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lecture 3
Plant Tissues
DERMAL TISSUE SYSTEM
surrounds the entire plant, both
above and below ground.
Its primary function is
protection.
Belowground, the surface cells
of the root bridge the interior of
a plant and the water in the soil,
facilitating the uptake of water
and nutrients from the
environment
Aboveground, however, the
shoot needs to keep the water
inside from evaporating
uncontrollably.
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GROUND TISSUE SYSTEM VASCULAR TISSUE SYSTEM
The internal transport of water,
nutrients, and sugars is
Ground tissue makes up the bulk
accomplished by the two
of most nonwoody plants.
vascular tissues of the plant
body.
The ground tissue system
Water conduction occurs in
develops from the ground
xylem tissue, while food
meristem into three different
(sugars)
tissues: 1)parenchyma
is conducted through the phloem
2)collenchyma
tissue.
3)sclerenchyma
Parenchyma: • are thin-walled
and irregularly shaped, and
lack distinct structural or
biochemical features . • are alive
at maturity, serve a range
of functions beyond mere space Both xylem and phloem arise
fillers . • They act as storage from the differentiation of
units for simple sugars (as procambium, the meristematic
evident in a sweet apple) and precursor to vascular tissue
starch (potatoes are mostly
starchy parenchyma), and they
are the dominant sites of
photosynthesizing chloroplasts
in leaves
Collenchyma: • usually occurs Xylem: The Water-conducting
as bundles just below the Cells ; • The major water
epidermis of stems . • are conducting system in all
surrounded by thick, irregularly vascular plants .
shaped •Xylem includes parenchyma
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 DERMAL TISSUE SYSTEM
function in both the uptake of
water in
the root as well as in the
retention of water in the shoot,
two seemingly opposite roles
Two dermal tissues make up the
dermal tissue system, the
epidermis and the periderm
In shoots, the epidermis may be
a single layer of cells or, in the
case of plants living in dry
environments.
Most epidermal cells are
relatively indistinct, lack
chloroplasts, and are coated with
a layer of wax called the cuticle.
If secondary growth (lateral
thickening) occurs, as it does in
many stems and roots, then the
lecture 3
GROUND TISSUE SYSTEM
primary cell walls, which are
relatively flexible and elastic
while still supportive . •
Collenchyma cells, like
parenchyma cells, are typically
alive at maturity.
Sclerenchyma: • add strength to
plant parts that are no longer
elongating . • Have thick
secondary cell walls, comprised
mostly of a compound called
lignin .
• Most sclerenchyma cells,
unlike collenchyma and
parenchyma cells,
die upon reaching maturity, but
their hard cell walls remain in
the plant body and continue to
function long after the
protoplast aborts.
There are two main types of
sclerenchyma found in plants:
1) fibers 2) sclereids
VASCULAR TISSUE SYSTEM
cells for storage and fibers for
support, but the majority of
xylem consists of conductive
cells called
tracheary elements . • Two
principal types of tracheary
elements exist within vascular
plants: tracheids and vessel
elements.
Phloem: The Sugar/Nutrient
Transporters . . • Phloem
tissue, which contains several
cell types, is specialized to
transport the products of
photosynthesis (sugars)
throughout the plant body . •
Phloem contains fibers and
parenchyma, but the
distinguishing characters of this
tissue are its conductive cell
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 DERMAL TISSUE SYSTEM
periderm takes the place and
function of the epidermis
One advantage that
multicellularity offers is
specialization, or
adaptation to a particular
function or environment.
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GROUND TISSUE SYSTEM VASCULAR TISSUE SYSTEM
Examples of specialization
exist on many different
scales: certain cells are
specialized for
photosynthesis; some tissues
are specialized for
protection; whole organs,
such as roots, are even
specialized for plant
anchorage and
water/nutrient uptake.
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