BIOLOGY

CONCEPTS & CONNECTIONS

Fourth Edition

Neil A. Campbell • Jane B. Reece • Lawrence G. Mitchell • Martha R. Taylor

CHAPTER 32
Plant Nutrition and Transport

From PowerPoint® Lectures for Biology: Concepts & Connections

Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Plants That Clean Up Poisons

• This healthy fern,

pictured with
University of
Florida researcher
Lena Ma, contains
high levels of
arsenic
– Arsenic is a
chemical element
toxic to most plants
and animals
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 • Plants like this are commonly known as “metal
accumulators”
– They are able to absorb large amounts of lead,
zinc, and other heavy metals

• Unable to move about in search of food, plants

have adapted to survive in the presence of
toxins

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 • Metal accumulators can be used in
phytoremediation
– the use of plants to help clean up polluted soil
and groundwater

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 • Sunflowers have been used to clean up
radioactive wastes
– Sunflowers were
set adrift on foam
rafts in a pond
near the destroyed
nuclear power
plant in Chernobyl
to absorb
strontium-90 and
cesium-137

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 • Although phytoremediation has had some
successes, it does pose several problems
– Disposal of plants that have accumulated the
toxic substances
– Evaporation of accumulated toxic substances
into the air
– Animal ingestion of toxin-laden plants

– The length of time it takes for the plants to

reduce soil toxicity

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THE UPTAKE AND TRANSPORT OF PLANT
NUTRIENTS
32.1 Plants acquire their nutrients from soil and air

• As a plant grows, its

roots absorb water,
minerals (inorganic
ions), and some
oxygen from the soil
– Its leaves take carbon
dioxide from the air

Figure 32.1A

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 • Photosynthesis makes use of the uptake of
water, carbon dioxide, and minerals to produce
sugars
– These sugars are composed of carbon,
oxygen, and hydrogen

• The nitrogen and magnesium absorbed from

the soil are components of chlorophyll
• Phosphorus, also absorbed from the soil, is a
major component of nucleic acids,
phospholipids, and ATP

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 – The ability to move
water from roots to
leaves and to deliver
sugars to specific
areas of the body are
remarkable feats of
evolutionary
engineering

Figure 32.1B

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32.2 The plasma membranes of root cells control
solute uptake

• Root hairs greatly increase

a root's absorptive surface

Figure 32.2A
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 • In order for upward transport, water and
solutes must enter the xylem
• Water and solutes move through the root's
epidermis and cortex by two main routes
– Through cells (intracellular route)

– Between cells (extracellular route)

• Water and solutes typically follow a

combination of routes and passages through
numerous plasma membranes and cell walls en
route to the xylem
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 Epidermis Cortex Phloem
Root hair

Xylem Casparian
strip
Endodermis

EXTRACELLULAR ROUTE, Casparian strip Xylem

via cell walls; stopped
by Casparian strip

Root hair

INTRACELLULAR ROUTE,
via cell interiors; through
plasmodesmata

Epidermis Cortex Endodermis

Figure 32.2B

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 • The Casparian strip stops water and solutes
from entering the xylem via cell walls
– Thus water and ions that travel the extracellular
route can enter the xylem only by crossing a
plasma membrane into an endodermal cell

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32.3 Transpiration pulls water up xylem vessels

• Xylem sap is the solution of inorganic nutrients

conveyed in xylem tissue from a plant's roots to
its shoots
• Root pressure can push xylem sap up only a few
meters
– Solute transport raises water pressure in the
xylem

• Plants pull xylem sap upward from the soil

through the transpiration-cohesion-tension
mechanism
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 • Transpiration is the loss of water from the
leaves
– It exerts a pull on the xylem sap

• Cohesion causes water molecules to stick

together
– It relays the pull of transpiration along a string
of water molecules all the way to the roots

• The adhesion of water molecules to xylem cell

walls helps counter the effect of gravity

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 Figure 32.3

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32.4 Guard cells control transpiration

• Guard cells surrounding stomata in the leaves

control transpiration
– The opening and closing of stomata is an
adaptation to help plants regulate their water
content and adjust to changing environmental
conditions
Guard cells H2O
H2O
H2O H2O

H2O H2O

K+
H2O
Vacuole
H2O H2O
H2O

Stoma opening Stoma closing

Figure 32.4

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32.5 Phloem transports sugars

• While xylem sap flows upwards from the roots,

phloem sap moves throughout the plant in
various directions
• The main function of phloem is to transport
the sugars made by photosynthesis

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 • Phloem contains
food-conducting
cells arranged
end-to-end as Sieve-
tube

tubes
member

Sieve
plate

Figure 32.5A

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 • Phloem transports
food molecules
made by
photosynthesis by a
pressure-flow
mechanism
– Sugar is loaded
into a phloem tube
at the sugar
source, raising the
solute
concentration
inside the tube Figure 32.5B

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 – Water is drawn
into the tube by
osmosis, raising
the pressure in
the tube

– Sugar and water

leave the tube at
the sugar sink

Figure 32.5B

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 – The increase in
pressure at the
sugar source and
decrease at the
sugar sink causes
phloem sap to
flow from source
to sink

Figure 32.5B

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 • Plant biologists have used aphids to study
phloem sap
– These studies have supported the pressure-flow
model

Honeydew Stylet
droplet of aphid

Figure 32.5C

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PLANT NUTRIENTS AND THE SOIL
32.6 Plant health depends on a complete diet of
essential inorganic nutrients
• A plant must obtain
nutrients from its
surroundings
• Macronutrients, such as
carbon, oxygen,
nitrogen, and
phosphorus, are needed
in large amounts
– They are used to build
organic molecules Figure 32.6B

