GENERAL BIOLOGY 12

Khervy Gwyn C. Acogido

LESSON 4-5: CELL TYPES AND

CELL MODIFICATIONS
1. Roots
PLANT
>An organ that anchors a vascular
>Most plants show much greater plant in the soil, absorbs minerals
diversity in their individual forms and water, and often stores
much more than in animals because carbohydrates.
the growth of most plants is affected
Taproot system
by local environmental conditions.
>Recognizing the highly adaptive >penetrate deeply and are therefore
development of plants is critical for well adapted to deep soils
understanding how plants interact
with their environment. • Taproot

Basic Plant Organs - one main vertical root

- develops from an embryonic root
• Lateral roots – branch roots from

Overview of the taproot

typical Fibrous root system
flowering
plant • A mat of generally thin roots
spreading out below the soil surface
• Best adapted to shallow soils or
regions where rainfall is light and
>The basic morphology of vascular does not moisten the soil much
plants reflects their evolution as below the surface layer
terrestrial organisms that obtain
resources from two environments—
below and above ground. They
Tap Root
absorb water and minerals from
(left) and
below and CO2 and light from above.
Fibrous
Efficient resource acquisition is linked
Root
to the evolution of three main organs
(right)
—roots, stems, and leaves—which
form the root system and the shoot
system (stems and leaves).
>Roots, being non-photosynthetic,
rely on the shoot system to supply
sugars and carbohydrates Adventitious Structure
(photosynthates) produced during
photosynthesis. >A term describing a plant organ
that grows in an unusual location,
The three basic plant organs; such as roots arising from stems or
• Roots leaves.

• Stems
• Leaves Root Hair
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Khervy Gwyn C. Acogido

-a thin, tubular extension of a root >A growing axillary bud gives rise to
epidermal cell a lateral shoot, complete with its own
apical bud, leaves, and axillary buds.
-increase the surface area of the root
Removing the apical bud stimulates
enormously
the growth of axillary buds, resulting
Modified Roots in more lateral shoots.

 Prop roots - Support the tall, Modified Stem

top-heavy trees
 Rhizomes - A horizontal shoot
 Storage roots - Many plants,
that grows just below the
store food and water in their
surface. Vertical shoots
roots
emerge from axillary buds on
 Pneumatophores - Also
the rhizome.
known as air roots, they
 Bulbs - Vertical underground
enable the root system to
shoots consisting mostly of the
obtain oxygen, which is
enlarged bases of leaves that
lacking in the thick,
store food.
waterlogged mud.
 Stolons - Are horizontal
 ‘Strangling’ aerial roots -
shoots that grow along the
The seeds of this strangler
surface.
tree germinate in the branches
 Tubers - Are enlarged ends of
of tall trees of other species
rhizomes or stolons
send numerous aerial roots to
specialized for storing food.
the ground.
 Buttress - Give architectural 3. Leaves
support to the trunks of trees.
>In most vascular plants, the leaf is
2. Stems the main photosynthetic organ,
although green stems also perform
>An organ that raises or separate
photosynthesis.
leaves, exposing them to sunlight.
>Leaves vary extensively in form but
>Stems also raise reproductive
generally consists of a flattened
structures, facilitating dispersal of
blade and a stalk, the petiole, which
pollen and fruit.
joins the leaf to stem at a node.
Nodes - points at which leaves are
>Monocots and eudicots differ in the
attached
arrangement of veins, the vascular
Internodes - the stem segments tissue of leaves. Most monocots have
between nodes parallel major veins that run the
length of the blade. Eudicots
Axillary bud - structure that can form generally have a branched network
a lateral shoot, commonly called a of major veins
branch
Apical bud (terminal bud) - that is
composed of developing leaves and
a compact series of nodes and
Simple versus
internodes.
Compound
Apical Dominance - inhibition of leaves
axillary buds by an apical bud
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Khervy Gwyn C. Acogido

