1.

8 The Transport of Organic

Substances and Water in Plants
Faiqah,Fatihah,Athira,
Fatin,Lydia
THE TRANSPORT OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES IN PLANTS (Translocation)
- Phloem contains a very concentrated solution ( phloem sap ) of
dissolved organic solutes such as sugars ( sucrose ), amino acids
and metabolites
- Translocation is the transport of dissolved organic solutes in
phloem
- The importance of translocation are for the survival of plant, to
enable sucrose, product of photosynthesis to be
stored/converted into other sugars when it reaches its
destination
- Organic substances in phloem can be transported both upwards
and downwards
THE TRANSPORT OF WATER IN PLANTS (Transpiration)
- Transpiration is the loss of water vapour through evaporation
from the surface of plants
- The loss of water is replaced by the absorption of water from
soil by plant roots
- Only 1% of water is used for photosynthesis and to remain
turgid
- Other 99% of water is evaporated from leaves and is lost to the
atmosphere through the process of transpiration
- Transpiration takes place through the stomata of leaves and
lenticles of woody stems
- Transpiration stream is the continuous stream of flowing water
from roots to leaves
 THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPIRATION
1) Helps in the absorption and transport of water and mineral ions
from roots to different parts of the plant
2) To produce cooling effect in plants
3) Helps to supply water to all plant cells for metabolic processes
4) Helps to prevent plants from wilting by maintaining cell turgidity
EXTERNAL CONDITIONS THAT AFFECTS THE
RATE OF TRANSPIRATION
1. LIGHT INTENSITY
- An increase in light intensity
increases the rate of
transpiration
- Light stimulates the opening of
stomata
- The stomata will open wider
- Hence, more water vapour
evaporates through the stomata
 TEMPERATURE
- An increase in temperature
increases the rate of transpiration
- An increase of in temperature
increases the rate of evaporation
of water from the surface of
mesophyll cells
- The rate of diffusion of water
through the stomata also increases
 HUMIDITY
- High humidity surrounding the
leaves reduces the evaporation
of water from the stomata
- This causes the process of
transpiration to slow
- Conversely, a rise in
temperature lowers the relative
humidity of the surrounding air
and this increases the rate of
transpiration
 AIR MOVEMENT
- As the water vapour that diffuses
through the stomata accumulates
near the leaf surface, a faster air
movement helps to remove the water
vapour
- Air movement increases the
concentration gradient between the
water vapour in the leaf and outside
the leaf
- This increases the transpiration rate
- When the air is still, the transpiration
rate decreases of stops altogether
THE MOVEMENT OF WATER FROM SOIL TO LEAVES
- The movement of water from the roots to the leaves is assisted by,
- 1) root pressure
- 2) capillary action
- 3) transpiration pull
- Water is absorbed through the roots by osmosis
- The gradient of water concentration which exists across the cortex
creates a pushing force that results in the inflow of water into the
xylem
- At the same time, ions from the soil are actively secreted into the
xylem and this causes the osmotic pressure to increase
- As a result, water flows continuously into the xylem. This generates a
pressure known as root pressure
- Root pressure results in an upward push of water and mineral
ions into the xylem of the stem
- Root pressure causes an upward movement of water in plants but
it is insufficient to overcome the force of gravity to push the water
upwards to the maximum heights of many trees
- Hence, the upward movement of water through the xylem vessels
in the stem is helped by adhesive and cohesive properties of the
water molecules
THE MOVEMENT OF WATER THROUGH THE ROOTS
- The cytoplasm of root hair cells is usually hypertonic to
the surrounding soil water
- This means that the root cells have a higher
concentration of solutes than the water in the
surrounding soil
- Hence, water diffuses into the root hair cells via osmosis
- The root hair cell is now hypotonic to the adjacent cells
- Water then diffuses into the adjacent cells by osmosis
- In this way, water moves inwards from cell to cell in the
cortex until it reaches the xylem vessels in the root
THE MOVEMENT OF WATER IN CORTEX AND ENDODERMIS
- Water flows through cytoplasm, vacuoles and cell walls of the
parenchyma cells in the cortex until it reaches the endodermis
- Once it reaches the endodermis cells, the water moves through
