apples,
tomatoes
 Root Functions
• Water Uptake for evaporative cooling
• Mineral Uptake from soil
• Conduction of water and minerals to rest of plant
• Storage of nutrients - especially starch, sugars, minerals, others;
particularly in winter, then moved up in sap flow --Maple Syrup!
• Anchorage of plant
– Tap root - resists blowdown of tall trees in wind, poor uprooting
resistance
– Fibrous roots - plants blow down easily (does it matter?), fabulous
uprooting resistance (grazing pressure)
Many plants have a compromise!
– Buttress roots - tropical plants have roots expanded vertically to
create "buttress" along top of ground and ridge up the trunk. Seen in
Jurassic Park.
– Prop roots - adventitious roots from stem angle down and out much
like a "flying buttress".
• Legume nodules - Rhizobium bacterial symbiosis, nitrogen fixation
• Orchid velamen (aerial roots) - water absorption, nutrient capture, etc.
• Black mangrove (Avicennia nitida) pneumatophores - gas exchange for
roots in microaerobic swamp muck
• Gravitropic response - root cap perception, growing zone positive
response to gravity vector (formerly geotropism)
 Root Structures
• Root Hairs
cell extensions of epidermis which increase absorptive
surface
• Epidermis
water and non-selective mineral intake via root hairs
• Cortex
storage parenchyma (starch, sugar, etc.)
• Endodermis
selective mineral pump (concentrates particular minerals as it
pumps them into xylem area)
• Pericycle
origin of lateral roots in young areas and bark on older roots
• Vascular Cylinder
– Phloem - conducts nutrients from leaves
– Cambium - makes wood-woody plants only
– Xylem - conducts minerals and water up
Root Structure
ROOTS – Monocots vs Dicots
STEMS – Monocots vs Dicots
• Stems are usually above
ground organs.
• Stems grow towards light
(positively phototropic)
and away from the ground
(negatively geotropic),
except in the case of certain
metamorphic (modified)
stems.
• Depending on the hardness
of the stem, they can be
distinguished between
herbaceous (non-woody)
and woody stems.
Removing
BARK Kills
the Tree
Turgor Pressure
• This turgor pressure
is caused by the
uptake of water by the
cytoplasm of the cells
so that pressure is
exerted at the plasma
membrane on the cell
wall.
• The force exerted
outward on a cell wall
by the water contained
in the cell is what
gives the plant rigidity,
and may help to keep
it erect.
LEAVES
Guard Cells