TISSUES

“The Team Of Workers”

 In unicellular organisms, a single cell performs all basic functions.
 Ex- Amoeba a single cell carries out movement, intake of food and
respiratory gases, respiration and excretion.
 But in multicellular organisms, millions of cells are specialized to
carry out a few functions and each specialized functions is taken out
by a different groups of cells.
 Ex- Muscle cells contract and relax to cause movement, Nerve
cells carry messages, blood flows to transport oxygen, food,
hormones and wastes material and so on.
 When such similar cells lying side by side work together as a team to
perform the same function, such groups are called tissues.
 A group of cells that are similar in structure and/or work together
to achieve a common/particular function forms a tissue.
 tissues give structural, mechanical strength, support and facilitate
the division of labour in multicellular organism.
 Do plants and animals have the same
structure and perform same function ?
Plant Tissues Animal Tissues

Plants are stationary or fixed- they don’t Animals move around in search of food, mate,
move and shelter

Organization is simple Organization is complex

Many of the tissues are dead (Ex. Cork) Most of the tissues are living

Growth is confined to certain areas, some Growth in animals is uniform. So there is no

tissues in plants divide throughout their life. such demarcation of dividing and non dividing
regions
Requires less energy for maintenance of body Requires more energy of maintenance of body
(A) Meristematic Tissues ( Meristos; Divided)
 Found at all growing points of a plant, such as the tips of roots, stems and branches
 Also present between the bark and the wood of trees where it leads to growth in the diameter
of the stem.
 New cells produced by meristems are initially like those of meristem itself, but as they grow
and mature, their characteristics slowly changes and they became differentiated as
components of other tissues.
Chief characteristics of meristematic tissues:
1. Cells are small
2. Cells are usually cubical
3. Cell wall is thin
4. Nuclei are large
5. Vacuoles are almost absent
6. Cells are tightly packed with almost no intercellular spaces
7. The cells actively divide adding new cells to the plant
8. New cells thus produced are transformed into mature permanent tissues
 • Present at growing tips of stems and roots.
Api
cal • Increase the length of the stem and root
meri
stem
• Meristem found at the base of the leaves or the internodes
Inte
rcal • Contributes to the increase in height, with the growth of the
ary internodes
meri
stem
• Meristem found at the lateral surface of the stem and the root
Late • Increase the thickness of the plant by increasing the diameter of the
ral
meri
plant
stem
(B) Permanent Tissues
 Permanent tissues have lost the ability to divide. They take a permanent shape to perform some
permanent function.
 Cells of meristematic tissue differentiate to form different types of permanent tissues.
 This process of taking up a permanent shape, size, and a function is called differentiation.
 They are of simple permanent tissues and complex permanent tissues.
According to function performed
(Complex permanent)
(Simple permanent)
Protective Conducting/Vascular
Supporting
tissue
• Cells with thick cell • Parenchyma • Xylem
walls • Collenchyma • Phloem
• Found on the surface of • Sclerenchyma
roots, stems, and leaves
• Ex- epidermis of leaves,
cork cells of bark
 Parenchyma
It consist of relatively unspecialized cells with
thin cell walls, oval, circular or polygonal in
shape
They are relatively living cells, usually loosely
packed having a single large vacuole
Inter cellular spaces found in between this
tissues, mostly found in soft parts of plants
such as cortex and in the pith
This tissues provide temporary support to
plants and also stores food
In aquatic plants, large air cavities are
In some situations, it contains
present in parenchyma to give
chlorophyll and performs
buoyancy to the plant to help them
photosynthesis, and then it is called
float, such a parenchyma is called
Chlorenchyma
Aerenchyma
 Collenchyma
(Collen: Glue)

 The cells of this tissue are living, elongated,

and regularly thickened at the corners.
 It is found in the leaf stalks and below the
epidermis of stems. The tissue helps to support
the part of a plant.
 The flexibility in plants is due to collenchyma, it
allows easy bending in various parts of a plant.
 It also provides mechanical support to plants
 Sclerenchyma
(Scleros: hard)

 It is the tissue which makes the plant hard and

stiff. Ex. Husk of coconut
 The cells of this tissues are dead. They are long and
narrow as the walls are thickened due to lignin
 Often these walls are so thick that there is no
internal space inside the cell.
 This tissue is present in stems, around the vascular
bundle, in the veins of leaves and in the hard
covering of seeds and nuts.
 It provides strength to the plant parts.
 Extra stroke points

