XYLEM TRANSPORT

Transpiration:
Transpiration is the loss of water vapour from the stems and leaves of plants
 New water is absorbed from the soil by the roots, creating a difference in pressure
between the leaves and roots
 Water will flow, via the xylem, along the pressure gradient to replace the water lost
from leaves

Stomata are pores on the underside of the leaf which facilitate gas exchange
 As photosynthetic gas exchange requires stomata to be open, transpiration rate will
be affected by the level of photosynthesis

Evaporation:

Water is lost from the leaves of the plant when it is converted into vapour (evaporation) and
diffuses from the stomata
 Some of the light energy absorbed by leaves is converted into heat, which
evaporates water within the mesophyll

The amount of water lost from the leaves (transpiration rate) is regulated by the opening
and closing of stomata
 When a plant begins to wilt from water stress, abscisic acid is released.
 Abscisic acid triggers the release of potassium from guard cells surrounding the
stomata
 This makes the stomatal pore close, as the guard cells become flaccid and block the
opening.

Transpiration Stream:

The flow of water through the xylem from the roots to the leaf is called the transpiration
stream
 Water rises through the xylem due to cohesion and adhesion

Cohesion:
 Cohesion is the force of attraction between two particles of the same substance
 Water molecules are polar and can form hydrogen bonds with each other
 This cohesive property causes water molecules to be dragged up the xylem towards
the leaves in a continuous stream

Adhesion:
 Adhesion is the force of attraction between two particles of different substances
 The xylem wall is also polar and hence can form associations with water molecules.
 Water molecules move up the xylem via capillary action
 Structure of the Xylem
The xylem functions to facilitate the movement of water throughout the plant

Xylems is composed of tracheids (all vascular plants) and vessel elements (angiosperms)
 Tracheids exchange water solely via pits, leading to a slower rate of water transfer.
 In vessel elements, the end walls have become fused to form a continuous tube,
leading to a faster rate of water transfer.

Root Uptake

Plants take up water and mineral ions from the soil via their roots and thus need a maximal
surface area to optimise this uptake
 Some plants have highly branching root system which increases the surface area
available for uptake
 Other plants have roots which can penetrate the soil to access deeper reservoirs of
water

The epidermis of roots may have extensions called root hairs, which further increases the
surface area for uptake
 Materials absorbed by the root epidermis diffuse towards the xylem
 The xylem is surrounded by an endodermis layer that is impermeable to the passive
flow of water and minerals due to the casparian strip
 Water and minerals are pumped across this barrier by specialised cells, allowing the
rate of uptake to be controlled
Mineral Uptake
Fertile soil typically contains negatively charged clay particles to which positively charged
mineral ions may attach

Mineral ions commonly enter the root by indirect active transport

 Root cells contain proton pumps that actively expel H+ ions into the surrounding soil
 The H+ ions displace the positively charged mineral ions from the clay, allowing them
to diffuse into the root along a gradient
 Negatively charged mineral ions may bind to the H+ ions and be reabsorbed along
with the proton

Water Uptake
Water will follow the mineral ions into the root via osmosis – moving towards the region
with a higher solute concentration

Once inside the root, water will move towards the xylem either via the cytoplasm
(symplastic) or via the cell wall (apoplastic)
 In the symplastic pathway, water moves continuously through the cytoplasm of cells
 In the apoplastic pathway, water cannot cross the Casparian strip and is transferred
to the cytoplasm of the endodermis

Xylem Structure
 Water Conservation

Xerophytes
Xerophytes are plants that can tolerate dry conditions due to the presence of a number of
adaptations:
 Reduced leaves – reducing the total number and size of leaves will reduce the
surface area available for water loss
 Rolled leaves – rolling up leaves reduces the exposure of stomata to the air and
hence reduces evaporative water loss
 Stomata in pits – having stomata in pits, surrounded by hairs, traps water vapour
and hence reduces transpiration
 Low growth – low growing plants are less exposed to wind and more likely to be
shaded, reducing water loss
 CAM physiology – plants with CAM physiology open their stomata at night, reducing
water loss via evaporation

