Whydoplantsneedwater?

Generalprobleminplantfunction
NeedforH2Ofor:
Photosynthesis Transportmineralsandsugars temperaturecontrol internalpressureforgrowth

GeneralScience Secondary2 2009

Whydoplantsneedwater?
Plantsobtainwaterandmineralsfromthe soilviatheroots
inturnrootsreceivecarbohydratesandother importantmaterialsfromtheleaves.

PlantVascularSystem

Waterenterstheplantthroughosmosis
buttheuptakeofmineralsrequiresactive transport.

Transport:Water&MineralsinPlants
Xylem
Watermovement inplantsislargely throughxylem vessels. Xylemsvessels

Xylem

Elementsstacked ontopofeach other Endwallshave beenlost,leaving emptycylinders reachingfromroots totheleaves

TheRootSystem
Therootsystempossess fineroothairs. Thesehairsareextensions ofepidermalcells(which protecttheoutsideofthe plant)

Absorptionofwaterandsalts
Whentheconcentration ofwaterisgreateron theoutsideofthese roothairsthenwater canpassthroughthe plasmamembraneby osmosis which continuesfromcellto cell,untilitreachesthe xylemtissue.

Absorptionofwaterandsalts
Mineralsaltsaresimilarlytransportedin solutionandpassuptheplantthroughthe xylem. Somemineralsarealsoabsorbedbyactive processes requiringanenergy inputbythe plant.

TranspirationSuction
Waterconstantlyevaporatingfromtheaerial partsoftheplant. Transpiration occursmainlythroughthe leavesduringdaylighthours. Inoptimalconditionsatypicalherbaceous plantcantranspireupto40timesitsown weightinwatereveryday!

TranspirationSuction
Transpiration reduceswater concentrationin theleaves. Createsaforceon thewaterinthe veinssucking wateroutward.
Theveinsarecontinuous withthexylemvessels,so theforceistransmitted throughthewatercolumn allthewaydowntothe roots. Thisforce,called transpirationsuction(also calledtranspirationpull), pullswateruptheplant.It requiresnoenergyinput fromtheplant.

Transport:FoodinPlants
Sources andSinks
Foodismanufacturedintheleavesandgreen stemsofplantsbyphotosynthesis.Theseareas arecalledthesources. Foodisusedinallpartsoftheplant. Someareasareparticularlyadaptedtostore food,forexampletubersinpotatoesandmany fruitsinfloweringplants.Theseareasarecalled sinks.

LeavesandStems
Leavescreateglucosefrom carbondioxideandwater usinglightasanenergy source. Glucoseisdifficultto transportthroughplants becauseitrequireslarge amountsofwater. Leavesconvertthisglucose intoanothersugarcalled sucrose,whichiseasierto move.

Phloem&Xylem
Veinsintheleafcontain vascularbundlesthat containtwotypesof conductingvessels:xylem andphloem. Phloem transportssugars awayfromtheleaf. Xylem conductswaterand dissolvedmineralsfrom therootstothestemand leaves.

Roots,Fruits,Flowers
Vascularbundlesintheleafconnectwithsimilar structuresintheroots. Eachsievetube,apartofthephloem,is continuouswiththoseintheroots. Sugarisloadedinandpassesdownbyactive transport.Intherootsthesugaristakenoutof thephloemtubesandconvertedtostarchfor storage,orisusedtokeeptherootalive. Fruitsandflowersrequiresugarbecausetheydo notcarryoutphotosynthesis.

How does phloem transport phloem sap? Food (sugars) are then translocated from sources to sinks according to the Pressure-Flow Theory: 1. At sources, sugars are actively transported into phloem

How does phloem transport phloem sap? Food (sugars) are then translocated from sources to sinks according to the Pressure-Flow Theory: 2. Water follows by osmosis from source cells and xylem; this creates high pressure

How does phloem transport phloem sap? Food (sugars) are then translocated from sources to sinks according to the Pressure-Flow Theory: 3. At the sink, sugars diffuse out of the phloem and water follows by osmosis; this creates low pressure

How does phloem transport phloem sap? Food (sugars) are then translocated from sources to sinks according to the Pressure-Flow Theory: Sugar solution flows from high to low pressure

How does phloem transport phloem sap? Food (sugars) are then translocated from sources to sinks according to the Pressure-Flow Theory: 4. Water may be taken up by the transpiration stream in the xylem

How does phloem transport phloem sap? Pressure-Flow Theory

Not all herbivores chew leaves Some exploit sap

E.g., aphids tap sieve-tube elements for phloem sap