2.

3 Specialised cells – Structure,

function, and distribution

2.3.1 Plant cells – detailed description

 Meristem
 Parenchyma
 Sclerenchyma
 Xylem, including tracheids and vessels
 Phloem, including companion cells and sieve
tubes
 Specialised cells

Each cell no longer has to carry out all the activities necessary to
sustain life.
Cells may become specialised in feeding, support or defence.
Division of labour among cells makes multicellular organisms more
efficient and enables them to exploit modes of life not available to
single-celled organisms.
Tissue

 A group of usually similar cells which,

together with their intercellular substance,
perform a particular function.
 The study of tissues is called histology.
Plant cells
 Meristem (meristematic tissue)
 Embryonic tissue
 Composed of unspecialised, actively dividing & living plant cells
 All cells are derived from meristematic tissue
 Capable of continual cell division – formation of new cells
 The main plant meristems are at
– The apex of the shoot
– The tip of the root
 Form three primary meristematic tissues (primary meristems)
– Protoderm  epidermis
– Ground meristem  ground tissues (pith and cortex)
– Procambium  vascular tissues (xylem and phloem)
Non-meristematic tissue

 Contain specialised cells which has lost the

ability to divide.
Protoderm

 Dermal
– Covers the outer surfaces of the plant body
 Two types of dermal tissue
– epidermal tissue
 Endodermis
– periderm
Epidermal tissue
 forms the epidermis
 one cell thick
 covers
– the outermost cell layer that covers the leaves, stems and roots of all young plants
– flowers, seeds and fruits
– the entire body of non-woody and young woody plants
 protects inner body parts and prevents the plant from dying out
– prevents excessive water loss
– allow for the exchange of gases necessary for respiration and photosynthesis
 Isodiametric
 composed of tightly packed thin-walled cells, covered with a waterproof, waxy
cuticle – cutin
– reduces the evaporation of water from the plants
– helps protect it from invasion of disease microorganisms
 can produce fine extensions called hairs
– root hairs to increase the absorptive surface area of the root
– epidermal hairs on the stems and leaves of desert plants reduce evaporative water loss
by reflecting sunlight and producing an unstirred layer of air near the plant’s surface
– some tropical plants use their hairy leaves to capture and hold water
Endodermis

 nearly universally is found in roots, contains

only endodemal cells
 involved regulating the flow of ions and
molecules in the root
periderm

 replaces epidermal tissue on the roots and

stems of woody plants as they age
 composed primarily of cork cells, which have
thick, waterproof walls and are dead at
maturity
 form the protective outer layers of the bark of
trees and woody shrubs and the tough
covering of their roots
Ground meristem
 Comprises the greater portion of meristematic tissue of the shoot tip
 Large, thin walled and isodiametric
 Pith, in the very center of the stem
 Cortex, in a cylinder just beneath the epidermis and surrounding the
vasculartissue
 Ground
– Consists of all nondermal and nonvascular tissues
– Makes up most of the body of young plants
– Functions :
 Photosynthesis
 Support
 Storage
– Includes :
 Parenchyma
 Collenchyma
 Sclerenchyma
 Parenchyma
 Unspecialised cells
 Living cells with thin cellulose walls
 Major component of the ground
tissue
 Present in vascular tissues
 Isodiametric (roughly spherical)
 Potentially meristematic – capable
of mitotic cell division
 The packing tissue that fills the
spaces between other tissues
 Carry out most of the metabolic
activities of the plants
 May be adapted for roles such as
storage of sugars and starches,
support, secretion of hormones or
photosynthesis
 Collenchyma
 Living cells
 The primary cell wall is unevenly
thickened with cellulose and pectin
substances but not lignin
 Elongated, polygonal (many-sided)
cells
 Often contain chloroplasts
 Cannot divide
 Pits are present in the walls
 Functions – support, especially in
younger stems where plasticity is
necessary to allow for changing
growth requirements
 Made up of cells with walls
thickened with extra cellulose at the
corners to provide strength and
flexibility to stems and leaves
Sclerenchyma
 Supporting tissue with a secondary cell wall of lignin
deposited on the primary cell wall of cellulose
 Hollow, nonliving cells
 Dead cell with tightly packed bundles of lignified
fibres which is impermeable to water
 Located between the outer primary wall and the
plasma membrane
 The pits in the cell walls may be simple or border
 Two basic types :
– Sclereids
– Fibres
Sclereids (stone cells)
 similar to fibres
 stone cells or branched,
resembling very irregular
stars
 have canals extending
through their thick walls
 are found scattered in some
stems, leaves, fruits
endocarp and seed coats
(nut shells, the outer
covering of peach pits and
the gritty texture of pears)
Fibres

