Introduction to botany • Pacific yew is one of the slowest growing

trees. Fortunately, a close relative of the

Objectives Pacific yew, the English yew (Taxus
baceata) was discovered.
• Describe the field of botany and
subdisciplines of plant biology.
• Discuss the features of plants and other
organisms that distinguish them from
nonliving things. What is Botany?

• Distinguish the six kingdoms and three • Also known as “Plant Biology”. • The
domains and give representative organisms scientific study of plants.
for each. • Encompasses the origin, diversity, structure
• Summarize the main steps in the scientific and internal process of plants as well as their
method. relationships with other

Coconut Tree (Cocos nucifera) organisms and with the nonliving physical
environment.
• “World’s Most Useful Tree” or “Tree of Life”
• Versatile and provide almost everything a Specialties
person needs. a. Plant molecular biology - study the
• Produces 50 to 100 nuts/fruits per year. structure and functions of important
biological molecules such as proteins and
• Immature green coconut seed is highly nucleic acid.
nutritious liquid center called Endosperm that
solidified to form coconut meat. b. Plant biochemistry - study of chemical

• Copra/Dried Coconut Meat can be eaten as interactions within plants, including the
it is or it can be pressed to extract oil. variety of chemicals that plants produce.

• The oil can be used to make soap, found in c. Plant cell biology - encompasses the
margarine, nondairy creamer, cosmetics, structures, functions and life processes of
suntan and hand lotions. plant cells.

• Highly saturated oil. d. Plant anatomy - microscopic plant

structure (cells and tissues).
Paclitaxel (Taxol)
e. Plant morphology - structures of plant
• First obtained from the bark of the Pacific parts such as leaves, roots and stems,
Yew (Taxus brevifolia) including their evolution and development.
• First tested in the mid-1960s and can inhibit f. Plant physiology - study such processes
the growth of cancercells. as photosynthesis and mineral nutrition to
understand how plants function.
• Approved in 1992 for treating advanced
stages of ovarian cancer. g. Plant genetics - plant heredity and
variation.
• In 1994 was approved for treating breast
cancer that has spread in the lymph nodes. h. Plant ecology - is the study of the
interrelationships among plants and between
plants and their environment.
I. Plant systematics - encompasses the • Tissues – association of cells that perform
evolutionary relationships among different specific functions • Organs – functional units
plant groups. that perform specific roles
j. Plant taxonomy - a subdiscipline of • Organisms – distinct, living entities
systematics, deals with the description,
• Populations – groups of members of the
naming, and classification of plants.
same species that live together in the same
k. Paleobotany is the study of the biology area at the same time
and the evolution of plants in the geologic
• Communities – consists of all the
past.
populations of different organisms that live
Levels of Biological Organization and interact within the area • Ecosystem –
community together with its nonliving
environment
• Biospheres – all of Earth’s ecosystems
Characteristics of Plants
• Although plants are a dominant part of our
landscape, they are easy to overlook or take
for granted because they appear so passive.
• Plants do not appear to “live” in the sense
that animals live.
• Plants do not run or swim or slither or fly;
they do not eat other plants or animal prey;
nor do they reproduce by an obvious
Definition of Terms
coupling of two partners.
• Cell – microscopic and is the smallest that
• Plants have adapted to life on land in ways
can perform all the activities associated with
that seem completely different from the
life
adaptations of humans and other animals.
• Element – cells are composed constitute
• Despite the perceived differences between
the simplest level of organization in the
plants and animals, however, plants share
biological world
many important characteristics with other
• Atom – smallest particle of an element that organisms.
possesses the properties of an element
Plants are highly organized
• Molecule – formed when atoms combine
• Composed of building blocks called cells.
chemically by forming bonds
• Some organisms are unicellular, where as
• Macromolecules – large biological
many plants are composed of trillions of
molecules
cells.
• Organelles – formed compartments when
macromolecules associate with one another
Definition of Terms
• The biological world is organized on more Plants respond to
than just a cellular level. stimuli
• Stimuli to which plants respond include
changes in the direction, color or luminosity
of light.
• Temperature or the orientation toward
gravity.
• Chemical composition of the surrounding

Plants take in and use energy

• All organisms require energy for their
soil, air or water.
activities
• Some plants respond to stimuli in a
• The two most important energy-related
dramatic fashion.
activities in the living world are
photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
Photosynthesis Plants grow and develop
Biological process that includes the capture • Growth is an
of light energy and its transformation into increase in the size
chemical energy of organic molecules that and mass of an
are manufactured from carbon dioxide. organism
Cellular Respiration • In plants, growth results from an increase in
the number of cells and an increase in the
Cellular process in which energy of organic
size of cells.
molecules is released for biological work.
• Growth is a part of development, which
includes all the changes in a plant or other
organism from the start of its life through its
immature
stage,
through its
mature
stage, to its
death.
Plants reproduce
• Reproduction, the formation of a new
individual by sexual or asexual means, is the
most distinctive characteristics of life.
• Reproduction enables an organism to • Evolution, the process by which organisms
perpetuate its traits beyond an individual's adapt to their environment over time, is the
own death. genetic change in a population of organisms
from generation to generation.
Asexual reproduction - Does not involve
union of gametes (reproductive cells). - One • Evolutionary processes typically require
parent gives rise to offspring that are virtually long periods of time and occur over many
identical to it. generations.
Sexual reproduction - Involves union of • Charles Darwin and
gametes that may or may not come from two Alfred Wallace first
separate individuals. - Offspring are not suggested a plausible
exact copies of a single parent. mechanism, natural

Plants reproduce

selection, to explain evolution.

