Chapter 6

BOT3015L
Biology of Flowering Plants
Anatomy
Seedlings, Meristems, Stems,
and Roots

Presentation created by Danielle Sherdan

All photos from Raven et al. Biology of Plants except when otherwise noted
 Today
•Review seeds and the life cycle of plants
•Seed germination
•Roots and root meristem
•The three primary tissues
•Specialized cells in primary root tissues
•Interesting examples of root function and adaptations
•Shoot and shoot meristem
Life cycles

From Outlaw’s lecture series

Floral structure
Angiosperm life cycle

Gametophytes

Today

From Outlaw’s lecture series

 Monocot seed
development

typical monocot
(maize)
seed with ovary wall
(pericarp)
Monocots have one
cotyledon (scutellum in
grasses) that matures
during germination

Source of nutrition for seed

germination: endosperm
(compare to dicot) Maize fruit and seed
 Dicot seed development
immature dicot - two cotyledons mature

Three
tissue
systems:
Dermal
Vascular

Cortex or Ground
All cells of the primary
growth in dicots are
part of these three
systems and originate
at meristems
. . . A reminder that endosperm is formed in all angiosperms, but does not
persist in dicots. In dicots, cotyledons are the primary source of nutrients
for germination.
 Today
•Review seeds and the life cycle of plants
•Seed germination
•Roots and root meristem
•The three primary tissues
•Specialized cells in primary root tissues
•Interesting examples of root function and adaptations
•Shoot and root meristem
 Seed germination
What causes a seed to resume growth?

What is growth?

Broadly, where do the energy and basic

elements required for growth come from?

What observations did you make while

germinating seeds?

Plants-In-Motion
Time-lapse videos of plant growth and response
 Dicot germination and seedling

An example of epigeous (epi=above, geo=earth) germination

 Dicot germination and seedling

An example of hypogeous (hypo=below, geo=earth) germination

 Monocot
germination
and seedling
 Today
•Review seeds and the life cycle of plants
•Seed germination
•Roots and root meristem
•The three primary tissues
•Specialized cells in primary root tissues
•Interesting examples of root function and adaptations
•Shoot and shoot meristem
 Root
the first structure to emerge from the
germinating seed

Typical dicot Typical monocot

Taproot Taproot does
persists and not persist and
grows deep adventitious
into the ground roots originate
from the shoot

Notice the high surface volume: area ratio

 Tap Root vs. Fibrous Root

What are the functions of roots?

From Outlaw lecture

Typical of a Typical of a
dicot monocot
 Organization of the plant body
Root apical meristem
Meristem = group of perpetually
“embryonic” cells

Apical = at the tip (of the root,

the shoot, including laterals)
The rootcap and mucigel protect the
root apical meristem as it pushes
through the soil

Mucigel
 Today
•Review seeds and the life cycle of plants
•Seed germination
•Roots and root meristem
•The three primary tissues
•Specialized cells in primary root tissues
•Interesting examples of root function and adaptations
•Shoot and shoot meristem
All cells of primary growth are from
one of three primary tissues
 Diagram of major
parts of primary dicot
plant body

Ground tissue
 Ground tissue of
typical dicot root and shoot

Root Shoot
Buttercup (Ranunculus) Alfalfa (Medicago)
All cells are from one of three
primary tissues
 Diagram of major
parts of primary dicot
plant body

Vascular tissue
 Vascular tissue of
typical dicot root

Root
Buttercup (Ranunculus)
 Vascular tissue of
typical dicot shoot

Shoot
Alfalfa (Medicago)
 All cells of primary growth are
from one of three primary tissues
 Diagram of major
parts of primary dicot
plant body

Dermal tissue
 Ground tissue of
typical dicot root and shoot

Root Shoot
Buttercup (Ranunculus) Alfalfa (Medicago)
Specialized dermal cells in the shoot
- a preview of next week’s topics

The structure of the leaf and aspects of stomatal physiology

will be topics of study next week
Specialized epidermal cells
Venus flytrap
 Today
•Review seeds and the life cycle of plants
•Seed germination
•Roots and root meristem
•The three primary tissues
•Specialized cells in primary root tissues
•Interesting examples of root function and adaptations
•Shoot and shoot meristem
 Root Hairs—a special feature of roots (a)

Radish (Raphanus) Bentgrass (Agrostis)

Root Hairs—a special feature of roots (b)

Cell Elongation

Cell Division
Root Hairs—a special feature of roots (c)

More than with shoots, elongation

growth is restricted to very near (~1.5
mm) the root tip; otherwise, elongation
would tear off lateral appendages.

