Transport in

Plants

Kaz-Hoshay Blackwood -
Harrison


This Photo by Unknown author is licensed underCC BY-ND.

Main Parts of the Plant

Substances Transported In Plants


1. Minerals and ions – sodium, potassium, nitrates, magnesium, etc. 


2. Water 


3. Hormones


4. Nutrients


5. Waste


6.sugars (Glucose, Starch, Sucrose)


7. amino acids




Transport In Plants


• How do water and minerals get from roots to the

stems and leaves?


• How do the sugar and amino acids move from the

leaves to even the roots?


 Transport In Plants


• Xylem – xylem are specialized plant cells that are responsible for taking water from
the roots up to the shoots



• Phloem – phloem are specialised plant cells that take manufactured food from the
leaves to everywhere else in the plant
Transport In Plants - Xylem

 Transport In Plants - Xylem


• Xylem cells carry water and minerals from the roots to the
stems


• When xylem cells are mature they die, so they do not have any
cytoplasm or organelles, they are just hollow. 


• They stack on top of each other to form tubes


• The top and bottoms cell walls between the cells also

disappears so water flows through freely




 Transport In Plants - Xylem


• Water moves in only one direction, from the roots up to the

shoots.


• The cell walls contain cellulose and lignin


• Lignin is a very strong molecule, adding extra support to xylem

walls 




 Transport In Plants - Xylem


Image of cross section of

xylem

 Transport In Plants - Xylem



 Developing Mature 

 Xylem
 Xylem



 Transport In Plants – Xylem Functions


• Carries water minerals and ions from the root to the stems, leaves and flowers of
plants

• The lignin in the cell wall allows the xylem to support the plant, I.e. hold it up. 


•Helps to withstand strong winds


•Helps the leaves to stay up to collect sunlight

•Helps the roots to "hold" firmly to the soil, anchor the plant. 



• Xylem replaces water that was lost by transpiration. 



Movement of Water Through Flowering Plants


• Water move from the roots up to the shoots by combination of the following
processes:


•Osmosis


•Root Pressure


•Capillarity


•Transpiration




 Water Uptake in the Roots


• Water moves into plant roots by osmosis. 


• Roots have root hair cells the project from

the roots


•These increase the surface area so that the roots

can take in more water.




 When all the water comes into the root, it moves by osmosis, into the cortex. 


Close up of section in red rectangle.

cross section of plant root

 Movement of Water from Root to the Shoots


• All the water coming in and going toward the xylem creates a pressure called root pressure. 


•Root pressure  pushes the water into the xylem in the roots and to the xylem in the bottom of the stem



• Water molecules are sticky so they stick to walls of the xylem and to each other. When the water gets
to the bottom of the stem, they stick to the walls and pull other water molecules with them up the
stem. This is capillarity




Movement of Water into Root and Xylem

Adaptations of Roots to Take In Water


• Roots have many root hairs that increase the surface area to absorb water


• Roots are able to spread to reach water


• Roots are very thin, so osmosis is easy


• Root hair cells have large vacuoles that take up most of the space, this maximises on
the amount of water that they can take in. 


• Root hair cells are hypertonic, which causes water to move by osmosis into the
root cells. 




 Movement of Water from Root to the Shoots


• Transpiration is when water evaporates from leaves.


•Remember that water molecules stick to each other!


• As a water molecule is lost by transpiration it pulls up the one behind it


• This pull continues down into the stem, resulting in a force being created


• This pull is called Transpiration Stream/Pull. It creates a force that draws water up from the stem into
the leaves. 




Capillarity and Transpiration Stream 

Transpiration 

Transpiration is the evaporation and loss of water from

leaves


Water is lost through the stomata


Remember that guard cells open when turgid and close

when flaccid


–They regulate how much water enter and leave leaves 


–When Guard cells are turgid (open), transpiration is fast


–When guard cells are flaccid (partially or fully closed),

transpiration slows down or stops completely. 


Transpiration 

• When the soil is low in water, all plant
cell become flaccid

•So stomata close


•This is to ensure plant doesn't lose too

much water by transpiration. 

 Factors that Affect Transpiration 


Transpiration is affected by several environmental factors when the soil has good water supply. 


• These factors are:

•Light intensity

•Temperature

•Wind Speed

•Humidity
 Factors that Affect Transpiration 


• When there is low humidity, there is very little water in the air. 

• Inside the leaf, there is a high concentration of water

• This difference causes a concentration gradient

• Water will move from high concentration, in the leaf, to an area if of low
concentration, the air surrounding the leaf. 

• In low Humidity, Transpiration is rapid

 Factors that Affect Transpiration 


• When there is high humidity, there is a lot of water in the air surrounding
the leaf

• There is also a lot of water inside the leaf

• Little to no difference in the concentration of water inside and outside

the leaf. 

• Water vapor will not diffuse because concentrations are similar. 

