Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
rd
3 Plant Chapter
Chapter 37
Plant Growth – where does the
plant’s mass come from
1. Most of the plant weight is water
Water accumulates in vacuoles and elongates the
cells and makes them turgid and acts as a solvent
Purpose of macronutrients:
C, O, H – sugar and cell wall production
N, S – make proteins
N, P, - nucleic acids, ATP, phosphorylation cascades in cell signalling
K – water balance, opening and closing stomates, cofactor for protein
synthesis enyzmes
Ca – membrane structure, formation of cell walls, cofactor
Mg – part of chlorophyll
N2 in air
Getting Phosphorus
Mycorrhizae – fungus living symbiotically on many plant roots,
absorb PO4- and water and secrete plant root growth factors (in
turn the plant feeds the non-photosynthetic fungus
Plant Adaptations to get minerals
and water
Parasitic plants - do some photosythesis to make
sugar but tap into other plants vascular system and
suck out water and minerals
Epiphytes – grow on other plants but are fully
photosynthetic and not parastitic
Carnivorous Plants – live in poor soil conditions –
usually nitrogen deficient – capture animals for
nitrogen and other minerals but are fully
photosythetic for sugar (venus fly trap)
Farming Practices and Plants
Crops are not Natural
1. Crops remove minerals from soil but don’t
decompose and return the organic or inorganic
components to the soil
a. Must use fertilizers to replace N, P, K which then can run
off and cause too much plant growth in rivers – clogging
them and killing fish
• Can use natural fertilizers which are slow release vs. commercial
fertilizers which release faster but usually don’t stay in soil as
long
b. Can rotate crops – rotate with legumes – add nitrogen to
soil and plow them under as fertilizer
Farming Continued
2. Crops remove water from the soil
Ground aquifers collapse
Many farmers irrigate with water containing salts – as the
water evaporates, the soil becomes salty making the soil
hypertonic (lower water potential) so water leaves the
roots instead of entering
3. Crop harvesting causes the loss of top soil – soil
blows or washes away once crops are harvested.
Can combat problem by:
Contour farming
Not plowing at the end of the season
Now planting in rows or plant plants that don’t grow in
rows
Planting crops that trap soil – rotating crops