WRITTEN REPORT:

REPORTERS: ARHON R. ALLAUIGAN & JHON PAUL CERENO

TOPIC: PLANT NUTRITION AND GAS EXCHANGE

OBJECTIVES:
- Describe the structure and function of plant organ used in nutrition and gas exchange.

CONCEPTS TO BE DISCUSSED:

PLANT NUTRITION
- Plants obtain food in two different ways. Autotrophic plants can make their own food from
inorganic raw materials, such as carbon dioxide and water, through photosynthesis in the presence of
sunlight. Some plants, however, are heterotrophic: they are totally parasitic and lacking in
chlorophyll. 

NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
- Plants are unique organisms that can absorb nutrients and water through their root system, as
well as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Soil quality and climate are the major determinants of
plant distribution and growth. 

ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS FOR PLANTS

- Plants require only light, water and about 20 elements to support all their biochemical needs:
these 20 elements are called essential nutrients

FOR AN ELEMENT TO BE REGARDED AS ESSENTIAL, THREE CRITERIA ARE REQUIRED:

1) A plant cannot complete its life cycle without the element;

2) No other element can perform the function of the element
3) The element is directly involved in plant nutrition.

TABLE 1. ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR PLANT GROWTH

MACRONUTRIENTS MICRONUTRIENTS
Carbon Iron
Hydrogen Manganese
Oxygen Boron
Nitrogen Molybdenum
Phosphorous Copper
Potassium Zinc
Calcium Chlorine
Magnesium Nickel
Sulfur Cobalt
Sodium
Silicon
PLANT NUTRITION AND TRANSPORT
- Plants have a network of tubes inside of them that are used to
transport materials from one place to another. Materials are brought in through the roots and sent
up the stem to the leaves. 

PLANT ORGANS THAT ARE INVOLVE IN PLANT NUTRITION:

1. ROOTS
- A root is an organ of a vascular plant that provides water and mineral support and anchors a
plant to the soil. Plants can have one or many roots.

FUNCTION: Roots anchor plants and are the primary site of water and nutrient absorption.

TAPROOT:
- A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally.

SECONDARY/ LATERAL ROOTS:

- A secondary root or lateral root is a side branch of the main root, a root or a fine rootlet that
derives from the primary root.

2. XYLEM
- Xylem vessels are hollow cells arranged end to end and joined by perforation plates to form
continuous tubes. In these cells both nucleus and cytoplasm are absent.

FUNCTION:  The main function of xylem is to transport nutrients and water from the soil interface to
stems and leaves; and provides mechanical support and storage. 
 The water and nutrients entering into the root cells are transported to the xylem via either
the apoplastic pathway (through the cell wall) or the symplastic pathway (through the
cytoplasm). Both pathways may occur simultaneously.

PATHWAYS
Apoplast - the continuous network of cell walls and extracellular spaces in plants through which
materials can pass without having to go into the cell itself. It looks like a mesh network through which
the water can pass.
Symplast -  the network in cell interiors of plant cells through which materials can pass
uninterrupted via plasmodesmata. 

3. TRANSPIRATION AND STOMATA

- Transpiration, or water loss, occurs through stomata, openings in the leaves that are also the site
of gas exchange with the air.

- Located in large numbers on the undersides of leaves, as well as on many other parts of the plant,
is a small opening that allows for gas exchange between the plant and the external environment
called stoma (plural, stomata). 
The opening and closing of the stomata is an effective method of plants to regulate the amount of
water they lose and the exchange of gases between the leaves and the air.
HOW THE STOMATA OPEN AND CLOSES? DISCUSS IT HERE

4. PHLOEM
- Phloem is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made
during photosynthesis and known as photosynthates

FUNCTION: Phloem carries food from the

leaves.
GAS EXCHANGE
- Gas exchange is the process whereby water vapor and oxygen leave and carbon dioxide enters
plant leaves
- .The gas exchange in plants takes place through through stomata and the process is called
diffusion.

Plants obtain the gases they need through their leaves. They require oxygen for respiration and
carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The gases diffuse into the intercellular spaces of the leaf through
pores, which are normally on the underside of the leaf - stomata.

