Light – intercepted by leaves & other photosynthetic organs

Major Growth Plant Growth Requirements Oxygen – derived from roots, released in atmosphere through leaf stomata

1. Light Carbon Dioxide – acquired by leaves, discharged in soil air spaces through
2. Proper Temperature roots
3. AIR (CO2 and 02)
Water (with dissolved nutrients) – absorbed by roots from soil, transported
4. Water/ Moisture
upward to shoots as xylem sap
5. Minerals and Nutrients
Sugar – by-product of photosynthesis, transported from shoot to root (vice
Acquisition and Transport of Plants’ Essential Resources
versa), stored in roots
Transport in plant involves:
Root Architecture and Acquisition of Water and Minerals
- Absorption of water and solutes by individual cells
- Root growth can adjust to local conditions (less competitive from
- Movement of substances from cell
the same plant)
- Elongation, branching and mycorrhizae help roots mine the soil for
water and minerals

Water Absorption By Plant Roots

Rooting depth – primary factor that affects the pattern of water extraction
by plants from soils

Varies depending on soil conditions & species of plant producing the roots

Hydraulic Lift – passive movement of water from roots into soil layers with
lower water potential, while other parts of the root system in mister soil
layers, usually at depth, are absorbing water.

Monocot root has a fibrous highly branching structure

Dicot has a main tap root and often a surface branching root system

Tap root branches to access deeper water and mineral

Root Symbiosis That Aids In The Transport Of Water And Nutrients

Mycorrhizae

Mycorrhizae – mutualistic associations between plant roots and soil fungi

(white sheets), as old as the vascular land plants
Benefits: increased Phosphorus, improved Nitrogen and water uptake - Movement if from high water potential in the soil to lower water
potential in the plant and atmosphere
4 Classes: Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM), Ectomycorrhizae (ECM), Ericoid
mycorrhizae, Orchid mycorrhizae

Fungi – act as a fine root matrix, exploring the soil and transporting
nutrients and water back to the plant

Plant – supplies the fungus with a dependable C source

Adaptations For Acquiring Resources: Key Steps In The Evolution Of

Vascular Plants:

Osmosis – determines water loss by a cells & affected by solute

concentration and pressure

Water Potential – affected by pressure & solute concentration

- Determines direction of water movement (Flows from high to low)

Natural selection favored taller plants
Evolution of xylem and phloem in land plants made possible long distance
transport of water, nutrients, products of photosynthesis/
- Potential refers to water’s capacity to perform work
Turgor Pressure – pressure exerted by plasma membrane against the cell
wall, and cell wall against protoplast

Short- Distance Transport Mechanism

1. Plasma Membrane permeability controls short-distance movement

of substances
2. Plant cells use energy of H+ gradients to cotransport other solutes
by active transport
3. Can accumulate anions by coupling their transport to the inward
diffusion of H+ through a co-transporter
4. Plant cell membranes have ion channels that only allow certain ions
to pass
Water Movement Across Plant Cell Membranes
Soil-Plant- Atmosphere Continuum (SPAC)
- Pathway for water moving from soil through plants to the atmosphere - Water potential affects uptake and loss of water by plant cells
- Plasmolysis occurs when the protoplast shrinks
- Turgor loss causes wilting can be reversed when watered
 Cortical Cell Membranes – enhances uptake of water and selected
minerals

Major Pathways of Transport

a. Apoplastic route- through cells walls and extracellular spaces

b. Symplastic Route – through cytosol and plasmodesmata Transport of Water and Minerals into the Xylem
c. Transmembrane route – across multiple plasma membrane Endodermis – innermost layer of cells in the root cortex, performs
selective passage of minerals, regulates and transports minerals from
soil into the xylem

Casparian Strip

- Waxy layer that blocks apoplastic transfer of minerals, can pass only
through symplastic pathway (through cytosol and plasmodesmata)

Long- Distance Transport: The Role of Bulk Flow

Bulk flow – movement of fluid driven by pressure

- Efficient movement is possible because there is no cytoplasm ahd

have few organelles in their cytoplasm

Transpiration – drives the transport of water and minerals from roots to

shoots via the xylem

Absorption of Water and Minerals by Root Cells

Root tips – area where absorption of water and mineral occurs, where Bulk Flow Transport via the Xylem
root hairs are located
Xylem sap – mixture of water & dissolved materials, transported
Root hairs – account for much of the surface area of roots, increase (transpiration) through bulk flow
water absorption capacity of roots
 Guttation – root pressure results to this, the exudation of water droplets
on tips or edges of leaves

