9.

Transport in the phloem of plants

 1.Transport of organic compounds
Phloem
consists of
columns of
living cells
(Sieve
elements or
sieve tube
elements)
with
perforated
end walls
called sieve
plates.
Definitions

-Sieve elements or sieve tube elements: elongated living cells that

form the phloem tissue.

-Sieve tube is composed of several sieve elements that are

connected end to end to form

-Sieve plates: perforated cross walls within the sieve tubes

-Sources: photosynthesizing tissues and some plant organs

that export sugars to other parts of the plant.
-Sinks are plant organs that cannot produce sugars, but need
them for respiration or storage.
-Translocation is the transport of carbohydrates and other
solutes, such as minerals and amino acids
-Sap: mixture of water, carbohydrates, amino acids and plant
hormones
 2. Sinks and sources
Sources Sinks
Photosynthetic tissues, such
Roots
as leaves and stems
Storage organs which are
unloading their stores at the
Developing food stores, e.g.
beginning of the growing
fruits, seeds or new leaves.
season, e.g. germinating
seeds
3. The source to sink flow along the phloem
How translocation works…
Steps:
1.Sugars produced by photosynthesizing tissues or other sources are actively loaded
(i.e. ATP is used for this process) into sieve tubes by companion cells. This causes
the concentration of solute to build up in the sieve tubes.
2.Water then enters the sieve tubes by osmosis from neighboring xylem vessels.
3.As water is incompressible and sieves elements have a rigid cell wall, this inflow of
water creates a great deal of internal pressure. The pressure causes movement of
water and carbohydrates through the pores of the sieve plates, down the tube towards
the sink. The pressure that drives this mass flow is called hydrostatic pressure.
4.At the sink, companion cells actively unload the sieve tube. some of the
carbohydrates are converted into starch and stored and some are used by the respiring
cells. As sugars leave the sieve tube, the concentration of solute decreases, which in
turn leads to water moving to the neighboring vessel by osmosis.
5.The loss of water from the sieve tube will lead to a drop in hydrostatic pressure. This
is important as it allows transport along hydrostatic pressure gradients in sieve tubes.
As phloem sap flows from source to sink , it is transported from a region of high
hydrostatic pressure to one of lower hydrostatic pressure. This process is also referred
to as the pressure-flow mechanism
Definition:

Phloem loading: the process by which soluble carbohydrates

(sugars) enters the phloem. This loading requires active transport

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxwI63rQubU

Sucrose is moved across the sieve tube membrane

(companion cell-sieve tube complex) by a co-transport

protein (energy required)

 4. Phloem sieve tubes: structure and function
Reviewing…

Phloem transports: -?
-from ? to ?
Phloem consists of living cells with reduced cytoplasm and no
nucleus, but the cells do have membranes that help to maintain
the high concentrations of solutes. Companion cells perform
many of the genetic and metabolic functions of the sieve elements
or sieve tube cells. So companion cells are useful because….?

A)The sieve tube cell can maintain the membrane structure

necessary for the high solute concentrations.
B) the reduced cytoplasm increases the volume of sap that can be
transported by the sieve cells
Contact between the companion cells and the sieve tube cells is
mainly through plasmodesmata (singular: plasmodesma),
microscopic channels which cross the cell walls
 5. Comparing phloem and xylem.

Phloem Xylem
Columns of living cells Columns of dead cells
Transports sugars, amino Transports water and
acids and plant hormones minerals.
Has companion cells for cell
functions, with many Thickened cell
mitochondria that provide walls consisting of lignin
the ATP for active transport
Sieve tubes have sieve plates Continuous hollow tube,
at an interval that controls which allows for an
the flow of sap unbroken column of water
 6. Aphids and phloem transport

It is difficult to analyze
phloem sap,

so scientists had to be
creative
Aphids can tap into the phloem sap with their long stylets
(piercing mouthparts)

Aphid penetrating a plant to suck phloem sap (p); stylet (st) can
be seen in the insect.
If the stylet is separated from the aphid, the phloem sap will
continue to flow out of the stylet
Plant sap is a rich source of amino acids, proteins and
carbohydrates. If a plant is exposed to radioactive 14CO2, the
resulting organic compounds will be radioactively labelled with
14
C, and can be easily visualized using radiograms
 7. Xylem and phloem in light microscopy

The stem: Fig. 1

In the cross section of a
dicot stem, the ground
tissue is differentiated into
different layers such as the
cortex and the pith. The
vascular bundles are
arranged in a ring towards
near the edge of the stem
(as shown in Figure 1).
In the cross section of a
monocot stem, the ground
tissue is not differentiated
into different layers of
tissue. The vascular
bundles are scattered
randomly in the ground
tissue.
The root:

Dicot root
Ringing experiment
The phloem is contained in the bark
Why apple
number 2 is
smaller than the
other two?
Definitions
-Sieve elements or sieve tube elements: elongated living cells that
form the phloem tissue.
-Sieve tube is composed of several sieve elements that are
connected end to end to form
-Sieve plates: perforated cross walls within the sieve tubes
-Sources: photosynthesizing tissues and some plant organs
that export sugars to other parts of the plant.
-Sinks are plant organs that cannot produce sugars, but need
them for respiration or storage.
-Translocation is the transport of carbohydrates and other
solutes, such as minerals and amino acids
-Sap: mixture of water, carbohydrates, amino acids and plant
hormones
Phloem loading: the process by which soluble carbohydrates
(sugars) enters the phloem. This loading requires active transport
Companion cells perform many of the genetic and metabolic
functions of the sieve elements or sieve tube cells
Plasmodesmata (singular: plasmodesma), microscopic channels
which cross the cell walls
 Homework
-State whether a growing plant bud acts as a source or a sink.

-Sucrose enters a phloem sieve tube cell because of:

Osmosis
Active transport
Passive transport
Diffusion

-Which of these correctly identifies the adaptation of a phloem sieve

tube to its function?

Reduced cytoplasm and breakdown of the nucleus

Complete breakdown of the cytoplasm to form a hollow tube
Development of many mitochondria to produce ATP
Complete breakdown of cross walls between sieve elements