the cytoplasm and vacuoles instead of the cell walls
- This is because the endodermal cells have special features called
Casparian strips which lines the sides of the endodermal cells
- Casparian strips are impermeable to water ( block the movement
of water through cell wall )
- Instead, water moves from cytoplasm vacuole in the endodermal
cells to the xylem cells
GUTTATION
- At night, the roots of some small plants continue to
actively transport ions and water into xylem
- This causes the root pressure to increase
- Transpiration rate is low during the night
- Root pressure can push water all the way up the
stem and out of special pores called hydathodes at
the edge of the leaves
- This natural process is called guttation
- Guttation also occurs on cool humid mornings
when the air is too saturated for the water droplets
to evaporate from the leaves
THE MOVEMENT OF WATER THROUGH STEM
- The continuous upward movement of water through the xylem
vessels in the stems can be attributed to capillarity
- Capillarity / capillary action is the results of the cohesive and
adhesive forces which enables water to enter and move along the
very narrow columns
- > water molecules adhere to one another by cohesive forces
- > water molecules adhere to the walls of xylem vessels by
adhesive forces
- > the cohesion and adhesion of water molecules are due to
hydrogen bonding
- Xylem vessels,
- 1) long, narrow and hollow tubes
- 2) joined end to end to form continuous
column of water from the roots to the
leaves through the stems
- The narrow xylem vessel increases the
force generated by capillarity. Capillary
action holds the water column together
in the capillary-sized xylem vessel
- Although root pressure and capillary
action are not enough to carry water to
the top of a tall tree, both effects are
important to the water movement in
plants
THE MOVEMENT OF WATER FROM LEAVES TO THE ATMOSPHERE
- The water on the external surfaces of the mesophyll cells
evaporates, saturating the air spaces in the mesophyll with water
vapour
- The air in the atmosphere is less saturated
- So, the concentration of water vapour in the atmosphere is lower
than the concentration of water vapour in the air spaces of the
leaf
- Hence, the water vapour in the air spaces evaporates and
diffuses through the stomata
- The movement of air carries the water vapour away from the
stomata
- The loss of water in mesophyll cells makes the cell hypertonic to
an adjacent cell
- Water from adjacent cell diffuses into the mesophyll cell by
osmosis
- Eventually, water is drawn from the xylem vessels in the veins
- A tension and pulling force is created to pull water up the xylem
vessels as a result of the evaporation of water vapour from the
mesophyll cells
- This transpiration in the leaves forces the movement of water
from soil up the stem
- The pulling or suction force is known as a transpirational pull
THE REGULATION OF TRANSPIRATION BY STOMATA
- The regulation of transpiration in the plant is helped by the opening and
closing of stomata
- Stomata are found abundantly on the lower epidermis of dicotyledonous
leaf and on both upper and lower surfaces of monocotyledonous leaf
- Each stoma is surrounded by two guard cells which regulate gaseous
exchange by the opening and closing of stoma
- If the stomata are open, carbon dioxide can enter for photosynthesis and
water can be lost by transpiration
- If the stomata are close, it reduces water loss ( stops transpiration ) and
prevents carbon dioxide from entering the leaf
- In general, stomata opens during the day and closes at night
THE MECHANISM OF THE OPENING OF A STOMA
- During the day, light stimulates photosynthesis in the guard cells
- They start synthesizing glucose and generate energy for active
transport
- The guard cells accumulate potassium ion ( K+ ) from adjacent
cells through active transport
- The guard cells become hypertonic and water from the adjacent
cells enter the guard cells by osmosis
- As a result, the guard cells swell up and become turgid
- Since the inner cell walls of the guard cells are thicker than the
outer cell walls, the guard cell bends outward and the stoma
opens.
- This is because the thinner outer wall stretches more than the
thicker inner wall
 THE MECHANISM OF THE CLOSING OF A STOMA
- At night, when photosynthesis does not
take place, potassium ion ( K+ ) exits
the guard cells and water also leaves
the guard cells by osmosis
- The guard cells become flaccid and
the stoma closes
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