AGSC3019

Plant anatomy and physiology

Assistant Professor
Dr William Mollineau
william.mollineau@utt.edu.tt
Room – BK2014
Ext – 28129
Mobile 745-1415
• Plant Anatomy
– Cells
– Tissues
– Organs
• Plant Physiology
– Water & sugar transport
– Plant hormones
 What is plant anatomy?
• ANATOMY: study of the structure of
organisms… looking at cells, tissues
• (Morphology: Study of form)

What is plant physiology?

• PHYSIOLOGY: study of the function of
cells, tissues, organs of living things;
and the physics/chemistry of these functions…
Always keep in mind that in plant anatomy,
morphology & physiology…

“Structure correlates to function”

• How can water
move from
the ground
all the way
to the top
of a 100 m
tall redwood
tree?
 Plant Anatomy: Cells
• Plant cells are basic building blocks
• Can specialize in form and function
• By working together, forming tissues, they can
support each other and survive
• Levels of organization
atoms > molecules > cells > tissues > organs > whole plant > pop.
 Plant Tissues Types
All plant organs (roots, stems, leaves) are
composed of the same tissue types.
There are three types of tissue:

• 1. Dermal – outermost layer

• 2. Vascular – conducting tissue, transport

• 3. Ground – bulk of inner layers

 1. Dermal tissue
• Epidermis is the outermost layer of cells
• Like the “skin” of animals
• In stems and leaves,
epidermis has cuticle,
a waxy layer that prevents
water loss.
• Some have trichomes, hairs.
• Root epidermis has root hairs, for
water and nutrient absorption
 2. Vascular tissue
• Transports water and organic materials (sugars)
throughout the plant
• Xylem – transports water and
dissolved ions from the root
to the stem and leaves.
• Phloem – carries dissolved sugars
from leaves to rest of the plant
 Xylem
• Transports water and dissolved minerals
• Tracheids: long, thin tube like structures
without perforations at the ends
• Vessel elements: short, wide tubes perforated at
the ends (together form a pipe, called vessel).
• Both cells have pits (thin sections) on the walls

Tracheids Vessel elements

 Xylem cells
• Xylem cells are dead!
• They are hollow cells
and consist
only of
cell wall
 Phloem
• Cells that transport organic materials (sugars)
• Phloem cells are ALIVE! (unlike xylem)
• However, they lack
nucleus and
organelles
 Phloem: transports sugars
• Phloem composed of cells called sieve tube
members (STM)
• Companion cells join sieve tube members, are
related, and help to load materials into STM
• End walls of STM have large pores called
sieve plates
Companion cells

Sieve tube member Sieve plates

 3. Ground tissue
• Makes up the bulk of plant organs.
• Functions: Metabolism, storage and support.

Root Stem Leaf

 Plant Organs
Organs: tissues that act together to serve a
specific function

Dermal
• Roots Vascular
Ground

Dermal
• Stems Vascular
Ground

Dermal
• Leaves Vascular
Ground
 Functions of plant organs:
• ROOTS: Anchorage, water/nutrient absorption
from soil, storage, water/nutrient transport

• STEMS: Support, water/nutrient transport

• LEAVES: Photosynthesis (food production)

 ROOTS

• ROOTS “the hidden half”

• Functions of roots:
• Ancorage
• Absorption of water & dissolved minerals
• Storage (surplus sugars, starch)
• Conduction water/nutrients
 Root Epidermis
• Outermost, single layer of cells that:
– Protects (from diseases)
– Absorbs water and nutrients

• ROOT HAIRS: tubular extensions

of epidermal cells.
• Increase surface area of root,
for better water/nutrient
absorption
Root Hairs: water and mineral
absorption

Root hairs
increase surface
area for better
absorption
 Root Cortex
• Stores starch, sugars and other substances
 STEMS
• Above-ground organs (usually)

• Support leaves and fruits

• Conduct water and sugars

throughout plant (xylem and phloem)
 Types of stems
• Herbaceous vs. Woody stems
 Tissues of stems
• Epidermis (Dermal tissue type)
• Provides protection
• Has cuticle (wax) prevents water loss
• Trichomes (hairs) for protection, to release
scents, oils, etc.
 LEAVES:
• ‘Photosynthetic factories’ of the plant…
• Function: Photosynthesis – food
production for the whole plant
• Blade: Flat expanded area
• Petiole: stalk that connects
leaf blade to stem, and
transports materials
BLADE
 Plant water transport
• How can water move from
the ground
all the way
to the top
of a 100 m
tall redwood
tree?
 Water transport in plants:
• The same way we drink soda
from a straw!

• Water’s great
cohesive forces (molecules
sticking to each other)
and adhesive forces
(attaching to walls of xylem cells)
 Transpiration-cohesion Theory
for water transport in the xylem
• Evaporation of water in the leaves
(through stomates) generates the ‘sucking
force’ that pulls adjacent water molecules
up the leaf surface
 Water transport (cont.)
• Like a long chain, water molecules pull each
other up the column.
• The column goes from roots  leaves.

• What’s amazing is that the

water moves up by using the sun’s
evaporative energy…
• Plants control transpiration by opening/closing
stomata
 Sugar translocation
• 1. Sugars made in leaf mesophyll cells (source)
diffuse to phloem cells in the vascular bundles.
• 2. Companion cells load dissolved sugars into
the phloem STM using energy (ATP).
• 3. Water moves into cells with high sugar
concentration.
• 4. Osmotic water flow generates a high
hydraulic pressure that moves dissolved sugars
through the phloem to the rest of the plant
(sink).
 Pressure flow in phloem
• Sugars made in the
leaves are loaded into
companion cells and
into phloem STM.