 often found in the vascular

bundles of dicotyledons or
around the vascular bundles of
monocotyledons
 often grouped in strands
(elongated, strengthening cells)
 thick cell walls impregnated
with lignin
 usually pointed at the ends
 examples : jute, hemp and flax
(making rope)
– have great tensile strength and do
not break easily when stretched
Procambium

 Smaller than those of the surrounding

meristem but longer
 Vascular
– Transports water, minerals, sugars, and plant
hormones throughout the plant
– Supporting and vascular tissue include :
 Xylem
 Phloem
Xylem
 Primary xylem is formed from the embryo and the
resultant meristems
 Secondary xylem develops later, during secondary
thickening
 Xylem is made up of four main elements :
– Vessels
– Tracheids
– Fibres
– Parenchyma
 Transport water and minerals from the roots to the
leaves
 Vessels
 long tubular structures formed by the fusion of cells
end to end
 the end walls of the fused cells break down so that
there is an unobstructed lumen through the whole
length of the vessel
 have one or more perforations at each end so that
water can move easily from cell to cell
 cell walls may be simple or perforated by bordered
pits
 hollow and non living (dead)
 larger in diameter (wider) than tracheids
 lignified cells
 in protoxylem
– the walls are thickened with lignin laid down in
an annular or spiral pattern
 in metaxylem
– the thickening is heavier, being in either a
reticulate pattern or complete except for the pits
between adjacent vessels
Tracheids

 single cells with tapering end walls which

overlap
– giving mechanical strength
 thin, tubelike cells with thick cell walls
 have no open ends
 the pits occur in pairs so that water can pass
easily through the thin pit membrane
 hollow and non living
 lignified cells
 found in the xylem of the primitive vascular
plants
 Fibres
– long cells whose secondary walls are commonly lignified
– resemble tracheids but are longer and more tapering
– pits are frequent
– primarily used for support
 Parenchyma
– vascular rays
– avenues of conduction between the pith, wood and bark
Phloem

 Primary phloem develop from the procambium

 Secondary phloem from the vascular cambium
 Made up of four main components :
– Sieve tubes
– Companion cells
– Sclerenchyma
– Parenchyma
 Transport dissolved substances or organic nutrient
such as sucrose from leaves to the roots
 Sieve tubes
 the most highly specialised phloem
cells
 a vertical row of elongated cells
 modified pits called sieve plates form
on adjacent cells
– most are in a vertical series
– some lateral sieve plates do occur
 as the phloem ages callose blocks
the sieve plate and the sieve tube
dies
– most of their internal content
disintegrate
 has a plasma membrane, a few small
mitochondria and some endoplasmic
reticulum
 lacks ribosomes, Golgi body and a
nucleus
 Companion cells

 form from sieve tubes early in their

development
 contain a nucleus
(sieve tubes does not)
 when the sieve tube dies so does the
associated companion cell
 the walls between the two are thin
and densely pitted
 connected to sieve-tube elements by
cytoplasm-filled channels called
plasmodesmata
 donating high-energy compounds,
repairing the sieve-tube plasma
membrane and regulate the
movements of sugars into and out of
the sieve tubes
 Sclerenchyma
– strengthen the inner bark
 Parenchyma
– store food temporary