EXERCISE 11: TRANSPORT AND PLANT CELL WATER

RELATIONS  Thus, ψ s decreases with increasing solute concentration. Because ψ s is

INTRODUCTION
one of the four components of ψ w , a decrease in ψ s will cause a decrease
Molecular movement
 Movement of molecules suspended in a fluid medium across the in ψ w
selectively permeable cell membranes
Net movement  The internal water potential of a plant cell is more negative than pure
 Final/ total amount of the movement that took place water because of the cytoplasm’s high solute content.
 Either +, - or neutral
Translocation  Because of this difference in water potential, water will move from the soil
 movement of substances from one region to the other into a plant’s root cells via the process of osmosis. This is why solute
 Can be active or passive potential is sometimes called osmotic potential.

Passive Translocation
1. Bulk flow
 Due to external forces such as gravity and hydrostatic pressure
 Accounts for water movement in plants (i.e. conducting cells of
xylem tissue or the movement of water into roots)
2. Diffusion
 Directed movement from a region of high conc. to a region of low
conc. through the random thermal motion of molecules
 Important factor in the supply of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis
 Important for loss of water vapor in the leaves
3. Osmosis
 diffusion of water across a semi-permeable membrane only when
there is a difference in the chemical potential (μ) of water on two
sides of a selectively permeable membrane
 movement of water from an area of high free energy to an area of
low free energy
 Only occurs pag may semi permeable membrane and the solute
cannot pass through the membrane

Water Potential
 Tendency of mol to leave a certain location
 Difference in water potential drives the movement of water
 free energy of water is affected by:
1. presence of solutes
2. external force (hydrostatic pressure, wall
pressure/turgor pressure)
 combined effect of these factors is included in a single
measurement called water potential (ψ) Which root tissue has the highest solute concentration?
 Water potential refers to the capacity to do work when water  Sa stele because water moves from the soil to the interior of the
moves from an area of higher ψ to an area of lower ψ root along an increasingly negative osmotic potential (low osmotic
ψ w =ψ s+ ψ p+ψ m+ ψ g potential= high solute conc)
(water; osmotic; matrix; gravity)
Osmotic Pressure (π)
 Highest water potential: roots  the amount of force required to just prevent any increase in the
 Lowest water potential: leaves volume of solution
 Pressure applied by a solution to prevent the inward movement of
solvent or water
Solute/ Osmotic Potential (ψ s )
 Potential of water molecules to move from a dilute to a Turgor Pressure
concentrated solution  Pushes the plasma membrane against the cell wall of plant; caused
 Due primarily to the contents of the large central vacuole by the osmotic flow of water from outside of the cell into the cell’s
ψ s =−CiRT vacuole
 Includes membrane proteins
C= Concentration of solute 1. Porins: membrane proteins in the outer membranes of
i= ionization constant mitochondria and chloroplasts (high permeability)
R= gas constant 2. Aquaporins – selective permeability; only allows water
T= Absolute Temp ( C + 273) to pass through
 Negative in a plant cell; zero in distilled water Levels of translocation
- Intercellular transport: through the cell membrane
- Short- distance: Across the radial axis of the organ (within tissues
 Solutes reduce water potential (resulting in a negative ψ w ) by consuming or organs)
some of the potential energy in the water - Long- distance: across the longitudinal axis of the plant (from one
organ to another via the axial system)
 Solute molecules can dissolve in water because water molecules can bind to
them via hydrogen bonds.
DIFFUSION OF PLANT PIGMENT
 The energy in the hydrogen bonds between solute molecules and water is
no longer available to do work in the system because it is tied up in the  Irreversible process
bond.  Triggered by concentration gradient
 Occurs in all directions
 In other words, the amount of available potential energy is reduced when  Faster process than osmosis
solutes are added to an aqueous system.
 Distilled water and vegetable oil were used to show the diffusion based on
solubility  Through the anthocyanin pigment, nakikita yung pagplasmolyze kasi nasa
 Heat and the water bath were added to observe the effect of temperature vacuole siya

Osmolarity
Color  Total number of all osmotically active solute particles in the
Set-up  Observations
intensity solution per unit volume
Osmoticity
Light pinkish solution with
1 g sugar beet + 10 ml
++ a darker shade of pink at  comparison of osmolarity between two solutions separated by a
distilled water
the bottom semi-permeable membrane based on the amount of osmotically
active solutes (solutes that can pass through the membrane) in
1 g sugar beet + 10 ml each.
Uniform dark pinkish
distilled water in +++ Tonicity
solution
boiling water bath  comparison of osmolarity between two solutions separated by a
semi-permeable membrane based on the amount of non-moving
1 g sugar beet + 10 ml Highly turbid and viscous solutes in each, esp. after all moving solutes, if any, pass through
-
vegetable oil yellow solution the semi-permeable membrane and get evenly distributed.