Root hairs increase surface area.

 Typical dicot root

Root
Buttercup (Ranunculus)
 The endodermis
Casparian Strip—a band of
hydrophobic material (mostly
suberin) that is impregnated
in the wall, preventing
apoplastic transport.

From Outlaw’s lecture

 The endodermis
Three pathways for entry into xylem transport: all require that
the solute be transported into the symplast (because the
apoplast is discontinuous at the endodermis). Then,
solutes
are excreted into the apoplast interior to the endodermis.

Apoplast

Symplast

From Outlaw’s lecture

 Typical dicot root

Root
Buttercup (Ranunculus)
 Secondary Growth (root)

Example cross section of the

dicot root in primary growth
The cambium (perpetually
meristematic layer between
xylem and phloem) divides
mitotically, producing either:

A secondary xylem cell to the

inside and a replacement
cambial cell.
OR
A secondary phloem cell to
the outside and a
replacement cambial cell. Secondary growth rare in monocots
From Outlaw’s lecture
 The pericycle
Ordinarily, lateral
roots arise in the
pericycle.

But roots can arise

adventitiously, too.
(Adventitious simply
means arising in an
unusual location.)

Salix (Salicaceae family)

From Outlaw’s lecture
 Today
•Review seeds and the life cycle of plants
•Seed germination
•Roots and root meristem
•The three primary tissues
•Specialized cells in primary root tissues
•Interesting examples of root function and adaptations
•Shoot and shoot meristem
 Interesting Examples
Mangrove (a dicot)

Support roots
in the marsh
habitat.

From Outlaw’s lecture

 Interesting Examples
Orchid (a monocot)

Aerial roots
absorb water Cross section of root
from the air
and have a
multi-layered
epidermis for
protection and
reduced water
loss
Epidermal layers
Flower pot plant Interesting Examples
(an epiphyte)

Modified leaves form hollow containers that roots grow into

and that collect rainwater and debris. Many ants associate
with these plants, likely adding to nitrogen supply
 Today
•Review seeds and the life cycle of plants
•Seed germination
•Roots and root meristem
•The three primary tissues
•Specialized cells in primary root tissues
•Interesting examples of root function and adaptations
•Shoot and shoot meristem
The shoot

What are the

functions of the
shoot?
Primary tissues differently organized
in angiosperm shoots

Typical of dicots Typical of monocots

 Primary tissues differently organized in angiosperm shoots

Example dicot stem cross section

vascular bundles in ring with defined pith and cortex

Shoot
Alfalfa (Medicago)
 Primary tissues differently organized in angiosperm shoots

Example monocot stem cross section

vascular bundles scattered

Maize (Zea)
 Apical Meristems both have the three primary
tissues

Root Shoot
Radish (Rafarus) Lilac (Syringa)
 Lilac (Syringa)

Block
Diagram of
Typical Shoot
Apical
Meristem

Primary meristems give rise to primary tissues

Modified from Outlaw’s lecture
 Secondary Growth
(shoot)
Example cross section of the
dicot shoot in primary growth
The cambium (perpetually
meristematic layer between
xylem and phloem) divides
mitotically, producing either:

A secondary xylem cell to the

inside and a replacement
cambial cell.
OR
A secondary phloem cell to
the outside and a
replacement cambial cell.
From Outlaw’s lecture
The main idea
 Important Announcement/Reminder

Review photosynthetic electron

transport and photosynthetic carbon
metabolism from BSC 2010.
Instead of reviewing your 2010 notes/text, you may refer to Outlaw’s
website:
http://bio.fsu.edu/~outlaw/courses/BSC_3402L/
And select Scientific Background.