 The husk of coconut is made up of

sclerenchyma
 Ropes, mats that we use in our daily life
are obtained from sclerenchyma cells
 Linen and hemp are prepared from the
fibres obtained from sclerenchyma
 The hard walnut shells and grity material
in the skin and pulp of pears are obtained
from sclerenchyma cells
Protective tissues of plants
 All the plants have a protective layer called protective tissues.
 This layer remains in direct contact with the environment. Any substances, whether solid, liquid,
gas can enter into the plant to move outside only after passing through this layer.
 The two types of protective tissues present in plants are Epidermis & Cork
Epidermis
 It is the outermost layer of plant body such
as leaves flowers stems and roots.
 In some plants that are living in very dry
habitats, the epidermis may be thicker and
is covered with cuticle, which provides
protection against water loss, mechanical
injury, and invasion by parasitic fungi.
 Since it has a protective role to play, cells
of epidermal tissue form a continuous layer
without intercellular spaces.
 Most epidermal cells are relatively flat.
 Stomata
 In epidermis, there are some pores
called stomata
 Stomata are enclosed by two kidney
shaped cells, called guard cells
 They are necessary for exchanging
of gases with atmosphere &
transpiration of water.
 Root hair cells

 Epidermal cells of the roots,

whose function is to absorb
water, bear long cylindrical
hair like parts that greatly
increase the total absorptive
surface area.
 Cork
 As the plant grows older, the outer protective tissue
undergoes certain changes.
 A strip of secondary meristem replaces the epidermis
of the stem.
 This forms the several layer thick cork or the bark of
the tree.
 Cells of cork are dead and compactly arranged without
intercellular spaces
 They also have a chemical called suberin in their walls
that makes them impervious to gases and water.
Complex Permanent Tissue
 Complex Permanent Tissue
 Complex permanent tissues are made up of more than one type of cells. All this cells
coordinate to carry out a common function.
 Xylem and Phloem are examples of this type of tissues. They are both conducting and
constitute a vascular bundle.
 Vascular bundle or conductive tissue is a distinctive feature of the complex plants,
one that has made possible their survival in the terrestrial environment.
 Xylem (Xylo ; Wood)
 Xylem cells are elongated and thick walled. They provide upward movement
of water and dissolved materials absorbed from the soil by the roots to
other parts of plant.
 Older xylem tissue form the wood and does not participate in transport.
 One can determine the age of tree by counting its annual rings which
actually are the xylem rings.
 Xylem consists of 4 elements- tracheids, vessels, xylem fibres & xylem
parenchyma.
 Tracheids
 These are elongated hollow cells with tapering ends. The wall of these cells are thick due to
the deposition of lignin.
 These cells are arranged in such a fashion that they form a system of long tubes and channels
through which water can move easily. The tracheids are dead cell.
Xylem vessels
 The cells of vessels are placed one upon the other and their end walls are either absent of
posses perforation.
 They form long tubes or channels for conduction of water and minerals
Xylem fibres
 These are supportive in nature and provide mechanical strength to the plant body.
Xylem parenchyma
 This are the only living component of xylem. This cells serve for storage of food and also help
in conduction of water
Function
 Xylem is major conducting tissue vascular plants. It serves in the upward movement of water
and mineral salts from root to different aerial parts of plant.
 It also gives mechanical strength to the plant body
 Phloem (Phloos ; Bark)
 Phloem cells provide a passage for the downward movements of food
manufactured in the leaves to various parts of the plant.
 They also provide upward movement for the prepared food towards the
growing new leaves.
 The phloem tissue consists of sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem
parenchyma cells and phloem fibres.
 Except for phloem fibres, phloem cells are living cells.
 Sieve tubes
 It is the main conducting part of the phloem, formed of elongated cylindrical cells arranged in
vertical rows.
 The terminal walls of each sieve tube have many minute pore through which food material
passes very easily. The entire porous plate is termed as sieve plate.

Companion cells
 Each sieve tube member is supported by a long parenchymatous cell called companion cell which
help the sieve tube in the conduction of food material.
 Companion cells are living cells usually associated with the sieve tubes

Phloem parenchyma
It is ordinary living parenchyma cells associated with phloem, they store food.