1 g sugar beet + 10 ml Less viscous clear yellow FACTORS AFFECTING THE INTEGRITY OF CELL MEMBRANES
-
heated vegetable oil solution
 Different temperatures were used to see its effect in the integrity ng cell
membrane
Factors affecting rate of diffusion:
a. Shaking the test tu be  increase contact of all beetroot Effect of the Following to the Cell Membrabe:
surfaces a. Heat
b. Concentration: high difference in conc  Faster o increases the fluidity but high heat can damage the
c. Temperature: high KE  Faster cell’s proteins which leads to denaturation  Cell
d. Solubility in diffusion medium: If its more soluble in the Membrane breaks down or gets destroyed
diffusion medium  Faster b. Low temperature
o This factor can be observed in the difference of o Cell membrane stiffens and decreases permeability
results in water and oil c. Organic Reagents
o Sugar beet contains Betalain and Betacyanin pigment o Organic reagents interact with the transmembrane
which are water soluble, thus it diffused faster in protein causing it to change shape
water compared to oil o Dissolves cell membrane at high concentration
e. Size: The larger the molecule  Slower diffusion since it is harder
o Chloroform stay in color because its nonpolar. Thus,
for it to pass through the semi- permeable membrane
anthocyanin can’t be dissolved  Purple color
f. Presence of other molecules: More other molecules present 
o Acetone is polar so nadissolve niya yung anthocyanin
Slower diffusion since more interaction would happen
g. Polarity of Diffusing particles: Applicable kung may membrane: pigment  Clear/ Translucent color
May hydrophobic region which repels polar molecules d. pH Level
Flux Density o Affects permeability
o Also causes change in color of the pigment
 A.K.A Rate of transport o Not optimal pH level  proteins can be denatured
 Amount of substances crossing a unit area per unit time (Js o Anthocyanin:
Diffusion coefficient  Basic: nagiging yellow or greenish
 Acidic: nagiging red to pink
 Proportionality constant that measures how easily a substance
moves through a particular medium DETERMINATION OF THE SOLUTE CONCENTRATION OF CELLS
VIA THE PASMOLYTIC METHOD
OSMOSIS
 Can only occur in a liquid medium  Conducted to determine the concentration that will bring incipient
 Requires a semipermeable membrane plasmolysis
 Triggered by osmotic pressure  Water wasn’t used, because mag- iiba yung tonicity
 Incipient plasmolysis  50% were plasmolyzed
Plasmolysis
 Response of plant cells exposed to hypertonic envi. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 Pulling away of the cell membrane from the cell wall due to water
loss
 Loss of water and turgor pressure of a cell after being in solute-rich
environemnt

Hypotonic state
 Cell is turgid; Optimal for plants

Isotonic State
 Cell is flaccid; Results to wilting

Hypertonic State
 Cell is plasmolyzed
 Cell loses water and its volume shrinks
 Plasma membrane pulls away from the wall

Boat of Moses (Tradescantia spathacea)

 Contains Anthocyanin pigments which are:
o Water soluble
o Found in vacuole in plants  Number of plasmolyzed cell increases as sucrose concentration
increases
Osmotic Potential
ψ s =−CiRT
Water Potential
ψ w =ψ s+ ψ p
 Again, as solute concentration increases, osmotic pressure
becomes more negative
 Water potential also becomes more negative
1. Addition of more solutes lowers water potential bc nag
dissolve yung solute sa water and it will bind to water
mol. Thus, water is no longer available to do work sa
system kaya PE of water lowers

 Amount of plasmolyzed cells also increases as water potential becomes

more negative
 Water moves towards regions with a more negative water potential
 Water moves out of the cell to achieve an equilibrium

PATHWAY OF WATER IN A FLOWER

Roots
 Absorb water and nutrients from soil

Stems
 Pulls water up the plant towards the petals

Xylem
 Responsible for movement of water and nutrients

Capillary action
 Movement of liquid along a surface of a solid due to adhesion
 Water rise due to adhesion between water molecules and polar
groups along the surface of the tube
 As water moves up, there is a strong cohesion between them to pull
the bulk of water up
 Rise in capillarity tube is inversely proportional to the radius of the
tube
 EXERCISE 12: TRANSPIRATION AND STOMATAL MOVEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Transpiration
 Process wherein water vapor is drawn out of the aerial parts of the
plant, mostly from the leaves, through the stomates
 Loss in water vapor = pulls water molecules from the lower parts
of the plant, thereby driving the upward transport of water through
the plant body

FACTORS THAT AFFECT TRANSPIRATION RATE

Potometer

 Device that measures the rate at which a plant draws up water

Transpiration rate

 Differs due to the varying concentration of stomatal complexes in

the leaf (hypo-, epi-, amphi-)
 Use cobalt chloride paper
o Time it takes to change from blue to pink is the
transpiration rate
Strategies to Reduce Transpiration Rate

 Reduced external surface; small ratio with volume

 Smaller leaf size, more compact
 Presence of thick cuticle, multiseriate epidermis
 Stomatal crypts, bulliform cells
Broader leaves of Tropical plants

 Trade off between heat capture and loss

 Easier way to trap light
Smaller leaves of temperate plants

 Prevent water loss

STOMATAL FREQUECY
 Direct relationship with transpiration
 Higher no. of stomatal = increased transpiration rate
 Tropical plants = greater no. of stomatal complex
 Temperature plants = less no. of stomatal complex

MECHANISM OF STOMATAL MOVEMENT

 Opening
o Increased sugar concentration due to chlorophyll
contributes to solute rich environment in guard cell
o Water moves from neighboring cell to guard cell
o Vacuoles become turgid = guard cell opens
 Closing
o At night, light energy is scarce
o Sugar becomes starch, resulting to a solute-poor
environment
o Water moves from guard cell to neighboring cell
o Vacuoles lose water = guard cell becomes flaccid and
closes