• In high humidity Transpiration in LOW

 Factors that Affect Transpiration 


• When temperatures are high, the environment heats up

• Water evaporates more, Transpiration is rapid

• When the temperature is low, water evaporates slowly

• Transpiration rate is slow

 Factors that Affect Transpiration 


• As water evaporates, the air around the leaf becomes humid

• If there is a lot of wind, it will keep blowing the humid air away

• Water will keep evaporating, transpiration is rapid when it is windy.

•  When there is no wind, air around the leaf becomes humid, and is not
blown away

• Transpiration is low when there is no wind to remove humid air

around leaves
 Factors that Affect Transpiration 


• Photosynthesis needs lights, so when the light is bright guard cells will be open
to take in CO2

• Water evaporates from leaves at a high rate at the same time

• In high light intensity, transpiration is high

• When light gets dim, photosynthesis slows down so guard cells close

• In dim light, transpiration slows down, because guard cells are open. 

• n.b. light intensity doesn't directly affect transpiration, it affects the guard
cells opening and closing. 
 Investigate the
Movement of Water
from Root to the
Shoots

 Importance of Transpiration 


• Transpiration draws water up the plant for photosynthesis

• Plant cells are kept turgid because of the water supplied to them. When cells are turgid that helps the plants
to stay erect

• Water brought up by transpiration dissolves minerals and take them to the leaves to be used

• When water evaporates, it takes some of the heat from the plant with it, this results in cooling the plant. 

• Transpiration brings up water that is need to help move substances in the phloem
Water Conservation in Plants


If water supply becomes low, plants face survival issues. 


To deal with water shortages plants have several adaptations to help them conserve water. 


Plants in dry (arid) conditions are xerophytes


Plants in saline (Salty) conditions are called halophytes


Plants that live in areas where water is readily available are Mesophytes

Plants that live in very wet, fresh-water ecosystems, are called hydrophytes

 Hydrophytes Do Not Need To Conserve Water


❖ Hydrophytes usually have very thin cuticle in parts that are above water, there is no cuticle on the

submerged parts of the plants. 


❖ Their stems and roots are submerged in water


❖ Roots and stems have a lot of air space to help with floating


❖ Their leaves have stomata at the top and bottom to maximise CO2 take up

source:
https://www.savemyexams.co.uk/igcse/biology/cie/23/revision-notes/18-variation-and-sel
ection/18-1-variation-and-natural-selection/18-1-3-adaptive-features-extended/
 Adaptations For Water Conservation in
Mesophytes


Mesophytes have a waxy cuticle

● the cuticle reflects sunlight so less light and heat enters the plant, resulting in less
evaporation from the plant
● the cuticle is waterproof so water will not evaporate from upper surface of the leaves
Their roots are well developed to maximise water uptake
Stomata are located at the underside of the leaves
● water vapour can only move upwards when evaporating, with the cuticle at the upper
surface water cannot escape, so the stomata being at the bottom reduces evaporation,
therefore transpiration is reduced.


Water Conservation in Plants

Xerophytes 


• Usually have an extra thick cuticle

• The  number of stomata is reduced 

• The stomata group up and sink into

pits that trap humid air (remember
humid air reduces transpiration)

• e.g. oleander and Nerium


MESOPHYTE LEAF VS XEROPHYTE LEAF

Water Conservation in Plants

Xerophytes 


• Close their stomata when the day is hot and

open them at night


• Leaves roll so that stomata are enclosed

–This lowers surface area and traps humid air

• Leaves hair fine hairs on the surface

•These trap water vapor, making air around leaf
humid
 Water Conservation in Plants




Xerophytes


• Some leaves are very small


•To reduce surface area and lower water loss


•e.g. conifers and pine trees have needle-like leaves


•Cacti have spines


• When it is winter or dry seasons, leaves are

shed to prevent water loss

Water Conservation in Plants


Xerophytes


• they have succulent (thick & fleshy) leaves, stems and roots that store water


•Leaves – aloe and agave


•Stems - cacti. The baobab tree stores water in its trunk


•Roots- some members of the pumpkin family


CACTUS
 AGAVE


SUCCULENT SUCCULENT
STEMS
 LEAVES

Water Conservation in Plants


Xerophytes


• they increase the amount of water they take up


•Some tap roots run deep into the soil


•Some shallow roots spread far and wide


• The more roots spread, the more water they can access for the plant. 

Shallow, wide-spread root


Long & Deep Tap root


Mineral Ions


These are taken into the plant roots by active transport and diffusion


they move across the cortex then into the xylem


they dissolve in the water and are brought up the xylem with the water 


as cells are supplied with water, they get mineral ions dissolved in it

Links


http://igbiologyy.blogspot.com/2013/05/64-adaptations-of-leaf-stem-and-root-to.html


https://slideplayer.com/slide/15465056/