CELLS AND TISSUES

OF THE PLANT BODY

CLARISSA MARIE M. LARUAN

As in other organisms, the cells
is the basic structural and
functional unit of plants.
A tissue is a group of cells that forms structural and
functional unit. Some plant tissues (simple tissues) are
composed of only one kind of cell, whereas other plant
tissues (complex tissues) have two or more kinds of
cells.

In vascular plants, tissues are organized into three

tissue systems, each of which extends throughout the
plant body.
Each tissue system contains two or more kinds of tissues.

Most of the plant body is composed of the ground tissue

system, which has a variety of functions, including,
photosynthesis, storage, and support.

The vascular tissue system, an intricate plumbing system that

extends throughout the plant body, conducts various
substances, including water, dissolved minerals, and food
(dissolved sugar).

The vascular tissue system also functions in strengthening and

supporting the plant.
The dermal tissue system covers the plant body.

Roots, stems, leaves, flower parts, and fruits are referred to as

organs because each is composed of all three tissue systems.

The tissue systems of different plant organs form an

interconnected network through the plant.

For example, the vascular tissue of a leaf is continuous with the

vascular tissue of the stem to which the leaf is attached, and the
vascular tissue of the root.
 TISSUE SYSTEM TISSUES CELL TYPES
Ground tissue system Parenchyma tissue
Parenchyma cells

Collenchyma tissue
Collenchyma cells

Sclerenchyma tissue Sclerenchyma cells

(sclereids, fibers)
Vascular tissue Xylem
Tracheas, vessel
system elements,
parenchyma cells,
Phloem fibers

Sieve-tube elements,
companion cells,
parenchyma cells,
fibers
Dermal tissue system Epidermis
Parenchyma cells,
guard cells, trichomes

Periderm Cork cells, cork

cambium cells, cork
parenchyma
 The group tissue system is
composed of three simple
tissues
The bulk of an herbaceous plant is its ground
tissue system, which is composed of three tissues:
parenchyma, collenchyma, and sclerenchyma.

Their cell wall structures distinguish these tissues.

A growing cell secretes a thin primary cell wall,

which is deposited inside the primary cell wall-
that is, between the primary cell wall and the
plasma membrane.
PARENCHYMA CELLS HAVE
THIN PRIMARY CELL WALLS

Parenchyma tissue, a simple tissue

composed of parenchyma cells is found
throughout the plant body and is the the
common type of cell and tissue.

Parenchyma cells is a plant cell that is

relatively unspecialized is thin walled,
may contain chlorophyll, and is typically
rather loosely packed.
The soft parts of a plant, such as the edible pat of an apple or a
potato, consist largely of parenchyma.

Parenchyma cells perform a number of important functions for plants,

such as photosynthesis, storage, and secretion.

Parenchyma cells that function in photosynthesis contain chloroplasts,

whereas non photosynthetic parenchyma cells lack chloroplasts.

Materials sorted in parenchyma cells include starch grains, oil

droplets, water, and salts.

Resins, tannins, hormones, enzymes, and sugary nectar are examples

of substances that parenchyma cells may secrete.

The various functions of parenchyma require that they be living and

metabolizing cells.
Parenchyma cells have the ability to
differentiate into other kinds of ells,
particularly when a pant is injured.

If xylem (water-conducting cells) is severed,

for example, adjacent parenchyma cells may
divide and differentiate into new xylem cells
within a few days.
 COLLENCHYMA CELLS HAVE
UNEVENLY THICKENED
PRIMARY CELL WALLS

Collenchyma tissue, a simple tissue composed

of collenchyma cells, is a flexible tissue that
provides much of the support in soft, nonwoody
plant organs.

Support is crucial function in plants, in part

because it allows plants to grow upward thus
enabling them to compete with the other plants
for available sunlight in a plant-crowded area.
Collenchyma cells is a living pant cell with moderately
but unevenly thickened primary walls.

Collenchyma cells are usually elongated.

Their primary cell walls are thickened and are

especially thick in the corners.

Collenchyma is not found uniformly, throughout the

plant and often occurs as long strands near stem
surfaces and along long vein.

The “strings” in a celery stalk, for example consist of

collenchyma.
 SCLERENCHYMA CELLS HAVE
BOTH PRIMARY CELL WALLS AND
THICK SECONDARY CELL WALLS

A second simple tissue specialized for structural

support in sclerenchyma tissue, whose cells have
both primary and secondary cell walls.

Sclerenchyma cells is a plant cell with extremely

thick walls that provides strength and support to the
plant body.

The root word of the word sclerenchyma is the

Greek word root sclera, “hard”.
The secondary walls of sclerenchyma cells become
strong and hard due to extreme thickening.

At functional maturity, when sclerenchyma tissue

is providing support for the plant body,
sclerenchyma cells are often dead.

Sclrenchyma tissue may occur in several areas of

the plant body.

There are two types of sclerenchyma cells,

sclereids and fibers.
Sclereids, short cells that are variable in
shape, are common in the shells of nuts and
the stones of fruits, such as cherries and
peaches.