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 • Micronutrients, including iron, copper, and
zinc, act mainly as cofactors or enzymes
• Growing plants in
solutions of known
composition enables
researchers to
determine nutrient
requirements
– Hydroponic culture
Complete solution Solution lacking
containing all potassium
minerals (control) (experimental)
Figure 32.6A

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32.7 Connection: You can diagnose some nutrient
deficiencies in your own plants
• Stunting, wilting, and color changes indicate
nutrient deficiencies
– Compared to the healthy tomato plant on the
left, the plant on the right is not getting enough
nitrogen

Figure 32.7A, B

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 – Phosphorus
deficiency is
sometimes indicated
by a purplish leaf
color

– Yellow leaves can

result from
potassium deficiency

Figure 32.7C, D

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32.8 Soil contains rock particles, humus,
organisms, water, and crucial solutes

• Soil characteristics determine whether a plant

will be able to obtain the nutrients it needs to
grow
• Fertile soil contains a mixture of small rock and
clay particles
– They hold water and ions and allow oxygen to
diffuse into plant roots

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 • Humus is decaying organic material
– It provides nutrients, holds water and air, and
supports the growth of organisms that enhance
soil fertility

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 • Soil horizons are distinct layers of soil

• Horizon A, or topsoil, contains rock particles

(sand and clay), humus, and living organisms
• Horizon B contains fine clay particles and
nutrients that
have drained
down from
Horizon A
• Horizon C is
composed mainly
of partially
broken-down rock
Figure 32.8A
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 • A plant's root hairs are in direct contact with
the water that surrounds the tiny particles of
topsoil

• The root hairs Soil particle surrounded

by film of water

take up Root hair

Water

dissolved
oxygen, ions,
and water from
the film of soil
water that
Air space
surrounds them
Figure 32.8B

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 • Anions, such as nitrate (NO3-), are readily
available to plants because they are not bound
to soil particles
– But they tend to drain out of the soil quickly

– This reduces soil fertility

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 • Cations, such as Ca2+ and Mg2+, adhere to soil
particles
– In cation
exchange, root K+

hairs release H+ K+ K+

ions, which Clay

particle
K+
H +

displace cations K+
from soil K+
K+
K+
particles
– The root hairs Root hair

then absorb the

free cations Figure 32.8C

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32.9 Connection: Soil conservation is essential to
human life

• Good soil
management
includes
– water-conserving
irrigation
– erosion control

– the prudent use of

herbicides and
fertilizers
Figure 32.9A, B

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32.10 Connection: Organic farmers avoid the use
of commercial chemicals

• Organic farmers rely on the principles of

ecology rather than the use of synthetic
chemicals or pesticides that can damage the
environment
– Organic farmers
try to restore as
much to the soil
as is drawn from
it

Figure 32.10

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32.11 Fungi help most plants absorb nutrients
from the soil

• Relationships with other organisms help

plants obtain nutrients
• Many plants form mycorrhizae
– A network of fungal
threads increases a
plant's absorption
of nutrients and water
– The fungus receives
some nutrients from
the plant
Figure 32.11

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32.12 The plant kingdom includes parasites and
carnivores

• Some plants have

evolved parasitic ways
of obtaining food from
other plants
– Dodder obtains
organic molecules
from other plant
species using
specialized roots that
tap into the host’s
vascular tissue Figure 32.12A
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 – Mistletoe supplements its diet by siphoning sap
from the vascular tissue of its host plants

Figure 32.12B

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 • Carnivorous plants obtain some of their
nutrients from animal tissues

– The sundew and

Venus flytrap use
insects as a source of
nitrogen
– This nutritional
adaptation enables
them to thrive in
highly acidic soil

Figure 32.12C, D
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32.13 Most plants depend on bacteria to supply
nitrogen

• Plants cannot use atmospheric nitrogen,

gaseous N2, although it is very plentiful
– Instead, nearly all plants depend to some
extent on nitrogen supplies in the soil

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 • Bacteria in the soil convert N2 from the air and
nitrogen compounds from decomposing organic
matter into forms that plants can take up and
use
– Nitrate ions (N03-) and ammonium ions (NH4+)

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 • This process of converting atmospheric
nitrogen to ammonium is called nitrogen
fixation

ATMOSPHERE

N2

Amino
acids
N2 Nitrogen-fixing
bacteria
NH4+

Soil NH4+ NO3–

(ammonium) (nitrate)
Nitrifying
bacteria
Ammonifying
bacteria
Organic
material Root

Figure 32.13

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32.14 Legumes and certain other plants house
nitrogen-fixing bacteria

• Legumes and Shoot

certain other
plants have
Nodules
nodules in
their roots that
contain
nitrogen-fixing
bacteria
Roots

Figure 32.14A

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 • Most of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legume
nodules belong to the genus Rhizobium
• The relationship between the plant and the
nitrogen-fixing bacteria is mutually beneficial

Bacteria
within
vesicle

Figure 32.14B

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PLANT NUTRIENTS AND AGRICULTURE
32.15 Connection: A major goal of agricultural
research is to improve the protein content of
crops
• Plants are the main nutritional source for most
people in the world
– Therefore,
improving the
protein content
of crops is an
important
research goal
Figure 32.15A

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 • One of the most promising lines of agricultural
research is directed toward improving the
output of the Rhizobium bacteria that inhabit
the root nodules of legumes
Rhizobium
DNA
Genes for
nitrogen fixation

TURN OFF
GENES

Nitrogen compounds Nitrogen-fixing

in root nodules enzymes
Ni xat
tro ion
fi

ge

N2
n

Figure 32.15B

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32.16 Connection: Genetic engineering is
increasing crop yields

• Using both gene guns and plasmids for gene

transfer, researchers are developing new
varieties of crop plants

Gunpowder

Gun

“Bullet”

Plant
cells
DNA-coated
pellets

Figure 32.16

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