Halophytes
Halophytes are plants that can tolerate salty conditions due to the presence of a number of
adaptations:
 Cellular sequestration – halophytes can sequester toxic ions and salts within the cell
wall
 Tissue partitioning – plants may concentrate salts in particular leaves, which then
drop off
 Root level exclusion – plant roots may be structured to exclude ~95% of the salt in
soil solutions
 Salt excretion – certain parts of the plant may contain salt glands which actively
eliminate salt
 Altered flowering schedule – halophytes may flower at specific times to minimise
salt exposure

Plant experimentation

Potometers can be used to test a number of variables that may affect the rate of
transpiration in plants

Temperature:
 Increasing temperature is predicted to cause an increase in the rate of transpiration
 Higher temperatures lead to an increase in the rate of water vaporisation within the
mesophyll, leading to more evaporation

Humidity:
 Increasing the humidity is predicted to cause a decrease in the rate of transpiration
 Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air – less vapour will diffuse from the
leaf if there is more vapour in the air

Light Intensity:
  Increasing the light intensity to which a plant is exposed is predicted to cause
an increase in the rate of transpiration
 Increasing light exposure will cause more stomata to open in order to facilitate
photosynthetic gas exchange

Wind Exposure:
 Increasing the level of wind exposure is predicted to cause an increase in the rate of
transpiration
 Wind / air circulation will function to remove water vapour from near the leaf,
effectively reducing proximal humidity
 PHLOEM TRANSPORT

Translocation

Translocation is the movement of organic compounds from sources to sinks

 The source is where the organic compounds are synthesised – this is the
photosynthetic tissues (leaves)
 The sink is where the compounds are delivered to for use or storage – this includes
roots, fruits and seeds

Organic compounds are transported from sources to sinks via a vascular tube system called
the phloem

Phloem Structure

Phloem sieve tubes are primarily composed of two main types of cells – sieve element cells
and companion cells

Sieve Element Cells

Sieve elements are long and narrow cells that are connected together to form the sieve tube
 Sieve elements are connected by sieve plates, which are porous to enable flow
between cells
 Sieve elements have no nuclei and reduced numbers of organelles to maximise
space for the translocation of materials
 The sieve elements also have thick cell walls to withstand the hydrostatic pressures
which facilitate flow

Companion Cells
Provide Metabolic support and facilitate the loading and unloading of materials at source
and sink
 Have many mitochondria to fuel the active transport of materials between the sieve
tube and the source or sink
 Contain transport proteins to move materials into or out of the sieve tube

Sieve elements are unable to sustain independent metabolic activity without the support of
a companion cell
 This is because the sieve element cells have no nuclei and fewer organelles
 Plasmodesmata exist between sieve elements and companion cells connect the
cytoplasm of the two cells and facilitate exchange
Differences in arrangement of xylem and phloem exist between plant types (e.g.
monocotyledons vs dicotyledons)

Xylem and phloem vessels can usually be differentiated by the diameter of their cavity
(xylem have larger cavities)

Roots
 In monocotyledons, the stele is large and vessels will form a radiating circle around
the central pith
 Xylem vessels will be located more internally and phloem vessels will be
located more externally
 In dicotyledons, the stele is very small and the xylem is located centrally with the
phloem surrounding it
 Xylem vessels may form a cross-like shape (‘X’ for xylem), while the phloem is
situated in the surrounding gaps

Stem
 In monocotyledons, the vascular bundles are found in a scattered arrangement
throughout the stem
 Xylem positioned internally; phloem positioned externally
 In dicotyledons, the vascular bundles are arranged in a circle around the centre of
the stem
 xylem on inside ; phloem on outside
 Phloem Loading

Organic compounds produced at the source are actively loaded into phloem sieve tubes by
companion cells
 Materials can pass into the sieve tube via interconnecting plasmodesmata
(symplastic loading)
 Alternatively, materials can be pumped across the cell walls by membrane transport
proteins (apoplastic loading)

Apoplastic loading of sucrose into the phloem sieve tubes is an active transport process that
requires ATP expenditure
 Hydrogen ions are actively transported out of phloem cells by proton pumps
 The concentration of hydrogen ions consequently builds up outside of the cell,
creating a proton gradient
 Hydrogen ions passively diffuse back into the phloem cell via a co-transport protein,
which requires sucrose movement
 This results in a build up of sucrose within the phloem sieve tube for subsequent
transport from the source