Pears owe slightly gritty texture to the

presence of clusters and sclereids.
Fibers, which are long, tapered cells that
often occur in groups or clumps, are
particularly abundant in the wood, inner
bark, and leaf ribs (veins) of flowering
plants.
 THE VASCULAR TISSUE
SYSTEMS CONSIST OF TWO
COMPLEX TISSUES

The vascular tissue which is embedded in

the ground tissue, transports needed
materials throughout the plant via two
complex tissues: xylem and phloem.
THE CONDUCTING CELLS IN
XYLEM ARE TRACHEIDS AND
VESSEL ELEMENTS
Xylem conducts water and dissolved
minerals from the roots to the stems and
leaves and provides structural support.

In flowering plants, xylem is a complex

tissue composed of four different cell
types: tracheids, vessel elements,
parenchyma cells, and fibers.
Two of the four cell types found in xylem- the
tracheids and vessel elements - actually conduct
water and dissolved minerals.

In addition to these cells, xylem contains

parenchyma cells, known as xylem parenchyma,
that perform storage functions, and xylem fibers
that provide support.
Tracheids and vessel elements are highly
specialized for conduction of water and
minerals.

At maturity, both cell types are dead and

therefore hollow; only their cell walls remain.

Tracheids, the chief water-conducting cells in

gymnosperms and seedless vascular plants
such as ferns, are long, tapering cells located
in patches or clumps.
Water is conducted upward from roots to
shoots, passing from one traced into another
pits, which are thin areas in the tracheids’ cell
walls where a secondary cell wall did not
form.

Pits always occur in pairs, one on each side of

the primary cell walls of adjacent cells.
Flowering plants possess efficient water-
conducting cells called vessel elements,
in addition to relatively few tracheids.

The cell diameters of vessel elements are

usually greater than those of tracheids.

Vessel elements are hollow, but unlike

tracheids, they have holes in their end
walls known as perforations or the end
walls are entirely dissolved away.
Vessel elements are stacked one on top
of the other, and water is conducted
readily from one vessel element into the
next.

A stack of vessel elements, called a

vessel, resembles a miniature water pipe.

Vessel elements also have pits in their

side walls that permit the lateral transport
of water from one vessel to another.
 SIEVE-TUBE ELEMENTS ARE
THE CONDUCTING CELLS OF
PHLOEM

Phloem conducts food materials-that is,

carbohydrates formed in photosynthesis-
throughout the plant and provides structural
support.

Phloem is a complex vascular tissue that

conducts food throughout the plant body.
In flowering plants, phloem is a complex tissue
composed of four different cell types: sieve-tube
elements, companion cells, phloem fibers, and
phloem parenchyma cells.

Fibers are frequently extensive in the phloem of

flowering plants, providing additional structural
support for the plant body.
Foods materials are conducted in solution-
through the sieve-tube elements, which are
among the specialized living cells in nature.

Sieve-tube elements are long, thin cells that are

stacked end on end to form long sieve-tubes.

The cell’s end walls, called sieve plates,

have a series of holes through which
cytoplasm extends from one sieve-tube
element into the next.
Adjacent to each sieve-tube element is a
companion cell that assists in the functioning of the
sieve-tube element.

Numerous plasmodesmata occur between a

companion cell and its sieve-tube elements.
Although the companion does not conduct
nutrients itself, it plays an essential role in
loading food materials into the sieve-tube
elements for transport to other parts of the
plant.
THE DERMAL TISSUE SYSTEM
CONSISTS OF TWO COMPLEX
TISSUES

The dermal tissue system- epidermis and

periderm- provides a protective covering
over plant parts.

In herbaceous plants, the dermal tissue

system is a layer of cells called
epidermis.
Woody plants initially produce an epidermis,
but it splits apart as the plant increase in girth
as a result of the production of additional
woody tissues underneath the epidermis.

Periderm, which replaces the epidermis in

the stems and roots of older woody plants,
composes the outer bark.
 Epidermis is the outermost
layer of an herbaceous plant
The epidermis is a complex tissue
composed primarily relatively
unspecialized living cells.

The outermost tissue layer, usually one

cell thick, that covers the primary plant
body-that is, leaves and young stems and
roots.
Dispersed among these cells are more specialized
guard cells and outgrowths called trichomes.

In most plant, the epidermis consists of a single

layer of cells.

Epidermal cell walls are somewhat thicker toward

the outside of the plant to provide protection.
An important requirement of aerial shoots
(stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits) is the ability
to prevent water loss.

Epidermal cells of stems and leaves secrete a

waxy layer called cuticle over the surfaces of
their walls; this wax greatly restricts the loss of
water from plant surfaces.
Stomata facilitate the diffusion of carbon
dioxide.

Stomata are tiny pores in the epidermis

between two cells are called guard cells.

Many gases, including carbon dioxide, oxygen,

and water vapor, pass through stomata by
diffusion.
 Periderm replaces
epidermis in woody plants
As a woody plant begins to increase in girth, its
epidermis sloughs off and is replaced by periderm.

Periderm forms the protective outer bark of older

stems and roots.

Periderm is the outermost layer of cells covering a

woody stem or root-that is, the outer bark that
replaces epidermis when it is destroyed during
secondary growth.
It is a complex issue composed mainly of
cork cells and cork parenchyma cells.

Cork cells are dead at maturity, and their

walls are heavily coated with a waterproof
substances called suberin, which helps
reduce water loss.
Cork parenchyma cells (also called
phelloderm) function primarily in
storage.