Phloem fibres
 They are dead sclerenchymatous fibres, which provide mechanical strength. The textile fibres
of flax, hemp, and jute are phloem fibres.
 Xylem Phloem
It transport water and minerals from root It transport food material from the leaves
to the apical parts of the plant to growing parts of the plant.
Xylem consists of tracheids, vessels, Phloem consists of sieve tube, companion
xylem fibre, and xylem parenchyma cells, phloem fibres, and phloem
parenchyma
Only xylem parenchyma is living other Sieve tubes, companion cells, and phloem
elements are dead parenchyma are living, phloem fibre are
dead tissue
Xylem gives mechanical strength to the Phloem does not provide mechanical
plant strength to the plant
Conduction of water by xylem is Food material conduction is bidirectional
unidirectional
Xylem occupies the center of the vascular Phloem occurs on outer side of the
bundle vascular bundle
 On the basis of the
function they perform
we can think of
different types of
animal tissues, such as
epithelial tissue,
connective tissue,
muscular tissue, and
nervous tissue.

Blood is a type of
connective tissue and
muscle forms muscular
tissue.
 Epithelial Tissue
• Simplest type of tissue
• Forms a barrier to keep different body system
separate
• Skin, lining of mouth, lining of blood vessel,
lung alveoli, and kidney tubes are all made of
epithelial tissue.
• All epithelial tissue are usually separated from
underlying tissue by an extracellular fibrous
basement membrane.
• Function: protects underlying cells from
drying, injury, infection.
• Plays imp. role in exchange of material
between body and external environment
• Helps in absorption of nutrients, water and in
diffusion of gases
• Helps in eliminating waste from body
 Squamous Epithelial
• Made up of thin flat, irregular shaped
cells which get fit together like floor tiles.
• They are of two types: Simple &
Stratified
• Simple: forms delicate lining of blood
vessel, or lung alveoli.
• Esophagus & lining of mouth are covered
with Simple squamous epithelial.
• Stratified: This tissue is arranged in many
layers, found where there is much wear
and tear, such as skin, lining of mouth
cavity.
 Cuboidal Columnar Glandular Ciliated
It consist of cube It consists of pillar When columnar When cuboidal or
like cells. like cells epithelium cells get columnar epithelium
Nucleus is centrally Nuclei is at base modified to form have a free border
located glands which which bears thread
It usually lines the secretes chemical like projections it is
Forms lining of duct surface where substance at surface, called ciliated
of salivary gland and absorption and it is called glandular epithelium
thyroid gland secretion occur, such epithelium.
as lining of intestine It is found in
Functions include Some epithelium respiratory tract
protection, secretion, tissue also fold
absorption, Helps in movement
inward to form of mucus, urine, egg
excretion multicellular glands
 Connective tissue
• Cells of connective tissue are loosely
spaced and embedded in an
intercellular matrix.
• The matrix may be jelly like, fluid,
dense of rigid.
• The nature of matrix differs with the
function of the particular connective
tissue.
• It is solid in bone and fluid in blood, it
is fibrous in nature and binds other
tissues.
• The main functions of connective
tissue involves binding, supporting,
and packing of different organs of the
body.
• They are of different types, areolar,
dense regular, adipose, skeletal and
fluid connective tissue
 Areolar connective
tissue
• It is a loose and cellular connective
tissue
• Simplest and most widely distributed
connective tissue
• Found between the skin and muscles
around blood vessels and nerve
• Joins skin to muscles, fills space
inside the organs, support internal
organs and helps in repair of tissue
after an injury.
 Adipose connective
tissue
• It is found between skin and internal
organs.
• Is basically aggregation of fat cells or
adipocytes
• Cell of tissue consist of large vacuole
filled with fat globules
• Functions to provide shape to the
limbs and the body, to keep visceral
organs in position, reduce heat loss
from body, regulates body
temperature.
 Adipose tissue Areolar tissue
Areolar tissue is mainly It is mainly concerned
connective with the storage of fat

It usually fixes skin with The cells are spherical

the muscles or oval and are packed
in a matrix
If forms packaging the The matrix of the tissue
material in all organs consists of fibroblasts, Bones Cartilage
between the muscles macrophages and
collagen fibres Bone are the hard, inelastic, Cartilage is a soft, elastic and
and a tough organ that forms flexible connective tissue that
It has two types of fibres It is found around the part of the vertebral skeleton protects the bone from
white and yellow kidneys, blood vessels rubbing against each other
and also heart.
Bones cells are known as Cartilage cells are known as
Osteocytes chondrocytes
Presence of blood vessels Absence of blood vessels
Presence of calcium and Has no calcium phosphate in
phosphate in the matrix the matrix
 Dense connective tissue
It is the fibrous connective tissue characterized by
densely packed fibre and cells.
It is the principal component of tendons and
ligaments.

