Transport in Plants

The vascular tissue which contains xylem and phloem are specialized for water and
nutrients throughout the plant.
The vascular tissues extend from the leaves through the stem to the roots.

Transport of Water:
Xylem is the vascular tissue responsible for the transport of water and mineral salts
from the roots in the soil to the shoot system of the plant.
Water is transported in the xylem from the roots, where the water potential is higher up
to the leaves where the water potential is low.
Xylem is wood, one of the world's most abundant and valuable renewable raw
materials.

Functions of the xylem:

o xylem is an important strengthening tissue (xylem provide mechanical support)
o xylem vessels and tracheids transport water and mineral salts,
o Starch is sometimes stored in the xylem fibers and xylem parenchyma.
In higher plants, xylem tissue contains four different types of cellular elements. These
are including:
1. Xylem tracheids
2. Xylem vessels (vessel elements)
3. Xylem fibers and
4. Xylem parenchyma
The two types of water-conducting cells in the xylem
tissues are-:
a. Tracheids and
b. Xylem vessel

Course instructor: Ahmed Omaar

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Tracheids

Xylem vessels (vessel elements)

Are dead at maturity, only the cell

walls remains
Are narrow in diameter

Are dead at maturity, only the cell

walls remains
Are wider in diameter

Are long cells

Are shorter cells

Have tapered ends

Have less tapered ends

They have large pits which water

moves from cell to cell mainly
through the pits
(have no perforation plates)

They have perforation plates

(palates with pores) at their ends
which connect from cell to cell
forming a long pipe that enable
water to flow freely through the
vessel
They are more efficient in water
conducting due to the presence of
perforation plates. It is through
these vessels that water flow
upward to the leaves.

They are mostly less efficient in

water conduction due to the
absence of perforation plates

Course instructor: Ahmed Omaar

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Xylem vessels:
-

Xylem vessels are the most active water conducting elements in all
higher plants.
They are characterized by the composition of both primary and
secondary walls.
The primary wall is made up of cellulose while the secondary wall is
made up of lignin.
The deposition of lignin in the secondary wall isnt always uniform. As a
result, the xylem vessels exhibit different types of secondary
thickenings. On this basis, xylem vessels can be distinguished into five types:
1. Annular vessels in which the secondary thickening is in the form of
rings placed more or less at equal distance from each other.
2. Spiral vessels in which the secondary thickenings are present in the
form of a helix or coil.
3. Scalariform vessels in which the secondary thickenings appear in the
form of cross bands resembling the steps of a ladder.
4. Reticulate vessels in which the secondary thickenings are irregular
and appear in the form of a network.
5. Pitted vessels in which the secondary thickenings result in the
formation of depressions on the primary wall called pits.

Course instructor: Ahmed Omaar

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Mechanisms of Water Transport through the Xylem:

Four important forces combine to transport water solutions from the roots,
through the xylem elements, and into the leaves. These are:

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 Transpiration
Adhesion
Cohesion
Tension (Surface tension)
Also, root pressure, play an important role in
water transport through the root hairs.

Root pressure:
Root pressure can be summarized as follows:
Minerals are actively absorbed at night
and pumped into the xylem
tissue.
Water potential of the xylem cells
decreases.
Water, therefore, moves in by osmosis.

This increases pressure within the

system since the stomata are closed.
Water is forced out of the leaves by
guttation.
Root pressures of this kind can push
water several centimeters up a plant.
Guttation produces what is commonly known as dew on the leaves.

Transpiration:
The main force which draws water from the soil and through the plant is caused by a
process called transpiration.
Transpiration is the process by which plants lose water vapour through stomata by
evaporation into the atmosphere.
The movement of water in the xylem from roots to leaves is called the transpiration
stream

Rate of Transpiration:
o The rate of transpiration depends on a number of things:
1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. Wind (Air movement/ windy day)
4. Light intensity (time of day)

Adhesion and Cohesion:

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Adhesion and cohesion facilitate the transport of

water by bulk flow.

Adhesion:
-

Adhesion is the attraction of molecules of

different kinds to stick together.
Water molecules stick to the cellulose
molecules in the walls of the xylem to rise
against the gravity and aiding to move up to the
leaves.
Adhesion of water to the cell walls of the xylem
facilitates movement of water upward within the
xylem as there is a strong attraction between water molecules and the cellulose
molecules in the xylem cell walls.
Capillarity action is the result of the adhesion of water to the sides of the xylem
vessels.
The ability of water to rise in thin tubes is called capillarity.

Cohesion:
-

Cohesion is the ability of molecules of the same kind to stick together.

Cohesion is the attractive force between molecules of the same substance. Water
has an unusually high cohesive force due to the hydrogen bonds of each water
molecule,
The cohesion of water makes it possible to pull a column of xylem sap without the
water molecules separating.

Tension (Surface tension):

-

Water molecules are attracted to each other in the liquid phase more than to water
in the gas phase.
The movement of water out of the leaf stomata creates a transpiration pull or
tension in the water column in the xylem vessels.
The pull is the result of water surface tension within the cell walls of the Mesophyll
cells, from the surfaces of which evaporation takes place when the stomata are
open.

Course instructor: Ahmed Omaar

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