ORGANS INVOLVE IN GAS EXCHANGE

1. STOMA/STOMATA
-  Also called a stomate is a pore, found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that
controls the rate of gas exchange.
- We can see stomata under the light microscope.

FUNCTION: Main functions of stomata are to allow for the uptake of carbon dioxide and to limit the
loss of water due to evaporation.

2. GUARD CELLS
- Guard cells are specialized plant cells in the epidermis of leaves, stems and other organs that are
used to control gas exchange. They are produced in pairs with a gap between them that forms a
stomatal pore

FUNCTION: Play an important role in gaseous exchange in and out of plant leaves by
regulating the opening and
closing of pores known as a
stoma.

FACTORS AFFECTING STOMATAL MOVEMENT

Light
- Light greatly influences the opening and closing of stomata as it stimulates production of malic
acid due to conversion of starch to sugar. Stomata do not open in U-V light and green light but remain
opened in the blue and red regions of the spectrum.

Temperature
- Stomata open with rise in temperature and close at lower temperature as light and temperature
are directly related. But higher temperatures also cause stomatal closure.

Carbon dioxide Concentration

- Stomatal movement is influenced by the concentration of carbondioxide. At low concentrations of
CO2, the stomata open. With increase in the concentration of CO2, the stomata begin to close and
when CO2 concentration of cells is higher than its concentration in the air, the stomata completely
close.
Stomatal movement is always influenced by the CO2 concentration of the intercellular spaces of the
leaf and not the concentration of the air.

Water
- Water is responsible for causing changes in the turgor of the guard cells. Guard cells become
flaccid on losing water and so the stomata close. Similarly the guardcells become fully turgid on
gaining water and the stomata open. Under conditions of water scarcity also, the stomata close.

HOW THE STOMATA OPEN AND CLOSES? DISCUSS IT HERE

REPORT OUTPUT:
15 ITEM QUIZ – GOOGLE FORM

1. Carries food from the leaves.

A. Xylem
B. Phloem
C. Stomata
D. Chloroplast

2. Play an important role in gaseous exchange in and out of plant leaves by regulating the opening
and closing of pores known as a stoma.
A. Stomata
B. Xylem
C. Guard cells
D. Phloem

3. Is the process whereby water vapor and oxygen leave and carbon dioxide enters plant leaves
A. Gas exchange
b. Plant nutrition
C. Transport
D. Photosynthesis

4. This are all macronutrients needed by plants except:

A. Carbon
B. Hydrogen
C. Phosphorous
D. Zinc

5. To transport nutrients and water from the soil interface to stems and leaves; and provides
mechanical support and storage
A. Zinc
B. Guard cells
C. Stomata
D. Phloem

6. A ______ is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally.

A. taproot
B. Secondary root
C. Lateral Root
D. Shoot root

7.. ______ are to allow for the uptake of carbon dioxide and to limit the loss of water due to
evaporation.
A. Stomata
B. Guard cells
C. Leaves
D. Roots

8. Is an organ of a vascular plant that provides water and mineral support and anchors a plant to the
soil.
A. Stem
B. roots
C. Symplast
D. Bud

9. The continuous network of cell walls and extracellular spaces in plants through which materials can
pass without having to go into the cell itself.
A. Symplastic
B. Biosis
C. Apoplast
D. Blastocyst

10. The network in cell interiors of plant cells through which materials can pass uninterrupted via
plasmodesmata. 
A. Symplast
B. Apoplast
C. Gas Exchange
D. Respiration

IDENTIFICATION (CONVERT YOUR IDENTFICATION QUESTION TO MULTIPLE CHOICE TO

MAKE IT EASIER TO CHECK)
1. Factors affecting stomata movement (3pts)
2. Plant organs that are involve in plant nutrition and transport (2pts)
3. Plant organs that are involve in gas exchange (2pts)
4. Give the 2 pathways in water transport.
5.  These two tissues transport fluid and nutrients internally.

OUTPUT (NO PERFORMANCE OUTPUT)

Create a leaflet about the structure and function of plant organ used in nutrition and gas
exchange.
Show your creative your creativeness through this output.