PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

Plants are dynamic!

 Many physiological processes occur in each
part of the plant
 Materials are transported through specialized
conducting systems
 Energy is harnessed from the sun through
photosynthesis to forms sugars and other
storage products
 Stored foods are broken down to yield
chemical energy through respiration
Transport of water and
minerals
 Occurs in the xylem
 Tracheids and vessel elements -
conducting components
 Source of water is the soil surrounding
the roots
 Water moved up through plant to the
leaves often in excess of 300 ft
Water movement in xylem
 Uptake from soil
 Conduction in the xylem
 Transpiration in the leaves
Transpiration
 Transpiration is the loss of water vapor
from leaves
 Occurs mainly through the stomata
(90%)
 Driving force behind the movement of
water in xylem.
Guard Cells and Stoma

Guard Cell

Stoma (opening)
Open stomata permit transpiration

 Gas exchange can occur freely between

the leaf and the atmosphere
 Water vapor and oxygen diffuse out of
the leaf
 Carbon dioxide is able to diffuse into
the leaf
Transpiration
 Large amounts of water vapor are lost by
transpiration
– 2 liters of water/day for a single corn plant
– 5 liters for a sunflower
– 200 liters for a large maple tree
– 450 liters for a date palm tree
 Transpiration is a major component of
the global water cycle
Translocation of sugars in phloem

 Organic materials
are translocated by
the sieve tube
members of the
phloem
 Sieve tube members
are living but highly
specialized cells
End wall
with sieve
plate
Phloem translocation
 Moves from source to sink.
 In late winter, the source may be an
underground storage organ translocating
sugars to apical meristems (the sink)
 In summer the source is usually
photosynthetic leaves sending sugars for
storage to sinks such as roots or
developing fruits
Phloem translocation
 Sucrose in a watery solution
 In a growing pumpkin which reaches a
size of 5.5 kg (11 lbs) in 33 days,
approximately 8 g of solution are
translocated per hour - small pumpkin
 Record pumpkin over 1000 lbs
Metabolism
 Total of all chemical reactions occurring
in living organisms
 Metabolic reactions that synthesize
compounds require an input of energy
 Reactions which break down
compounds usually release energy
Energy
 All life process are driven by energy
 A cell or an organism deprived of an
energy source will soon die
 Among the forms of energy are radiant
(light), thermal (heat), chemical,
mechanical (motion), and electrical
 One form of energy can be transformed
into another form
 ATP energy currency of the cell
Cellular Energy Transformations
 Transfer of electrons (or H atoms)
 ATP energy currency of all cells
– Cells use ATP when need energy
– Cells make ATP when store energy
 Other energy molecules
– NADP--->NADPH
– NAD--->NADH
Photosynthesis
 Transforms the energy of the sun into
chemical energy
 Is the basis for life on Earth
 Photosynthetic organisms are at the
base of all food chains
 Without green plants and algae, life
could not survive
Light absorbing pigments
 When light strikes an object it can
– pass through the object
– be reflected from the surface
– be absorbed
 For light to be absorbed, pigments must
be present
Pigments in plants
 Leaf - the major organ of photosynthesis
 Chloroplasts within the mesophyll cells are
the actual sites of photosynthesis
 The major photosynthetic pigments are the
green chlorophylls
 Other pigments: Carotenoids
– Orange - carotenes
– Yellow - xanthophylls
– Normally masked by the chlorophylls
Thylakoid

Granum
 Two stages of photosynthesis both
occur in chloroplasts:
Light Reactions and Calvin Cycle
Stroma Outer
(Calvin Cycle) Membrane

Inner
membrane
Thylakoids
location of
Granum pigments and Light Reaction
Light reactions
 Photochemical phase of photosynthesis
 Radiant energy is absorbed and then
converted into chemical energy
 Occur extremely rapidly powered by
vast energy of the sun
Results of the Light Reactions
 Water molecules are split releasing
oxygen and electrons
 Electrons used in a process that
ultimately results in the formation of two
energy molecules NADPH and ATP
Calvin Cycle (Dark reactions)
 Biochemical phase of photosynthesis
 The pathway is named in honor of
Melvin Calvin who received a Nobel
Prize in 1961 for his work determining
the steps in the pathway
Events of the Calvin Cycle
 Transforms CO2 to form sugars
 Uses ATP and NADPH produced in the
light reactions but doesn’t use light
energy directly
 The end product of this pathway is the
formation of a six-carbon sugar which
requires the input of 6 molecules of
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide for Calvin Cycle

