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Plant Biology Fall 2006: BISC 367 - Plant Physiology Lab Spring 2009

This document discusses water movement and water potential in plants. It defines key terms like water potential, osmosis, diffusion, and bulk flow. Water potential is determined by solute potential, pressure potential, and gravity potential. The document explains how water moves into plant cells through osmosis driven by a water potential gradient. Methods for measuring water potential like the pressure bomb and measuring relative water content are also summarized.

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Mahad Ahmed Hilowle
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57 views

Plant Biology Fall 2006: BISC 367 - Plant Physiology Lab Spring 2009

This document discusses water movement and water potential in plants. It defines key terms like water potential, osmosis, diffusion, and bulk flow. Water potential is determined by solute potential, pressure potential, and gravity potential. The document explains how water moves into plant cells through osmosis driven by a water potential gradient. Methods for measuring water potential like the pressure bomb and measuring relative water content are also summarized.

Uploaded by

Mahad Ahmed Hilowle
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BISC 367

BISC 367 - Plant Physiology


Plant Biology
Lab Fall 2006
Spring 2009
Notices:
• O2 electrode data
• IRGA data

• Reading material (Taiz & Zeiger):


• Chapter 3, Water and Plant Cells
• Chapter 4, Water Balance of Plants
BISC 367

The Importance of Water


• Physiological aspects
BISC 367

Movement of water in plants


• Molecular diffusion
– Water moves from an area of high free energy to area of low
free energy
• i.e. down a conc. gradient
– Described by FICKS LAW

Js = -Ds cs/x

Js = flux density for s (mol m-2 s-1)


Ds = diffusion coefficient
cs/x = difference in water conc. over distance x
BISC 367

Movement of water in plants


• Bulk flow
– Movement of water in response to a pressure gradient
• Analogous to water flowing in a pipe

– Affected by:
• Radius of pipe (r)
• Viscosity of liquid ()
• Pressure gradient p/x

– Described by POISEUILLE’S equation:

vol. flow rate (m3 s-1) = (r4/8)(p/x)


BISC 367

Movement of water into a plant cell


occurs by osmosis
• 2 mechanisms:
– Diffusion across the
membrane
– Bulk flow across
aquaporins (water
filled pores)
BISC 367
Movement of water into a plant cell
occurs by osmosis
• Water uptake is driven by a free energy gradient
composed of:
– Concentration gradient
– Pressure gradient

Free energy gradient for water movement is referred to as


a Water Potential Gradient
BISC 367

Water Potential
• Water potential (w) is equivalent to the free energy of
water & influenced by:
– Concentration (or activity)
– Pressure
– Gravity

• w is the free NRG of water per unit volume (J m-3)


– Divide chem. pot. of water (J mol-1) by the partial molal vol.
(m3 mol-1)
– Units equivalent to pressure (Pa)
BISC 367

Water Potential
• w (Mpa) is a relative quantity and defined as:

Chemical potential of water (in pressure units) compared


to the chemical potential of pure water (at atm. pressure
and temp.), which is set to zero
BISC 367

Water Potential
w = s + p + g

s = Solute component or osmotic potential


Result of dissolved solutes that dilute water (entropy effect)
Estimated using van’t Hoff’s eqtn (see p.44)

p = Pressure component or pressure potential


p inside a cell is positive = turgor pressure
p in the apoplast is negative
Note: p of pure water is zero, therefore not a measure of absolute pressure
BISC 367

Water Potential
g = Gravity component
Ignored unless considering vertical water movement
>5m
Dependent on:
Height of water above ref. state (h)
density (w)
acceleration due to gravity (g)

g = wgh

wg = 0.01MPa m-1


BISC 367

Plant Water Relations


Cell (protoplast) water relations Cell wall (apoplast) water relations

w = 0 s(a) w = 0

s(p) p(a)
w(p)
p(p) w(a)

Whole plant water relations

p = protoplast w = 0
a = apoplast s(a)

p(a)
s(p)

w(p) w(a)
p(p)
BISC 367

p is sensitive to small changes in cell


volume
• Relates to rigid cell wall, illustrated by
Hofler diagram
– Plot of w & its components
against relative cell vol.

• Initial drop in cell vol (5%) is


accompanied by a sharp drop in p
and w

• As cell vol falls <90%, decreased w


is accounted for by a lowered s as
[solute] increases
BISC 367

p is sensitive to small changes in cell


volume
• Slope of p curve yields the
volumetric elastic modulus ()
–  is a function of the rigidity of
the cell wall
– High value indicates a rigid wall
for which a small vol. change
translates into a large drop in p
–  decreases as p falls b/c walls
are rigid only when p is high
BISC 367

Typical values for w

• w = -0.2 to -0.6 MPa


– Plants are never fully hydrated due to transpiration
• s = -0.5 to -1.5 MPa
– Plants living in saline or arid environments can have lower
values
• p = 0.1 to 1.0 MPa
– Positive values needed to drive growth and provide
mechanical rigidity
Measuring w BISC 367

Scholander’s pressure bomb

A leaf or shoot is excised and placed


in the chamber

• Cutting the leaf breaks the tension in


the xylem causing water to retreat into
the surrounding cells

Pressurizing the leaf chamber


returns water to the cut surface of
the petiole

• The amount of pressure to return water


to the cut surface equals the tension (p)
present in the xylem (but is opposite in
sign) before excision

From Plant Physiology on-line (http://4e.plantphys.net/) Values obtained approximate the


tension in the xylem and are used as
a measure of w

• Strictly speaking to know the actual w


Measuring w BISC 367

Relative water content

Assesses the water content of plant tissues as a fraction of the fully turgid water
content
• relevant when considering metabolic / physiological aspects of water deficit stress

Considered to be a better indicator of water status and physiological activity

Captures effects of osmotic adjustment


• Osmotic adjustment lowers the w at which a given RWC is reached

Simple technique:
• Leaf disks are excised, weighed (W) then allowed to reach full turgidity and re-weighed (TW). Leaf
disks are dried to obtain their dry weight (DW).

RWC (%) = [(W – DW) / (TW – DW)] X 100

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