How Plants

Survive
Plant Structure
• Plants have structural adaptations to
their environment.

• However, in addition to this, plants

have developed a specific
morphology, or external form, that
they accumulated through natural
selection.
 Plant Organs, Tissues, and Cells

 Like animals, plants have organs composed of different

tissues, which are, in turn, composed of different types of
cells. A tissue is a group of cells with a common structure,
function, or both.

 An organ consists of several types of tissues that, together,

carry out particular functions for the organism.
The three basic plant organs

01 Roots 02 Stems

03 Leaves
 Plants need to absorb water and minerals from below
the ground surface and CO2 and light from above the
ground. The ability to acquire these resources resulted in
three distinct organs which are morphological features-
leaves, stems, and roots.
 Roots
are multicellular organs that
anchor vascular plants in the soil.
They also absorb water and minerals,
and they often store carbohydrates.
 Stems
is an organ that consists of
alternating systems of nodes. These
are the points at which leaves are
attached, and internodes, which are
the segments of stem between the
nodes.
 Leaves
vary extensively in their
morphology, but generally consist of
a flattened blade and a stake, which
is the petiole, and which joins the
leaf to the stem at a node.
 Three categories of tissues form a tissue system, which is
a functional unit connecting all of the organs of the
plant.

 Dermal
 Vascular; and
 Ground Tissue
The dermal tissue system

is the outer protective layer of the plant, or

the covering. It forms the first line of
defense against pathogens and physical
damage.
The vascular tissue system

carries the long-distance transport of materials between the shoot and

root systems.
The two types of vascular tissue are xylem and phloem.
 The xylem transports water and dissolved minerals.
 The phloem transports sugars (usually from the leaves) to where
they are needed (usually the roots and other sites of growth).
The ground tissue system

• Ground tissue that is internal to the vascular tissue is

called pith.
• Ground tissue that is external to the vascular tissue is
called cortex.
• The ground tissue system is not just a filler.
• It includes cells that are specialized for functions such
as storage, photosynthesis, and transport.
 Common Types of Plant Cells
 Parenchyma cells have primary walls that are relatively thin and
flexible, and most of them lack secondary walls. Parenchyma cells
generally lack a central vacuole when they are maure.

 Collenchyma cells are grouped either into cylinders or strands that

help support the young parts of the plant shoot. These cells have thick
primary walls, thicker than parenchyma cells, although the walls are
unevenly thickened.
Water-Conducting Cells of the Xylem
There are two types of water conducting cells:

Tracheids and vessel elements

 Both of these cell types are tubular and elongated.

 They are also dead at maturity.
 Tracheids are long, thin cells with tapered ends. Water
moves from cell to cell mainly through pits, where it
does not have to cross thick secondary walls.

 Vessel elements are generally wider, shorter, and thin-

walled. They are also less tapered that tracheids. They
are aligned from end-to-end, forming long micropipes
called vessels. The end walls of the vessel elements
have perforation plates that enable water to flow freely
through the vessels.
Sugar-Conducting Cells of the Phloem
The sugar-conducing cells of the phloem
are alive at functional maturity. In seedless
vascular plants and gymnosperms, sugars and
other nutrients are transported through long,
narrow cells called sieve cells.
Primary Growth of Shoots
A dome-shaped mass of dividing cells
at the shoot tip is the shoot apical meristem.
Finger-like projections along the sides of
the apical meristem are where leaves
develop, the leaf primordia.
Stems and the leaves, buds, flowers,
and fruits they support are referred to as
shoots. 
Tissue Elongation of Leaves
The Process of
Evolution
 Natural selection was proposed by
Charles Darwin as a mechanism to
explain the observable patterns of
evolution. He observed that humans have
modified species over time through
selective breeding to produce desired
traits.
 Ecology
Ecology is the study of organisms and how they interact
with the environment around them.
The term ecosystem arose from this dialogue. It was first
> used by Arthur Tansely and 1935, in a paper he published in
the journal Ecology.
Tansley himself brought a
systems perspective.
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⇨ Note your activities ⇨ Note your activities
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 End of
discussion!!!!!