Biology Lab

Exercise 10: Seed and their Structure

 Angiosperms – seeds contain dormant

embryo.
o surrounded by seed coat
 Cotyledon – have stored food.

Two Types of Seeds in Dicot Plant

1. Albuminous Seed
 cotyledons are thin because food of the
embryo is stored in endosperm.
2. Exalbuminous Seed
 castor bean seed (Ricinus
communis)  cotyledons of bean are thickened because
 tuba-tuba seed (Jatropha curcas) they contain food for the embryo.
 External Features:  bean seed (Vigna)
a) Hilum – scar at basal ventral; end of  Cotyledons – two very much thickened
seed attaches to the ovary. structure observed after the seed coat has
b) Caruncle – white conspicuous; wart been removed.
structure at end of hilum.  Radicle and Hypocotyls– small cylindrical
c) Micropyle – small hole; close to base structure between them.
of caruncle on dorsal side  Plumule – small young foliage leaves.
 Internal Features:
a) Testa – outer covering
b) Tegmen – inner covering
c) Endosperm – solid white structure;
greater part of the seed
d) Embryo – small plant within
endosperm. It consists:
 cotyledons or seed leaves
 radicle or cylindrical structure
(gives rise to the root)
 plumule or tiny projecting
structure
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Monocotyledonous Seed

 soaked and unsoaked corn grain (Ze mays)

a) Endosperm
 composed of:
 protein – plumule of a hard,
yellow portion.
 starchy part – inner, soft,
white zone.
b) Embryo
 composed of:
plumule
radicle
cotyledon or scutellum
 coleorhiza – radicle tip thin sheath
 coleoptile – stem tip
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Exercise 11: Photosynthesis
 Variegated leaves have green parts (where
the cells contain chlorophyll) and white parts
(where there is no chlorophyll).
 Only the parts that were green become
blue/black with iodine solution, showing the
importance of chlorophyll in photosynthesis.
 The parts without chlorophyll do not
photosynthesize, and so they do not make
starch and the iodine does not change color.
 utilizes CO2 and H2O as the raw materials;
simple sugar and O as products.
 with use of Solar Energy
 chlorophyll pigment – key component
bringing about the chemical energy
conversion.

I. Necessity of Chlorophyll

 Vigorous Leaf
 Variegated Leaf (multicolored)
1. dip both to boiling water to kill leaf
cells
2. place in beaker with ethyl alcohol
3. place beaker in water bath until color
is removed  The leaf on the left is a variegated leaf.
4. remove from alcohol The green parts contain chlorophyll and
5. dip in a petri dish with iodine photosynthesize to make starch. The
 starch is present bluish-black areas. white part of the leaf does not contain
chlorophyll, so does not
Questions: photosynthesize.
 The leaf on the right shows a positive test
 Why is it necessary to kill the leaf cells?
for starch in the areas which contained
 to soften the cuticle and cell wall chlorophyll, and a negative test for starch
to easily extract the chlorophyll. in the areas which lack chlorophyll.
 Why use ethanol?
 boiling ethanol dissolves the II. Necessity of Light
chlorophyll and the green color
 Materials:
from leaf; it turns white so it’s
easy to see the change in color.  Hydrilla spigs
 Is chlorophyll necessary for  3% sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)
photosynthesis?
 it traps the sunlight that allows  Procedure:
CO2 and H2O to convert into 1. 6 in. Hydrilla, place upside down in a
glucose and oxygen. large beaker with 3% NaHCO3
2. cut off ½ cm from base of the stem.
 Is starch secondary product?
3. cover plants with large glass funnel
 yes
4. fill 100ml test tube with distilled H2O
 Presence of starch indicates the area of
5. invert it over the funnel stem
leaf photosynthesizing.
6. allow set-up to stand for 5 minutes
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Questions:
 What does sodium bicarbonate provide in
the process?
 it can increase the rate of
photosynthesis by providing reaction
with addition CO2.
 Relationship between amount of oxygen and
light intensity.
 as light intensity increases, amount of
oxygen increases.
 If the light intensity increases indefinitely,
would you expect the production of oxygen
to continue to increase at same rate?
 at sufficiently high levels of light
intensity, rate of oxygen evolution
remains constant.
III. The Effect of Light Wavelength
 Hyrdilla is placed 10 inches away from the
bulb.
o placed in:
o Room Illumination
o Strong Sunlight
o Bulb Bulb covered with green
cellophane
 Green color is reflected by the leaf.
Exercise 12: Respiration in Germination
 Respiration
 harvesting of stored energy in a form
of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
 ATP powers the following cellular activities:
 photosynthesis
 water and mineral absorption
 cell division and growth
 Condition inside and outside the cell affects
the rate of respiration as well as rates of the
cellular activities.
 Cell hydration indirectly affects the rate of
respiration.
 Water content of active cytoplasm may be as
high as 90%.
 When water content of seeds decreases,
there is a sharp drop in the rate of CO2
released from the cells. As consequence:
 growth ceases
 mineral salts are not absorbed and
cell division stops.
 respiration goes on at a very slow
rate
 cell consume little oxygen
 give off a little CO2
 release only a very little heat
Questions:
 Which set-up the seeds germinate
faster?
 The set-up where the bag of
mongo seeds is suspended just
above the surface water.
 What life processes does the experiment
try to demonstrate?

 What is the position of the growth of the
stems, in what directions?

Exercise 13: Transpiration
 Transpiration
 process by which water is lost from
the plant body in a form of water
vapor.
 Structural Transpiration
 main pathway of water loss but water
may also evaporate through:
 cuticle of the leaf (cuticular
transpiration)
 lenticels (lenticular
transpiration)
 the water lost in the two pathways
(cuticular and lenticular) is
considerably smaller than through
the stomates.
 Factors that affect the rate of transpiration:
 strong wind
 strong sunlight
 plugged stomates
Factors affecting Transpiration
 Set-up A: Control
 Set-up B: Strong Light
 Set-up C: Gently-blowing electric fan
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 Set-up D: Vaseline is spread thinly and
evenly on the undersurface of every leaf