a functional unit connecting all of the

plant’s organs.
The three tissue systems:
>A simple leaf has a single,
undivided blade. Some simple leaves (a) Dermal tissue system (blue)
are deeply lobed, as shown here.
(b) Vascular tissue system (purple)
>In a compound leaf, the blade
(c) Ground tissue system (yellow)
consists of multiple leaflets. A leaflet
has no axillary bud at its base
>In a doubly compound leaf, each Dermal Tissue System
leaflet is divided into smaller leaflets.
>The plant’s outer protective
Modified Leaves covering. It forms the first line of
defense against physical damage
 Tendrils - A tendril forms a
and pathogens.
coil that brings the plant
closer to the support. Tendrils (a) Epidermis
are typically modified leaves,
but some tendrils are modified • In nonwoody plants, it is usually a
stems, as in grapevines. single tissue called the epidermis, a
 Spines - The spines of cacti, layer of tightly packed cells.
such as prickly pears, are •
leaves.
 Storage leaves - Most
succulents have Leaves
adapted for storing water.
 Reproductive leaves -
Leaves of some plants produce
adventitious plantlets, which
fall off the leaf and take root in
the soil.
 Bracts - Often mistaken for
petals, the red part of the
poinsettia are actually
modified leaves that surround
a group of flowers

Tissue System in Plant (Vascular) In addition to protecting the plant

>Each plant organ—root, stem, or from water loss and disease, the
leaf—has dermal, vascular, and epidermis has specialized
ground tissues. characteristics in each organ.

>Each of these For example:

categories forms • A root hair is an extension of an
a tissue system, epidermal cell near the tip of a root.
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Khervy Gwyn C. Acogido

• Trichomes are hairlike outgrowths 1. Tracheids - are long, thin cells with
of the shoot epidermis tapered ends. Water moves from cell
to cell mainly through the pits, where
Cuticle
it does not have to cross thick
• In leaves and most stems, the secondary walls.
cuticle, a waxy coating on the
2. Vessel elements - are generally
epidermal surface, helps prevent
wider, shorter, thinner walled, and
water loss.
less tapered than the tracheids. They
• It is an extracellular hydrophobic are aligned end to end , forming long
layer that covers the aerial epidermis micropipes known as vessel.
of all land plants, providing
(b) Phloem – transports sugar, the
protection against desiccation and
products of photosynthesis, from
external environmental stresses.
where they are made to where they
(b) Periderm are needed.

• In woody plants, protective tissues

called periderm replace the
Sugar-
epidermis in older regions of stems
conducting
and roots.
cells of the
Vascular Tissue System phloem

>Carries out long-distance transport

of materials between the root and
shoot systems.
>The vascular tissue of a root or
stem is collectively called the stele 1. Sugars and other organic nutrients
are transported through sieve tubes,
Two (2) types of vascular tissues
which consists of chains of cells
(a) Xylem – conducts water and called sieve-tube elements or sieve-
dissolved minerals upward from roots tube member.
into the shoots.
2. Companion cells help load sugars
into the sieve-tube elements, which
then transport the sugars to other
parts of the plant.
Ground Tissue System
>Responsible for most of the plant’s
metabolic functions, is located
between the
dermal tissue
and the
Water-conducting cells of the xylem
vascular
tissue in each
organ.
>It includes
cells
Two types of water-conducting cells specialized
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Khervy Gwyn C. Acogido

for functions such as storage, • Collenchyma cells provide flexible

photosynthesis, support, and short support without restraining growth
distance transport.
Example
>Ground tissue that is internal to the
• Young stems and petioles often
vascular tissue is known as pith, and
have strands of collenchyma cells
ground tissue that is external to the
just below their epidermis, for
vascular tissue is called cortex
example, the “strings” of a celery
Common Types of Plant Cells stalk, which is a petiole.
(a) Parenchyma (c) Sclerenchyma
• Perform most of • Also function as
the metabolic supporting
functions of the elements in the
plant, plant but are much
synthesizing, and more rigid than collenchyma cells
storing of various organic products. because of the presence of lignin.
• Have primary walls that are • Mature sclerenchyma cells cannot
relatively thin and flexible, and most elongate, and they occur in regions
lack secondary walls of the plant that have stopped
growing in length.
• Most parenchyma cells retain the
ability to divide and differentiate into • Two types of sclerenchyma cells,
other types of plant cells under known as sclereids and fibers, are
particular conditions—during wound specialized entirely for support and
repair, for example. It is even strengthening.
possible to grow an entire plant from
Sclereids, which are boxier
a single parenchyma cell.
than fibers and irregular in
For example: shape, have very thick,
lignified secondary walls.
• Photosynthesis occurs within the
chloroplasts of parenchyma cells in Fibers, which are usually
the leaf. grouped in strands, are long,
slender, and tapered
• Some parenchyma cells in stems
and roots have colorless plastids that ANIMAL TISSUE
store starch.
Types of Animal Tissues
• The fleshy tissue of many fruits is
 Epithelial Tissues
composed mainly of parenchyma
 Connective Tissues
cells.
 Muscle Tissues
(b)  Nervous Tissues
Collenchyma
Epithelial Tissues
• Help support
young parts of
the plant shoot.
• Generally elongated cells that have
thicker primary walls than
parenchyma cells
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Khervy Gwyn C. Acogido