Cohesion-tension hypothesis – says that transpiration and water

cohesion pull water from roots to shoots

Thick secondary walls – prevent vessel elements and tracheids from

collapsing under negative pressure

Cavitation – drought stress or freezing can cause this, formation of water

vapor pocket by a break in the chain of water molecules

Transpirational pull

- Water vapor diffuses and exits the leaf via stomata

- Surface tension of water creates a negative pressure potential.
(negative pressure pulls water in the xylem into the leaf)

Bulk Flow Transport via the Xylem: Adhesion- Cohesion Theory

Cohesion

- Allows to pull a column of xylem sap

Adhesion
Rate of Transpiration: Regulated by Stomata
- Water molecules are attached to cellulose in xylem cell walls
- Water molecules to xylem cell walls helps the force of gravity - Leaves have broad surface areas & high surface-to-volume ratios
- Maintains upward movement of water - Increase photosynthesis & increase water loss through stomata

Guard cells – help balance water conservation with gas exchange for
photosynthesis

Adaptation that reduce evaporative loss
Xerophytes – plant adapted to arid climates (very dry)
Mechanisms of Stomatal Opening and Closing
When turgid, guard cells bow outward and the pore between them
opens
When Flaccid, guard cells become less bowed and the pore closes
- Stomate opens during the day (favor CO2 diffusion), close at night
(minimize water loss)
- Stomatal opening at dawn is triggered by:
1. Light
2. CO2 depletion
3. An internal “clock” in guard cells
- Drought, high temperature, wind causes stomata to closed during
daytime
Abscisic acid- hormone produced in response to water deficiency &
causes the closure of stomata
Effects of Water Transpiration on Wilting and Leaf Temperature
- Plants lose water by transpiration, may wilt if not replaced
sufficiently
- Transpiration also results in evaporative cooling (lower the
temperature of leaf & prevent denaturation of various enzymes)
 Ocotillo (Fouqieria splendend) – leafless avoiding excessive water
loss
 Oleander (Nerium oleander) – leaves have thick cuticle that allows
leaves have shiny appearance that reduces water loss
Crypts – reduces rate of transpiration by protecting the stomata
from hot dry wind
Trichomes – help minimize transpiration by breaking up flow of air
 Cactus (Cephalocereus senllis) -stems, have long white hair-like
bristles that help reflect sunlight
 Crassulacean acid Metabolism – specialized form of photosynthesis
where stomatal gas exchange occurs at night
Sugars: Transported from Sources to Sinks via the Phloem
Translocation – process where the products of photosynthesis are
transported through the phloem
Movement from sugar sources to sugar sinks
Sieve-tube elements- channels for translocation in angiosperms
Phloem sap- an aqueous solution high in sucrose.
a. Sugar source- organ that is net producer of sugar (ex. Mature
leaves)
b. Sugar sink – organ that is net consumer or storer of sugar (ex. Tuber
or bulb)
May move by symplastic or both symplastic and apoplastic (via cell
walls)
Companion cells enhance solute movement
Bulk flow by positive pressure The mechanism of translocation in
angiosperms
Discovery of Plant Hormone
Tropism – growth response that results organs curving toward or away from
stimuli
Phototropism – growth in response to light
a. Positive Phototropism – toward the source of light
b. Negative Phototropism – away from source of light
-Cells on the darker side of the seedling are larger & more elongated than
those on the brighter side
Hormone – chemical signal produced in one part of the body and
transported to other parts, where it acts on target cells to change their
functioning, such as growth rate
*tip of the shoot is responsible for responding to light
Five Major Types of Hormones Regulate Plant Growth And Development
Plant Hormones – produced in small amount, control growth &
development
1. Auxin – term used for any chemical substance that promotes
seedling elongation, synthesized in the apical meristem at the tip of
the shoot
2. Cytokinins – hormones that promote cytokinesis, or cell division,
naturally produced in actively growing tissues, enhance division,
growth and development of plant cells in culture
- Retard the aging of flowers and leaves
3. Gibberllins – produced hyperelongation of rice stems, naturally
exists in plant, stimulate cell elongation and cell division in stems
and leaves
“Foolish Seedling Disease” – occurs when rice plant infected with
giberella fungus get an overdose of gibberllin
4. Abscissic Acid – slows plant growth, counteract actions of growth
hormones, high levels of aba in maturing seed inhibit germination
thus allowing seed dormancy
Seed dormancy – period of inactivity of the seed; seed will
germinate only when there are favorable conditions of light,
temperature, and moisture.
5. Ethylene – hormone that triggers a variety of aging responses,
produced in response to stress such as drought, flooding, injury, and
infection