Ch.

7 Transport in Plants
7.1 Transport needs

Plants make their own food using photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis organs are primarily the LEAVES.

- Require light.
- Found on top of plants (ex. Trees)

Plants have-

 Root systems underground to: obtain minerals & water.

 Spreads above to gain light
 Spreads below to get inorganic mineral ions
 Spreads below to absorb water
Sugars are produced in the leaves, glucose is needed in all parts of the plant for:

 Respiration
 Making cellulose
Mineral ion ex: Magnesium; needed to make chlorophyll
Q1- the transport sugar made in leaves is the dissacharide, sucrose.
a- Define disaccharide
Sugars formed by two monosaccharides joining together.
b- What monosaccharides make sucrose?
Glucose and fructose
c- Which isomer of glucose is used to make cellulose?
B-glucose

7.2 Vascular System

Long-distance transport is needed in plants.
Mineral ions & organic compounds – dissolve in water – form solutions – moved through VASCULAR
TUBES in the VASCULAR SYSTEM.
Vascular system tissue:

 Xylem
 Phloem
Both contain tubes for fluid transport.
Xylem sap: through xylem vessels
Xylem + phloem = vascular tissue
Xylem mainly carries:

 Water
 Inorganic ions (mineral salts)
 Can only move in one direction
Phloem carries:

 Substances made by photosynthesis

 Substances from storage organs
 Can move in different directions
The fluids don’t move as fast in these tissues as fast as blood flows in animals.

7.3 structures of stems, roots and leaves, distribution of xylem/phloem

 Stems
 Roots
 Leaves
Are all the main organs in plant transport.
Dicotyledon: Flowering plants w/ seeds that contain an embryo w/ two cotyledons
Cotyledons – Seed leaves
Q2- list errors in drawing technique spotted in the left-hand half of the drawing.
The things are not labeled correctly, they should be horizontal, clear lines. The drawing is also shaded in,
it should not be. The cell membrane is wriggly and smudged, it should be clearly defined as well. There
are erased marks- there should not be.
Phloem usually stained green w/ small cells.
Xylem usually stained red w/ large vessels.
They are found in the vascular bundles of the leaves.
The vascular bundles contain other types of cells.
Within rootsm the xylem and phloem are within the centre of the roots.
Roots are made of parenchyma cells. There can be nuclei in these cells.
The epidermis is the outer layer of cells covering the body of a plant/animal.
Endodermis is the layer of cells covering the vascular tissue of plants.
Vascular bundles have FIBERS (sclerenchyma) for strengthening,
 7.4 transport of water
Water always moves from a region of LOWER potential to HIGHER potential.
Movement thgrough plants – because of evaporation from the leaves.
Sun energy causes waterr to evaporate through the process of transpiration. (reduces water potential)
Moves through the xylem upwards from the roots up to the plant all the way up to the leaves,
Q3- Most stomata are usually found in the lower epidermis of leaves. Why?
Because stomatas open and close to let water vapor out.
Q4- how the following factors may cause the rate of transpiration to increase:
a- Increase in wind speed
The wind speed may trigger the stomatas to open, allowing more vapor out.
b- Rise in temperature
A rise in temperature can lead to more water evaporating rapidly out of the plant.
Xerophytes are plants in places w/ low water supply. These plants haver evolved to keep water loss to a
minimum.
Q5-Identify six xerophytic features of leaves visible and explain how these features help conserve water.
Feature: Spines
Example: Cactus
The spines help conserve water because they have less surface area than leaves, so less space for
transpiration to occur.
Feature: Sunken stomata (7.17)
Example: marram grass
The stomata is sunken down, probably because it works less, more time in between uses.

In the symplast pathway water moves from cell to cell via PLASMODESMATA.
In the apoplast pathway, water moves through the cell walls.
Xylem contains more than one type of cell.
Xylem tissue begins life as a normal PLANT CELL.