>These are sheets of closely packed • Lines the intestines where it

cells that cover your body surface secretes digestives juices and
and line your internal organs and absorbs nutrients
D. Stratified
squamous
Epithelium

• Well suited for

lining surfaces
subject to abrasion,
such as the outer skin and lining of
mouth and esophagus, anus, and
vagina

cavities. • Multilayered and regenerates

rapidly.
E.
A. Simple Pseudostratefied
squamous ciliated columnar
epithelium epithelium
• Thin and leaky • Forms mucous
thus suitable for membrane that lines
exchanging portions of respiratory tract and
materials by diffusion helps keep lungs clean
• Lining of capillaries and the air • Consists of a single layer of cells
sacs in the lungs, where diffusion of varying in height
nutrients and gases is critical.
Connective Tissues
B. Simple
cuboidal >Consists of sparse population of
epithelium cells scattered throughout an
extracellular material called "matrix".
• Facilitating the
role of secretion >The matrix generally consists of a
and absorption of web of fibers embedded in a liquid,
materials jellylike, or solid foundation. Within
the matrix are numerous cells called
• Can be found in the kidney, fibroblasts, which secrete fiber
forming tube, and are also found in proteins, and macrophages, which
the thyroid and salivary glands engulf foreign particles and any cell
debris by phagocytosis
C. Simple
columnar >Connective tissue fibers are of
epithelium three kinds:
• Facilitating their (a) Collagenous fibers provide
role of secretion and strength and flexibility
absorption of
materials (b) Reticular fibers join connective
tissue to adjacent tissues
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Khervy Gwyn C. Acogido

(c) Elastic fibers make tissues elastic • A connective tissue that forms a
strong but flexible skeletal material.
• Commonly surrounds the ends of
bones, providing a shock-absorbing
surface.
E. Bone
• Has a matrix
of collagen
fibers
embedded in
a hard mineral substance made of
A. Loose calcium, magnesium, and phosphate.
connective
tissue F. Blood

• The most • Transports

widespread substances
tissue in the throughout your
body. body and thus
functions
• Serves differently from other connective
mainly to bind epithelia to underlying tissues.
tissues and holds organs in place.
Muscle Tissues
>It consists of long cells called
B. Fibrous muscle fibers, each containing many
connective molecules of contractile proteins
tissue (actin and myosin).
• This tissue >Functions in movement
forms tendons
and ligaments.
• It has
densely packed
parallel bundles of
collagen fibers.
C. Adipose
tissue
• This tissue
pads and
insulates the A. Skeletal Muscle (striated
body and stores energy. muscle)
• Stores fat in large, closely packed • Responsible for the voluntary
adipose cells held in a matrix of movements of the body.
fibers.
• Attached to bones by tendons.
D. Cartilage
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Khervy Gwyn C. Acogido

• Formed by the fusion of many cells, • are the basic units of the nervous
resulting in multiple nuclei in each system.
muscle cell or fiber
• A neuron receives nerve impulses
• In adult mammals, building muscle from other neurons via its cell body
increases the size but not the and multiple extensions called
number of muscle fibers. dendrites.
B. Cardiac • Neurons transmit impulses to
Muscle neurons, muscles, or other cells via
extensions called axons, which are
• Forms the
often bundled together into nerves.
contractile tissue
of the heart. B. Glia
• Involuntary •The various types of glia help
nourish, insulate, and replenish
• has fibers that interconnect via
neurons, and in some cases,
intercalated disks, which relay
modulate neuron function.
signals from cell to cell and help
synchronize heart contraction
C. Smooth
Muscle
• Found in the
walls of the
digestive tract,
arteries, and
other internal organs.
• contract more slowly than skeletal
muscle but can sustain contractions
for a longer time.
• Smooth muscles are responsible for
involuntary body activities, such as
churning of the stomach and
constriction of arteries.

Nervous Tissue
>Senses stimuli and rapidly
transmits information. Nervous
tissue is found in the brain and spinal
cord, as well as in the nerves that
transmit signals throughout the body.
>Forms a communication network.
A. Neurons