Mass Flow

At the Source
 The active transport of solutes into the phloem by companion cells makes the sap
solution hypertonic (higher solute concentration)
 This causes water to be drawn from the xylem via osmosis (water moves towards
higher solute concentrations)
 This build-up of water in the phloem causes the hydrostatic pressure to increase
 This increase in hydrostatic pressure forces the phloem sap to move towards areas
of lower pressure (mass flow)
 Hence, the phloem transports solutes away from the source and consequently
towards the sink
At the Sink
 The solutes within the phloem are unloaded by companion cells and transported into
sinks
 This causes the sap solution at the sink to become increasingly hypotonic (lower
solute concentration)
 Consequently, water is drawn out of the phloem and back into the xylem by osmosis
 This ensures that the hydrostatic pressure at the sink is always lower than the
hydrostatic pressure at the source
 When organic molecules are transported into the sink, they are either metabolised
or stored
 Plant Growth

Meristems

Meristems are tissues in a plant consisting of undifferentiated cells capable of

indeterminate growth
 Meristematic tissue can allow plants to regrow structures or even form entirely new
plants (vegetative propagation)

Meristematic tissue can be divided into apical meristems and lateral meristems:

Apical Growth

The apical meristems give rise to primary growth and occurs at the tips of the roots and
shoots
 Growth at these regions is due to a combination mitosis and cytokinesis

In the stem, growth occurs in sections called nodes – with the remaining meristem tissue
forming an inactive axillary bud

The growth of the stem and the formation of new nodes is controlled by plant hormones
released from the shoot apex
 One of the main plant hormones involved in shoot and root growth are auxins

When auxins are produced by the shoot apical meristem, it promotes growth in the shoot
apex via cell elongation and division
 The production of auxins additionally prevents growth in axillary buds, a condition
known as apical dominance
 Apical dominance ensures that a plant will use its energy to grow up towards the
light in order to outcompete other plants
 As the distance between the terminal bud and axillary bud increases, the inhibition
of the axillary bud by auxin diminishes
 Tropisms

Tropisms describe the growth or turning movement of a plant in response to a external

stimulus
 Phototropism is a growth movement in response to a unidirectional light source
 Geotropism is a growth movement in response to gravitational forces

Both phototropism and geotropism are controlled by the distribution of auxin within the
plant cells:
 In geotropism, auxin will accumulate on the lower side of the plant in response to
the force of gravity
 In phototropism, light receptors (phototropins) trigger the redistribution of auxin to
the dark side of the plant

In shoots, high auxin concentrations promote cell elongation, meaning that:

 The dark side of the shoot elongates and shoots grow towards the light
 The lower side of the shoot elongates and roots grow away from the ground

In roots, high auxin concentrations inhibit cell elongation, meaning that:

 The dark side of the root becomes shorter and the roots grow away from the light
 The lower side of the root becomes shorter and the roots turn downwards into the
earth

Micropropagation

Micropropagation is a technique used to produce large numbers of clones from a selected

stock plant
 Plants can reproduce asexually from meristems
 When a plant cutting is used to reproduce asexually in the native environment it is
called vegetative propagation
 When plant tissues are cultured in the laboratory in order to reproduce asexually it is
called micropropagation

The process of micropropagation involves a number of key steps:

 Specific plant tissue is selected from a stock plant and sterilised
 The tissue sample is grown on a sterile nutrient agar gel
  The explant is treated with growth hormones to stimulate shoot and root
development
 The growing shoots can be continuously divided and separated to form new samples
 Once the root and shoot are developed, the cloned plant can be transferred to soil

Micropropagation is used to rapidly produce large numbers of cloned plants under

controlled conditions:

Rapid Bulking
 Desirable stock plants can be cloned via micropropagation to conserve the fidelity of
a selected characteristic

Virus-Free Strains
 Viruses typically spread through infected plants via the vascular tissue – which
meristems do not contain
 Propagating plants from the non-infected meristems allows for the rapid
reproduction of virus-free plant strains

Propagation of Rare Species

 Micropropagation is commonly used to increase numbers of rare or endangered
plant species
 It is also used to increase numbers of species that are difficult to breed sexually
 It may also be used to increase numbers of plant species that are commercially in
demand
 Plant Reproduction

Plant Reproduction

Sexual reproduction in flowering plants involves the transfer of pollen (male gamete) to an
ova (female gamete)
 This involves three distinct phases – pollination, fertilization and seed dispersal

