Transport in plants

Vascular tissue – in stems

In stems, the xylem, phloem

and cambium are arranged in
vascular bundles.
Vascular tissue – in leaves
Xylem – transports water and dissolved
minerals from the roots, up through the
plant and eventually out through the leaf
stomata. One-way transport.

Phloem – transports the dissolved products

of photosynthesis in various directions
around the plant e.g. from the leaf to a
fruit, or from a root to a growing tip.
Xylem
There are two types of “tube” which
together make up the xylem:

Tracheids, made from cells whose

end walls overlap but do not
disappear. Water can move from one
to another only through pits;

Xylem vessels, made from stacks of

cells whose cell walls either disappear
or have large perforations, forming
one continuous tube.

Both types contain no living material

and their walls are strengthened with
lignin (they are described as
lignified), the major constituent of
wood. These walls have thinner areas
known as pits, which allow water to
“leak” through.
Transport in xylem
Once water reaches the xylem it moves upwards as a result of
transpiration.
Transpiration is the loss of water from the aerial parts of the plant
(particularly from the stomata in the leaves) as a result of evaporation

The evaporation of water from the top of the plant creates a pulling force
drawing the water up the xylem

This pulling force is called tension

The water molecules are strongly attracted to each. This is called cohesion

So the two forces together give us the cohesion-tension model for the
movement of water in xylem 
Phloem structure
The individual sieve tube elements that
make up the phloem are alive, although
they have no nucleus, very few organelles
and only strands of cytoplasm.

Unlike in xylem vessels, the end cell walls

do not disappear, but instead form
structures called sieve plates, through
which these strands of cytoplasm can
pass.

Because of their greatly reduced contents,

sieve tube elements cannot keep
themselves alive and have to be aided by
companion cells which respire, excrete,
etc. on the elements’ behalf. The
cytoplasm of the companion cells and
their sieve tube elements is joined through
pores in the side walls.
Transport in phloem
The transport of soluble organic substances (sometimes called assimilates) within
a plant is known as translocation. The solutes are transported in sieve tube
elements.

The “Mass Flow Hypothesis” is the theory by which we think solute transport
occurs in plants. Any area where sucrose is produced in a plant is known as a
source, and any area where it is taken out (usually, used in respiration) is known
as a sink.

Sucrose is actively transported into the sieve tubes of the phloem at the source
(e.g. root or leaf), lowering the water potential inside the sieve and so water enters
the tubes via osmosis, creating a higher pressure inside the sieve tubes at the
source.

At the sink, sugars leave the phloem to be used up, increasing the water potential
inside the sieve tubes, so water leaves via osmosis, lowering the pressure inside the
sieve tubes.
The result is a pressure gradient from source to sink, pushing sugars to where