Tendons
These are cord like, strong, inelastic, structures,
that joins skeletal muscles to bones.

Ligaments
These are elastic structures which connect bone to
bone.
 Skeletal tissue
It includes cartilage and bone which form the
endoskeleton of body

Cartilage
It is specialized connective tissue composed of
proteins and sugars. Its matrix is produced by
chondrocytes.
It smoothens bone surface at joints, provides support
and flexibility to the body parts, present in nose, ear,
trachea, and larynx.

Bone
It is very strong and non-flexible tissue. It is porous,
highly vascular, mineralized, hard and rigid.
Matrix of bones is made up of proteins and heavily
coated with calcium and magnesium salts
It also serve as storage site of calcium and
phosphate
Provides protection to vitals organs.
 Fluid connective
• tissue
Blood is fluid connective tissue.
• Blood flows and transports gases,
digested food, hormones, and waste
materials to different parts of the
body.
• It has fluid matrix called plasma
(proteins, salts, hormones) in which
R.B.C, W.B.C, and platelets are
suspended.
• R.B.C are red due to iron containing
pigment called Hemoglobin.
• W.B.C carry out defense function by
engulfing foreign substances such as
bacteria and also produce antibodies
for immune response.
• Platelets are minute, anucleated,
fragile, fragments of giant bone
marrow cells.
• Platelets help in clotting of blood.
 Muscular tissue
• Muscular tissue consist of
elongated cells, also called
muscle fibre.
• Muscle fibre have property of
excitability and conductivity.
• Muscle contain special proteins
called contractile protein, which
contract and relax to cause
movement.
• On the basis of location,
structure and function, muscle
fibre are classified as striated
muscles, smooth muscles, and
cardiac muscles.
• striped, skeletal, or voluntary muscles.
• long, elongated, non-tapering, cylindrical, unbranched, multinucleated
and show alternate light and dark stripes.
• attached to bones and work accordingly to our will.
• found in limbs, tongue, diaphragm, face and neck.
• provide the force for locomotion and all other voluntary movements of
the body.

• unstriped, visceral, or involuntary muscles.

• long, elongated, tapering, fusiform, bundled, uninucleated
• Smooth muscles do not work accordingly to our will
• found in stomach, intestine, blood vessels, trachea, urinary passage.
• Rhythmic contraction and relaxation of muscle cause a progressive
wave like action called peristalsis.

• Cardiac muscle shows characteristics of both smooth and striated

muscles.
• Cylindrical branched and uninucleate.
• Composed of branched fibres and branches join to form network.
• Theses muscles are found in myocardium of the heart.
• Rhythmic contraction and relaxation of this muscles help in pumping
and distributing blood to various parts of body.
 Character Striated muscles Smooth muscles Cardiac muscles
Shape of Cells Cells are long cylindrical, Cells are long with tapering Cells are non-tapering,
non-tapering, and ends and unbranched cylindrical and branched
unbranched

Nucleus Many nuclei which are The cells have only one Each cell contains one or
situated towards the nucleus situated in the two nuclei situated in the
periphery of muscle fibre center center

Striation Transverse alternate dark Striations or strips are Cells have faint striations
and light bands present absent

Mode of contraction Voluntary contract rapidly Involuntarily not at our will Involuntary, rhythmically
but soon exhaust Contract comparatively contract and relax
slow, but do not exhaust throughout life without
fatigue under normal
conditions

Example of location Hands, legs and other Stomach wall, intestine, Present only in heart
skeletal muscles ureter, bronchi etc. muscles
 Nervous tissue
The main parts of neuron are cyton or cell
body, dendrites & axon

 Cell body : it contains a nucleus and

cytoplasm
 Dendrites : The dendrites are short
processes arising from cell body, it
receives impulses.
 Axon : The axon is a single long,
cylindrical process arising from the
cyton, which forms fine branches at its
terminal end.
• The tissue that receives stimulus and transmit it from one part of tissue to other are nervous tissue.
• Brain, spinal cord, and nerve all are composed of nervous tissue.
• Nervous tissue contains highly specialized tissue called Neuron or Nerve cell.
• Neurons have the ability to receive stimulus from within or outside and conduct impulses to different part of body.
• An individual nerve cell may be up to a meter long.
• Many nerve fibre bound together by connective tissue make up a nerve.
• The functional combination of nerve and muscle tissue is fundamental to most animals.
• This combination enables animals to move rapidly in response to stimuli.