Pollination:
 The transfer of pollen grains from an anther (male plant structure) to a stigma
(female plant structure)
 Many plants possess both male and female structures (monoecious) and can
potentially self-pollinate
 From an evolutionary perspective, cross-pollination is preferable as it improves
genetic diversity

Fertilisation:
 Fusion of a male gamete nuclei with a female gamete nuclei to form a zygote
 In plants, the male gamete is stored in the pollen grain and the female gamete is
found in the ovule

Seed dispersal:
 Fertilisation of gametes results in the formation of a seed, which moves away from
the parental plant
 This seed dispersal reduces competition for resources between the germinating seed
and the parental plant

Cross-pollination involves transferring pollen grains from one plant to the ovule of a
different plant

Pollinators are involved in a mutualistic relationship with the flowering plant

 The flowering plant gains a means of sexual reproduction
 The animal gains a source of nutrition (nectar)

Flowering

Flowers are the reproductive organs of angiospermophytes (flowering plants) and develop
from the shoot apex
 Changes in gene expression trigger the enlargement of the shoot apical meristem
 This tissue then differentiates to form the different flower structures

The activation of genes responsible for flowering is influenced by abiotic factors – typically
linked to the seasons
 Flowering plants will typically come into bloom when a suitable pollinator is most
abundant
 The most common trigger for a change in gene expression is day/night length
 Flower Structure

The male part of the flower is called the stamen and is composed of:
 Anther – pollen producing organ of the flower
 Filament –makes the anther accessible to pollinators

The female part of the flower is called the pistil (or carpel) and is composed of:
 Stigma – the sticky, receptive tip of the pistil that is responsible for catching the
pollen
 Style – it elevates the stigma to help catch pollen
 Ovule – the structure that contains the female reproductive cells

In addition to these reproductive structures, flowers possess a number of other support

structures:
 Petals – brightly coloured modified leaves, which function to attract pollinators
 Sepal – Outer covering which protects the flower when in bud
 Peduncle – Stalk of the flower

Photoperiodism

Phytochromes
Phytochromes are leaf pigments which are used by the plant to detect periods of light and
darkness
 The response of the plant to the relative lengths of light and darkness is
called photoperiodism
Phytochromes exist in two forms – an active form and an inactive form:

Photoperiodism
Only the active form of phytochrome (Pfr) is capable of causing flowering, however its action
differs in certain types of plants

Short-day plants flower require the night period to exceed a critical length
 In short-day plants, Pfr inhibits flowering and hence flowering requires low levels
of Pfr (i.e. resulting from long nights)

Long-day plants flower require the night period to be less than a critical length
 In long-day plants, Pfr activates flowering and hence flowering requires high levels
of Pfr (i.e. resulting from short nights)

Horticulturalists can manipulate the flowering of short-day and long-day plants by

controlling the exposure of light

Long-day plants require periods of darkness to be less than an uninterrupted critical length
 Horticulturalists can trigger flowering in these plants by exposing the plant to a light
source during the night

Short-day plants require periods of darkness to be greater than an uninterrupted critical

length
 Horticulturalists can trigger flowering in these plants by covering the plant with an
opaque black cloth for ~12 hours a day
 Seed Structure

When fertilisation occurs, the ovule will develop into a seed

A typical seed will possess the following features:

 Testa – an outer seed coat that protects the embryonic plant
 Micropyle – a small pore in the outer covering of the seed, that allows for the
passage of water
 Cotyledon – contains the food stores for the seed and forms the embryonic leaves
 Plumule – the embryonic shoot
 Radicle – the embryonic root

Germination

Germination is the process by which a seed emerges from a period of dormancy and begins
to sprout

For germination to occur, a seed requires a combination of:

 Oxygen – for aerobic respiration
 Water – to metabolically activate the seed
 Temperature – seeds require certain temperature conditions in order to sprout (for
optimal function of enzymes)
 pH – seeds require a suitable soil pH in order to sprout (for optimal function of
enzymes)

Additionally, certain plant species may require additional conditions for germination:
 Fire – some seeds will only sprout after exposure to intense heat
 Freezing – some seeds will only sprout after periods of intense cold
 Digestion – some seeds require prior animal digestion to erode the seed coat before
the seed will sprout
 Washing – some seeds may be covered with inhibitors and will only sprout after
being washed to remove the inhibitors
 Scarification – seeds are more likely to germinate if the seed coat is weakened from
physical damage