- With time, LIGNIN lays in the walls. (Waterproof, hard, strong)

- More lignin, cell dies – empty inner space. (lumen)
- Xylem vessels are very long & line up.
 - The ends of the vessels form into pipes through the plant, and this is the XYLEM VESSEL!
- Lignin in the walls allows xylem to support what’s in the tubes.

There are spots in which groups of plasmodesmata is found but no lignin, causing PITS that allow water
to move freely in and out of the vessels.

 Vessels made from cells joined end to end (tubes)

 Cells are DEAD (die with time)
 Cell wallls are thickened w/ lignin
 Pits allow water in and out of tumes
Removing water from xylem vessels (IN LEAF) causes tension in remaining water. (Higher water
potential at the bottom, not top)
Tension as in high suction levels.
Movement of water and mineral ions through xylem vessels is by mass flow.

- Water molecules
- ^+ dissolved solutes move at the same speed toether.
- Mass flow aided by hydrogen bonding (water is attracted to each other, cohesion)
- Xylem vessels are hydrophilic
- Water molecules attracted to the cellulose in the vessels (adhesion)

In conclusion, cohesion and adhesion are what keep the water moving within the empty tubes.
Air bubble = water stops moving …. AIR LOCK
The pits allow water to switch tubes and continue moving.
Air bubbles do not pass through pits because of the cellulose cell walls.
Small diameter in the vessels prevent the tube from breaking from the air bubble pressure
Q6- Explain how each of the following eatures adapt xylem vessels for their function of transporting
water from roots to leaves
a. Total lack of cell contents
The lack of cell contents create a tube, almost like a pipe that is used to transport water through the plant.
b. No end walls in individual xylem elements
The lack of end walls allow a continuous movement of water through the tubes.
c. Narrow diameter
The narrow xylem vessel diameter prevents the tubes from collapsing when such things as a air bubble
happen.
d. Lignified walls
The lignified walls allow support of the substance inside the tubes which is what causes the continuous
movement rather than a falling or sucking movemet.
 e. Pits
Pits allow water to move freely in and out of the tubes, which is helpful when something happens like an
air bubble- they also don’t allow air bubbles to pass because the cell walls have cellulose.
Q7, Explain the use of the terms cohesion-tension and transpirational-pull
The cohesion-tension term relates to the way that the tension builds in the bottom of the tubes and the
cohesion is what attracts the water to eachother- therefore causing an attraction movement with the push
of the tension and the pull of the cohesion. The transpirational-pull relationship is another significant part
of the cohesion-tension relationship, because the transpiration-pull to the surface is what motivates the
continious movement which also promotes the cohesion and tension of the rest of the plant.

Xylem vessels are at the center of the root.

Arranged in a ring.
Water taken up by root hairs – crosses the cortex of the root – enters xylem in root center (because of the
water potential levels... lower in xylem than in root hairs)
Water soaks into the cortext walls and are able to move through the root from cell wall to cell wall. This
is the APOPLAST PATHWAY.
Water can also move into the cytoplasm or vacuole of a cortex cell by OSMOSIS, then into other cells
through interconnecting plasmodesmata. This is the SYMPLAST PATHWAY
When water reaches endodermis – Apoplast pathway is blocked.
Casparian strip is wht stops water from moving through apoplast, it’s a band of thick waterproof waxy
material. Water has to go around this.

 Water moves into cell by osmosis

 Down a water potential gradient
 Soil is a dilute solution and has relatively high water potential.
 Cytoplasm and cell sap in root hair have low water potential.
 Water diffuses down the water potential gradient
- ^^ through the partially permeable cell surface membrane... into cytoplasm... into vacuole of root hair

7.5 Transport of assimilates

Assimilates: Chemical compounds made by the plant itself as a result of assimilation.
Assimilation: the range of processes by which the plant makes inorganic nutrients into organic
compounds.
Photosynthesis is a form of assimilation.
Assimilates are transported from sources to sinks in phloem.
Sink: place where a SOURCE has to be moved to and where it is needed for growth and development, or
storage.
Q8- Give an example of an organic molecule containing:
a. Nitrogen

b. Phosporus

c. Sulfur