• Water (from xylem)

moves in by osmosis,
creating pressure flow
down the phloem.
 Plant Hormones
• Chemical compounds produced by plants
• Effective at very low concentrations
• Five major hormone groups are:
1. Auxins
2. Gibberellins
3. Cytokinins
4. Abscisic Acid
5. Ethylene
 1. AUXINS
• Promote cell growth
• Involved in
gravitropism

and phototropism

• Control fruit development

2. Gibberellins
• Promote stem elongation

3. Cytokinins
• Promote cell division and
organ differentiation

4. Abscisic Acid
• Promotes seed dormancy
• Causes stomata closing
 5. ETHYLENE
• Gaseous hormone,
very simple formula (C2H4)

• Ethylene promotes
fruit ripening!

Air Ethylene
“One rotten apple spoils the barrel”

• Why?
Probably due to ethylene!
Rotten apple producing
lots of ethylene!
• Autocatalytic
• As a response to injury
 Avocado ripening…
• Place in a paper bag, with a ripe banana!
 Photosynthesis
• Photosynthesis: A chemical process by
which a plant turns light energy from the
sun into chemical energy in the form of
sugar.
 Photosynthesis
• Photosynthesis
– The plant uses water and carbon dioxide to
produce glucose (a sugar). The by product of
photosynthesis is oxygen.

– These chemical reactions take place inside the

cells near the chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are
filled with Chlorphyll which makes the plants
green.
 Photosynthesis
• Photosynthesis

– Plants don’t photosynthesize. Chloroplasts do!

Plants just happen to be lucky enough to have
chloroplasts in their cells.
 Respiration
• Cellular Respiration: The opposite of
photosynthesis. This process breaks sugars
down so plants can use them.

– Similar to digestion in animals.

– Takes place in a place in the cell called the

mitochondria.
 Respiration
• How are photosynthesis and respiration
important to us as human beings?
 Light
• Plants need the colors blue and red to
activate chlorophyll.

• Light bulbs are deficient in the color blue.

• Fluorescent tubes are deficient in the color

red.
 Light
• Special grow lights are made that carry the
correct blue and red wavelengths.

• Light intensity is measured in foot candles.

• Foot Candle: The amount of light given off

by a candle a foot away.
 Light
• Plants have adapted to survive in either
high, partial, or low light intensities.
 Light
• Photoperiod: The length of daylight.

• Short Day Plants: Plants that begin to flower

when the nights are over 12 hours long.

• Long Day Plants: Begin to flower when the nights

are under 12 hours long.

• Neutral Plants: Flowering response is unaffected

by day length.
 Temperature
• Hardiness: A plants ability to withstand
cold temperatures.

• Hardiness is measured using the USDA

hardiness Zone Map.

• We are in zone 5, Logan is in Zone 4

Temperature
 Temperature
• Wilting: A condition caused by excess heat
and dryness. When a plant wilts it closes
its’ stomatas, and the cells loose their turgor
pressure.
 Air
• Oxygen: Is needed by the plant for
respiration. It is obtained by the roots.

• Carbon Dioxide: Is needed by the plant for

photosynthesis. It is obtained through the
stomata’s
 Water
• Plants get most of the water through their
roots. Some small quantities are also
obtained through the stems.

• Difficult task about watering: Plants need

both adequete levels of water and oxygen.
 Water
• Plants should be watered all the way
through the root zone to encourage even
root growth.

• Plants should be grown in pots with

drainage holes so the water can drain and
allow oxygen into the root zone.
 Growth Regulators
• Plant hormones: growth regulators
naturally produced by the plant.

– Auxins: Growth hormones produced by the

apical meristem. They encourage height
growth, and discourage lateral growth.
 Growth Regulators
• Plant Hormones:
– Cytokinins: Produced in roots and seeds, and
are responsible for cell division and
differentiation.

– Ethylene: Produced by ripening fruit, it

stimulates flowering, and ripening.
 Growth Regulators
• Plant Hormones:
– Gibberellins: Produced in stems, roots, and
young leaves. They are responsible for
internodal elongation.

– Abscisic Acid: Found in seeds. A hormone

which inhibits growth.
 Giberrellins Effect
on dwarf bean plants

Ethylene

The effect of Auxins

 Growth Regulators
• Commercial Uses:
– A-rest, B-Nine, Cycocel, Florel: Used on
poinsettias, Easter Lilies, and Chrysanthemums
to reduce size to make a shorter bushier, and
more attractive plant.

– Rootone and Hormodin: Used to help plants

root more quickly.
 Growth Regulators
• Commercial Uses:
– Ethylene gas: Used to ripen bananas when they
get to market. Used to induce flowering in
pineapple crops.
 Plant Classification
• Non Flowering
– Ferns
– Cone-Producers (Conifers)
• Flowering
– Monocots
– Dicots
 Monocots
• Leaves have parallel Veins
• Fibrous Roots
• Flower parts in 3’s
• Seed has one part (cotyledon)
• Vascular bundles are scattered
 Dicots
• Leaves have branched Veins
• Tap Roots
• Flower parts in 4’s & 5’s
• Seed has two parts (cotyledons)
• Vascular bundles are in a ring