Chapter 8-Transport in plants
• Plants have transport system to move food, water and minerals around as listed
below:
a) Xylem vessels: carry water and minerals from the roots to the leaves, support the
stem and strengthens it
b) Phloem tube: carry glucose and amino acid made by plant from the leaves to the
rest of the plant
Xylem tissue
a) Conducts water and minerals (ONE WAY)
b) Walls are strengthened by lignin
c) End walls of the cells have disappeared- long and open tube
d) Made up of dead cells
Phloem tissue
a) Conducts glucose and amino acid (TWO WAY)
b) Made up of living cells (companion cell)
c) Perforated sieve plates
Roots
• At the very tip is a root cap (protects the root as it grows through the soil)
• The root hairs are a little way up from the root tip. As the root grows, they are replaced by new ones
• Functions:
1) Increase the surface area =for absorption of water and mineral ions
2) Provide anchorage for the plant
Passage of water uptake
1)Water enters root hair cells by OSMOSIS. The soil water is more dilute than the cell sap and so water passes by
osmosis from the soil into the cell sap of the root hair cell.
2) The flow of water into the root hair cell raises the cells turgor pressure. So, water is forced out through the cell
wall into the next cell and so on, right through the cortex of the root to the xylem vessels and lastly to the mesophyll
cells.
3)Some of the water may also just seep through the spaces between the cells, or through the cell walls, never
actually entering a cell.
4)Water vapor evaporating from a leaf create a kind of suction, its pressure at the top of vessels is lower than that
at the bottom, water move up the stem in the xylem. Hence, more water is drawn into the leaf from the xylem.
5)This creates a transpiration stream, pulling water up from the root.
a) Cohesion= the attraction between water molecules
b) Adhesion= the attraction between water molecules and the wall of xylem
6)The uptake of ions by root hairs happens using the process of active transport. The solute outside in soil is lesser
than the solute in the vacuole of the plant cell.
*Water enters: root hair cells > cortex > xylem in roots > xylem in stem > xylem in veins > evaporates in the spongy
mesophyll cells
Transpiration
The loss of water vapor from plant leaves by evaporation of water at the surfaces of the mesophyll cells followed
by the diffusion of water vapor through the stomata
Process
1) Water leaves the xylem vessels in the leaf where it forms a water film on the walls of mesophyll cells inside
the leaf. This water film is for dissolving carbon dioxide for use during photosynthesis.
2) Water from the water films evaporates into the intracellular spaces. This greatly increases the humidity of the
air inside the leaf.
3) There is now a greater concentration of water vapor molecules inside the leaf than in the atmosphere
outside, so they diffuse out through the stomate into the atmosphere.
*As long as stomata is open for the uptake of carbon dioxide, the transpiration bound to occur. If its rate exceeds
that at which water can be absorbed from the soil, then water starts to be lost from the plant cells. The cell lose
their turgidity, the leaves and stem begin to droop and the plant is said to wilt.
Factors affecting the transpiration rate
Factor Explanation
Temperature Increase in the kinetic energy of the water molecules causing them to diffuse out faster
Air movement As the wind blows pass the leaves, the water vapor will be swept away. This maintains a
steep concentration gradient for diffusion causing the water vapor to diffuse out
Humidity If the surrounding air is dry, the concentration of water molecules outside the leaf is low.
There will be a steep concentration gradient for diffusion causing water vapor to diffuse out
of the leaf more rapid
Light intensity In daylight, the stomata will be open to allow gas exchange for photosynthesis. Hence, more
water vapor can diffuse out of the leaf
Translocation
Definition: the movement of organic food such sucrose and amino acids in phloem, from regions of production
(source) to regions of storage or to regions where they are used in respiration or growth (sink)
• Carbohydrates are transported: for the release of energy that’s required during growth and active
transport, as well as for storage as an energy reserve.
• Amino acids are transported: for building proteins to make cytoplasm in the new cells and often for some
storage
• Substances can be transported in any direction in phloem:
a) From photosynthesizing leaves down to roots for storage
b) Upwards to growing buds, flowers, leaves, and fruits for respiration and growth
c) From storage organs such as the root tubers to all parts of the plant
Season Source Sink Explanation
Summer/Autumn Leaf All organs Plant leaves photosynthesize to produce glucose
which gets converted to sucrose and translocated to
all parts of the plant
Roots Leaf Roots contain starch which is used for respiration.
The energy produced is used for the development of
the shoot.
End of Germinating Plumule/ radicle Leaves have not yet developed to photosynthesize,
winter/spring seeds so energy is needed for the growth of the plumule
and radicle. Glucose is stored in the form of starch
converted to sucrose and translocated to the
plumule and radicle for growth.