• In his book, On the Origin of Species by
Means of Natural Selection, published in
1859, Darwin brought together many new
findings in geology and biology. He
presented a wealth of evidence that
Plant DNA transmit information
organisms existing today descended, with
• The characteristics of an organism are modifications, from previously existing life-
encoded in its genes. forms.

• Genes are composed of DNA, the organic

molecule that stores and carries important
Kingdoms
genetic information in cells.
• A broad taxonomic category made up of
• Information encoded in genes is transmitted
related phyla
from one generation to the next during
reproduction. Genes ensure that a bean • Many biologists currently recognize six
plant produces seeds that grow into bean kingdoms of living organisms
plants, not into roses or cucumbers.

Plant populations undergo genetic

changes
• Adaptations are characteristics that enable
an organism to better survive in a certain
environment.
• Adaptations may involve changes in
structure, form, or function.
Prokaryotes - plants are usually rooted in one place and
unlike animals, do not possess a nervous
• Organisms that lack nuclei and other
system.
membrane-bounded organelles.
- includes vascular plants and nonvascular
• Divided into two groups on the basis of
plants.
significant biochemical differences.
Classification
A. Kingdom Archaea often
adapts to harsh conditions and • The broadest classification category is the
frequently live in oxygen- domain, and the narrowest is the species.
deficient environments,
• Between them is a range of categories that
including hot springs, salt
forms a hierarchy.
ponds and hydrothermal vents in the ocean
depths.
B. Kingdom Bacteria
unicellular and most are
heterotrophic. Some are
photosynthetic or
chemosynthetic.

C. Kingdom Protista -
contains protozoa, algae,
water molds, and slime molds.
- single-celled or simple • Similar species are assigned to the same
multicellular organisms. genus (pl., genera), and similar genera are
grouped in the same family. Q: Which among
D. Kingdom Fungi - consists of these are named Correctly? 1. Sunflower –
molds, yeasts and mushrooms. Helianthus annus 2. Curacao aloe – aloe
barbadensis 3. Cape aloe – A. Spicata 4.
- obtained their nutrients by
Witch hazel – H. virginiana 5. Tangan-
secreting digestive enzymes into
tangan - ricinus communis
food and then absorbing the predigested
nutrients. • Families are grouped into orders, orders
into classes, classes into phyla (sing.,
E. Kingdom Animalia -
phylum), phyla into kingdoms, and kingdoms
animals are multicellular
into domains.
organisms that must eat other
organisms to obtain • Plants and fungi were traditionally classified
nourishment. into divisions rather than phyla.
- most move about by muscular contraction. • The International Botanical Congress,
however, approved the phylum designation
F. Kingdom Plantae - plants,
for plants and fungi in 1993.
multicellular organisms that
typically photosynthesize.
Binomial System • Scientific conclusions are inferred from the
available data and are not based on faith,
• In the 18th century, Carolus Linnaeus, a
emotion, or intuition.
Swedish botanist, simplified the naming of
organisms. • The processes that scientists use to answer
questions or solve problems are collectively
• In Linnaeus’s system, called the binomial
called the scientific method.
system of nomenclature, each species
receives a two-part name. The Scientific Method
• The first word designates the genus to 1. Recognize a question or an unexplained
which the organism is assigned, and the occurrence in the natural world. Science is
second word is a specific epithet, that is, a based on knowledge accumulated
descriptive word that characterizes the previously. Therefore, after one recognizes a
organism. problem, one investigates relevant scientific
literature to determine what is already known
• The specific epithet is always used with the
about it.
full or abbreviated generic name preceding it.
2. Develop a hypothesis, or educated guess,
Q: Which among these are named
to explain the problem. A good hypothesis
Correctly?
makes a prediction that can be tested and
1. Sunflower – Helianthus possibly disproved. The same factual
annus evidence can be used to formulate several
alternative hypotheses, each of which must
2. Curacao aloe – aloe be tested.
barbadensis
3. Design and perform an experiment to test
3. Cape aloe – A. Spicata the hypothesis. An experiment involves the
4. Witch hazel – H. collection of data by making careful
virginiana observations and measurements. Much of
the creativity in science lies in designing
5. Tangan-tangan - experiments that sort out confusion caused
ricinus communis by competing hypotheses.
The Scientific Method 4. Analyze and interpret the data to reach a
conclusion. Does the evidence match the
• Science seeks to reduce the apparent
prediction stated in the hypothesis? In other
complexity of our world to general principles,
words, do the data support or refute the
which help solve problems or provide new
hypothesis? Should the hypothesis be
insights.
modified or rejected based on the data?
• In other words, science is devoted to
5. Share new knowledge with the scientific
discovering the general principles that
community. The scientist does this by
govern the operation of the natural world.
publishing articles in scientific journals or
• The information collected by scientists is books and by presenting the information at
called data (sing., datum). • Data are scientific meetings. Sharing new knowledge
collected by observation and with the scientific community permits other
experimentation and then analyzed or scientists to repeat the experiment or design
interpreted. new experiments that either verify or refute
the work.