Absorption of

Soil Water or
Soil Solution
 Overview

Absorption of water in plants is a vital

process which is very important for the
growth of plants and other metabolic
activities. Capillary water is
held in pores that are
Water absorption in lower plants takes small enough to hold
water against
place by the process of osmosis through gravity, but not so
the whole plant body. tightly that roots
cannot absorb it
In higher plants, the mechanism of
water absorption is through the root
hairs. Plants only uptake Capillary
 Definition

Absorption of water in plants is a

biological process which can
define as the uptake of the
capillary water by the root
hairs of a plant from the soil to
the root xylem by many ways
like respiration, transpiration and
osmosis.
History

• Firstly, the two types i.e.

active and passive water
absorption was introduced by
the scientist Renner in 1912-
1915.
After the types of water
absorption, two theories were
Osmosis
introduced to know more about
the concept of active the process of distributing
water across semi-permeable
absorption of water. membranes to dilute higher
concentrations of particles
• The osmotic theory was given
Types of water absorption in plants

• Active absorption of water

• Passive absorption of water
• Active absorption of water
- This type of water absorption
requires the expenditure of
metabolic energy by the root cells
to perform the metabolic activity
like respiration.
• Active absorption in plant occurs
in two ways namely: Osmotic and
non-osmotic absorption of water.
Osmotic active absorption of water: In
this type, the water absorption occurs
through osmosis where the water moves into
the root xylem across the concentration
gradient of the root cell. The osmotic
movement is due to the high concentration
of solute in the cell sap and low
concentration of the surrounding soil.
Because of the high concentration of solute
in the cell sap and the low concentration of
the surrounding soil, osmotic movement
occurs. Auxin is a growth hormone that .
increases the rate of respiration in plants,
which increases the rate of water absorption
Non-osmotic active
absorption of water:
when water absorption occurs
where the water enters the cell
from the soil against the
concentration gradient of the
cell.
- it requires the use of metabolic
energy through the respiration
process.
- When rate of respiration
increases, the rate of water
absorption will also increase.
• Passive absorption of water
This type of water absorption does not require the
use of metabolic energy. The absorption occurs by
metabolic activity like transpiration.

-when water is absorbed through the transpiration

pull. This creates tension or force that helps in the
movement of water upwards into the xylem sap.
Higher is the transpiration rate, higher is the
absorption of water.
• If membranes lose its selectivity, he cell would no longer be able to sustain itself,
and it would be destroyed.
• Passive transport is a naturally occurring phenomenon and does not require the cell
to exert any of its energy to accomplish the movement
• It is a process by which an ion or molecule passes through a cell via a concentration
gradient, or from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration
without the expenditure of energy
• Role of root hairs in water absorption

The root contains some tubular, hair-like and

unicellular structures refers as “Root hair”. In the
root system, where the root hair develops refers
to as “Root hair zone”.
The zone of root hair is the only region
that participates in water absorption
activity. Root hair zone is the water
permeable region. Root hairs are the
outgrowths which arise from the
epidermal layer refers as “Piliferous
layer”.

The cell wall of root hair consists of a

double layer membrane. Pectin is
present in the outer layer and
cellulose is present in the inner layer
of the cell wall. Under the cell wall,
there is a cytoplasmic membrane
which is selectively permeable. The
cytoplasmic membrane will allow
specific substances to pass across the
cell concentration gradient.
Inside the cytoplasmic membrane,
there are root cells, nucleus and a
vacuole or cell sap are present. Soil
aggregates surround the root hair
which contains water, from where
the root hair carries the water into
the root xylem by different
mechanisms, from which osmosis is
most common.
Mechanism of water absorption in plants
1. Water is absorbed by the root hairs
through the process of osmosis.
The soil has high water
concentration than the cell sap,
therefore water will move from the high
concentration to the low concentration
following the process of osmosis
through the cytoplasmic membrane of
the root hairs.
2. water crosses the epidermis or
piliferous layer of the root
system.
3. water will move from the epidermis
to the root cortex.
4. the water will then move to the
endodermis consists of suberic and
passive cells where passive cells help
in the diffusion of water further into the
root cell.

5. Water moves from the pericycle to

the root xylem. Therefore, water will
Factors affecting water absorption in
plants
• Extrinsic factors
• Intrinsic factors
Extrinsic factors are the external factors or the environmental
factors which includes the following:
• Soil water: Soil carries five different types of water, out of
which the capillary water is useful for the biological activity of
the plant.
• The concentration of soil solution: The concentration of soil
must be low. If there is a high concentration of soil then it will
refer as “Physiologically dry soil”. Highly concentrated or dry soil
makes the water absorption difficult.
• Soil air: There should be space between the soil particles for
the proper air supply. If the quantity of oxygen is less, then the
quantity of carbon dioxide will increase, which leads to the
anaerobic respiration.
• Soil temperature: The optimum temperature is 20- 35 degrees
Celsius.
Intrinsic factors involve some internal factors that occur
inside the cell which includes the following:

It involves the metabolic activities

like respiration, transcription .
The number of root hairs which directly
influences the rate of water absorption.
Transcription and Protein Synthesis

• Transcription is the process where RNA is synthesized from a

DNA template. This RNA (mRNA, tRNA, rRNA) is essential for
protein synthesis (translation)

• Transcription is essential for synthesizing the proteins (like

aquaporins and those involved in respiration) that directly
facilitate water movement into the plant and provide the
necessary energy for the absorption process. So, in general
terms, it facilitates the synthesis of the proteins needed for
respiration and active transport, both of which are necessary for
efficient water absorption.
Shukran