 From the atmosphere

 Very small fraction (0.035%) of the
Earth's atmosphere
 Enters the leaf by diffusing through the
stomata
 Overall Equation for Photosynthesis

CHLOROPHYLL

6CO2 + 12H2O + energy --------> C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O

Oxygen release from light
reaction
 Oxygen released when water is split
 Diffuses out of the leaves into atmosphere
 Earth's only constant supply of oxygen
 No oxygen in early Earth atmosphere
 Current 20% oxygen atmosphere is the result
of three billion yrs of photosynthesis
 Living organisms depend on oxygen for
cellular respiration
Products of photosynthesis
 Transported to growing fruits, storage
organs, other sinks
 Sucrose is translocated in the phloem
 After being unloaded, sugars are usually
converted to starch
 Very few species store sucrose
 Only sugarcane and sugar beet are
important sources of sucrose
Sugarcane
 Saccharum officinarum is a perenniel
member of the grass family
 Native to the islands of the South Pacific
 Grown in India since antiquity
 Ancient civilizations in the Near East and
Mediterranean countries were acquainted
with sugar through Arab trading routes
 7th century - grown in Mediterranean
Europe
 Honey remained the principal sweetener
until the 15th century
 Sugar was an expensive luxury mainly
use in medicines to disguise the bitter
taste of herbal remedies
 Early in the 15th century sugar
plantations were established on islands
in the eastern Atlantic
Caribbean Islands
 Columbus introduced sugarcane on his
second voyage in 1493
 By 1509 sugarcane was harvested in
Santo Domingo and Hispaniola and soon
spread to other islands
 Many Caribbean Islands were eventually
denuded of native forests and planted
with sugar cane
Other New World Locations
 Portuguese started sugar plantations in
South America in 1521
 Spanish and Portuguese enslaved the
native populations to work in the fields
 The first sugarcane grown in the
continental United States was in the
French colony of Louisiana in 1753
Sugar and Slavery
 Sugarcane was responsible for the
establishment of slavery in the Americas
 Decimation of the native Indian populations
led to the need for workers on the sugar
plantations
 By the early 16th century, sugar and the
slave trade became interdependent initially
established in Spanish and Portuguese
colonies
Sugar demand increasing
 Supplies of honey in Europe were
decreasing
 Growing popularity of coffee, tea, and
cocoa in Europe accelerated the
demand for sugar
 Sugar became the most important
commodity traded in the world
Triangle Trade
 First leg - England to West Africa with
trinkets, cloths, firearms, salt
 Second leg - Africa to Caribbean Islands
with slaves
 Third leg - Caribbean to England with rum,
molasses and sugar
 10-20 million African slaves had been
brought to the New World
Sugarcane
 Provides over 50% of the world's sugar
supply
 Canes are 15 to 20 ft tall with individual
stalks up to 6” in diameter
 Moist lowland tropics and subtropics
 Canes generally contain 12 to 15%
sucrose.
Sugarcane Field in Egypt
 Processing
 Canes crushed to extract the sugary juice
 Juice is concentrated and evaporated to form a
syrup
 Sugar is crystalized and separated from thick
brown liquid (molasses)
 Molasses is used in foods, or is fermented to
make rum, ethyl alcohol, or vinegar
 The crystallized sugar (about 96-97% pure
sucrose) is refined
Sugar beet
 Beta vulgaris, a member of the
Chenopodiaceae is unrelated to
sugarcane
 Same species as red beets which are
native to the Mediterranean region
 Provide close to 40% of the world's
supply of table sugar
Other Storage Compounds in Plants
 Products of photosynthesis are stored as
various organic compounds
 Starch - most common storage compound
– Energy reserve for plants
– Energy source for the animals that feed on
the plants
 Other plants store oils (triglycerides) and
proteins
Summary
 Plants are dynamic metabolic systems with
hundreds of biochemical reactions
 Life on Earth is dependent on the flow of
energy from the sun
 Photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide
and water into sugar using solar energy
 Various compounds are stored by plants
including sucrose, starch, oils, and proteins