plant nutrition

photosynthesis:

plant tissue has the same type of chemical tissue(carbohydrates,proteins

and lipids) as animal tissue.
however animals eat other plants or animals to get nutrients and plants
make these molecules beginning with photosynthesis

process of photosynthesis: plants combine the raw materials

carbon dioxide(from air)
water(from the soil)
to form glucose, a simple sugar and also carbohydrates

use of chlorophyll in plants: is a pigment that can be found in green

plants.
It is an essential molecule for the development of photosynthesis, which
is the process made out by certain organisms to convert sunlight into
energy.

oxygen also is produced in photosynthesis

the process of photosynthesis can be summarised in a word equation

chlorophyll
carbon dioxide + water --------------> glucose + oxygen
light energy

photosynthesis also can be summarised as a balanced symbol equation:

chlorophyll
6CO2 + 6H2O -------------> C6H12O6 + 6O2
light energy

factors affecting the rate of photosynthesis

the rate at which a process can be supplied. photosynthesis needs light

energy.
As light levels fall as night approaches, or on a very cloudñy day, the
rate at which energy is absorbed by chlorophyll decreases and the rate
at which the photosynthesis proceeds slows down.
Light has become a limiting factor for the process. A limiting factor is a
factor in the environment that is limiting the rate of the reaction.

We can test whether this is true by adding more carbon dioxide. Farmers
sometimes do this in glasshouses to increase the growth rate of crops. If
the rate of photosynthesis increases, then carbon dioxide was the
limiting factor.
Also the temperature affects the rate of reaction because it affects the
energy of the reacting particles and how quickly and how hard they
bump into each other.
If the temperature rises too high, however, the enzymes that control the
rate of reactions start to become denatured and so the reactions go
more slowly.

changing glasshouse conditions

Farmers and plant growers want their crops to grow well, but in open
fields it is not usually possible to control the amount of carbon dioxide or
light the plants receive, or the temperatures at which they are growing.
in glasshouses is possible to change conditions, for example by:

● using artificial lighting so that the plants can continue growing

when conditions are cloudy or even at night
● enriching the atmosphere around the plants
● using a heating system to increase the temperature

leaf structure

Photosynthesis takes place mainly in the leaves, although it can occur in

any cells that contain green chlorophyll.

Adaptations for photosynthesis

Many structures in a leaf are adapted so that photosynthesis can be

carried out as efficiently as possible.
 ● The waxy cuticle that covers the leaf, particularly the upper
surface,prevents the loss of water from epidermal cells and helps
to stop the plant from dying out too quickly.
● epidermis allows as much light as possible to reach the
photosynthesising cells within the leaf.
● palisade cells, where most photosynthesis takes place, are tightly
packed together in the uppermost half of the leaf so that as many
as possible can receive sunlight
● chloroplasts containing chlorophyll are concentrated in the
palisade cells to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
● Spongy mesophyll cells are air spaces in the lower part of the
leaf that provide a large internal surface area to volume ratio to
allow the efficient exchange of the gases carbon dioxide and
oxygen between the cells and the air in the leaf.
● stomata allow the movement of gases into and out of the leaf.
● vascular bundles form the veins in the stem.
● Phloem tissue transport sucrose, formed from glucose. Xylem
tissue transport water and minerals to the leaf from the roots

transport in plants

introduction: In plants, water and dissolved substances are transported

throughout the plant in the series of tubes or vessels. There are two
types of transport vessels in plants, calles xylem and phloem.

xylem tissue contains long, hollow xylem cells that form long tubes
through the plant. Xylem tubes are important for carrying water and
dissolved mineral ions.

Phloem cells are living cells that are linked together to form continuous
phloem tissue. Dissolved food materials, particularly sucrose and amino
acids that have been formed in the leaf, are transported all over the plant
from the leaves.
water uptake

plants absorb water and dissolved mineral ions from the soil through
root hair cells.
Root hair cells are specially adapted for absorption of substances,
because they have a fine extension that sticks out into the soil.
Water enters the root hair cells by osmosis.
this means that the water potential outside the root is higher inside, so
water molecules move down their water potential gradient

water enters the root hair cells, then passes across the root form cortex
cell to cortex cell by osmosis. It then enters the xylem tissue in the root
and can move from there to all other parts of the plant, including the
leaves.

investigating water movement through a plant

The movement of water through the above-ground parts of a plant can

be investigated by adding food colouring to the water given to the plant.
After a day or two in coloured water, the veins of the leaves and flowers
of a plant will show the colour.

transpiration
water is a small molecule that easily crosses cell membranes.
inside the leaf, water molecules cross the cell membrane of the spongy
mesophyll cells intos air spaces. This process is called evaporation
because the liquid in the cells becomes water vapour in the air spaces.

When the stomata in a leaf is open, water molecules diffuse from the air
spaces inside the leaf into the air.

what would happen if transpiration did not happen?

transpiration allows photosynthesis to keep going
factors affecting transpiration

temperature: more temperatures leads to a higher kinetic energy and

more diffusion.

higher temperatures = higher rate of transpiration.

humidity: concentration of water vapor in the air. if it is very humid, it has

more water, and the concentration gradient is smaller.

higher humidity = lower rates of transportation.

light intensity: more light leads to more photosynthesis, so the stomata

are open for more CO2 to enter the leaf, and more water can leave.

more light = higher rate of transpiration.

How does the water go from the roots to the leaves then?

cohesion: water molecules also tend to stick to other surfaces, like the
walls of the xylem vessels, and they pull the water molecules in the
bottom of the stem up to the leaf.

translocation

transport in plants consists in 2 main processes:

● water transport thanks to transpiration, which we have seen:
xylem vessels.
● food transport made in the leaf, like sucrose and AA, thanks to
translocation: phloem vessels

minerals

plants also need proteins which contain nitrogen, or magnesium for the
chlorophyll.
mineral ions in the soil thanks to which cell?

Root hair cell!!