Transport in Plants

 Translocation

o It is a biological process that involves the transport of dissolved material within a plant.

o It mainly occurs with the help of xylem and phloem.

o The transport of food from leaves to other parts of plant occurs by phloem. Movement of
food in phloem is bidirectional.

o The conduction of water and minerals from soil to the rest of the plant occurs by xylem.

Movement of water in xylem is unidirectional.

 Need of Water and Minerals for Plants

o Need of Water

 For photosynthesis
 For transpiration
 For transportation
 For mechanical stiffness

o Need of Minerals

 Needed as nutrients for the plants

 For the synthesis of a variety of compounds and enzymes

 Means of Transport

 Diffusion

o It is the spontaneous movement of molecules from a region of high concentration to a

region of low concentration.
o It is a slow process and does not require any energy expenditure.
o It does not require a semi-permeable membrane and can take place through any
membrane along concentration gradient.
o Rate of diffusion is affected by

 a. concentration gradient
 b. membrane permeability
 c. temperature
 d. pressure
 Facilitated diffusion

o It involves the movement of molecule from the region of higher concentration to lower
concentration, mediated by a carrier (mainly protein) molecule.

o Movement of molecules across membrane occurs without expenditure of energy.

o Porins – They are large protein molecules that form pores in membranes of plastids,
mitochondria, and some bacteria

o Porins allow the movement of small-sized proteins across membrane. Aquaporins are
proteins, which form a water-permeable channel.

o Some protein molecules allow diffusion only if two molecules are present. Based upon the
direction which is followed by both molecules, the path can be of three types.

o Symport – when both molecules cross the membrane in same direction

o Antiport – when both the molecules move in the opposite directions

o Uniport – when single molecule moves across a membrane independent of other molecule

 Active transport

o It involves the transport of molecules from a region of low concentration to a region of high
concentration with an expenditure of energy.

o It is carried out by membrane proteins.

 Plant – water relation

 Water potential (ψw):

o Water potential is the potential energy of water relative to pure free water (e.g. deionized
water) in reference conditions. It quantifies the tendency of water to move from one area to
another due to osmosis, gravity, mechanical pressure, etc.

o Water potential of pure water at standard temperature and under no pressure is taken as
0.

o Water potential is determined by solute potential (ψs) and pressure potential (ψp).
ψ w = ψs + ψ p

o Solute potential: Solute potential is a measure of the change in water potential of a system
due to the presence of solute molecules. More the solute molecules, lower (and more
negative) will be the solute potential.
o Solute potential is always negative.

o Pressure potential: When water potential of pure water increases on application of

pressure more than the atmospheric pressure, it is termed as pressure potential.

o Pressure potential plays a major role in ascent of water through stem.

 Osmosis

o Osmosis is a special type of diffusion which involves the movement of water molecules
from the region of high concentration to the region of low concentration through a semi-
permeable membrane.

o Semi-permeable membrane = Selectively permeable membrane.

o Types of Osmosis:

 Endosmois
 Exosmosis

o Rate of osmosis is affected by

(i) pressure gradient

(ii) concentration gradient

o Osmotic pressure is the hydrostatic pressure produced by a difference in concentration

between solutions on the two sides of a semi-permeable membrane.

o Tonicity : Relative concentration of solution and its surroundings.

o Isotonic solution: Solution that has the same salt concentration as the normal cells

o Hypotonic solution: Solution that has lower salt concentration than the normal cells

o Hypertonic solution: Solution that has higher salt concentration than the normal cells

o Important terms : Flaccidity, Turgidity, Plasmolysis, Deplasmolysis,Wall Pressure.

 Plasmolysis

o It is the contraction of cells within plants due to the loss of water through osmosis.

o When cells are placed in hypertonic solution, a cell tends to lose water to the surrounding
solution due to exosmosis. The plasma membrane shrinks and the cell is said to be
plasmolysed.
 o When cells are placed in hypotonic solution, cells get deplasmolysed (turgid) due to
movement of water into the cell from surrounding as a result of endosmosis.

 Deplasmolysis

o The opposite of plasmolysis.

o If not dead, the protoplasm absorbs water
o The cell swells up

 Difference between Diffusion and Osmosis

Diffusion Osmosis
1 Movement of substances from higher Movement of selective substances through
concentration to lower concentration. a semi-permeable membrane.
2 It occurs in any medium It occurs in liquid medium.
3 It helps in equalising the concentration in It does not equalise the concentration of
the available space. solvent on either sides.
4 It does not depend on solute potential It depends on the solute potential.

 Imbibition: It is a special type of diffusion which involves water absorption through

colloids causing tremendous increase in volume. For example: absorption of water by seeds
and dry wood

 Long distance water transport

o Mass or bulk flow system: It involves movement of substance as a result of pressure

difference.

 Absorption of water

o Two pathways:

i. Apoplast pathway –

o It involves movement of water through adjacent cell walls of the epidermis and cortex.
o Movement is restricted at casparian strips of endodermis.

Symplast pathway –

o It involves movement of water through interconnected protoplast of epidermis, cortex,

endodermis, and root pericycle.
o The intercellular movement is through plasmodesmata.
o Mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association of fungi with root systems of some plants. Fungi help
in absorption of water and minerals from soil by forming fungal hyphae.

 Water movement

 Root pressure

o It is the positive pressure that develops in the roots of plants by active absorption of
nutrients from soil.
o It pushes the water up to small heights.
o Root pressure is linked to the phenomenon of guttation.
o Guttation: It involves the loss of water in the form of liquid droplets through the vein
endings of the leaves.
o Guttation occurs early in the morning and late in the evening when evaporation is low and
root pressure is high.

 Transpiration Pull

o Water transport in tall trees occurs by transpiration pull.

o Transpiration pull is generated by transpiration. It is also called cohesion - tension -
transpiration pull model of water transport.
o The ascent of xylem sap is dependent on three physical properties of water:

 Cohesion
 Surface tension
 Adhesion

Transpiration

 It is the loss of water in the form of water vapour through stomata.

Types of Transpiration

 Stomatal transpiration- Occurs through stomata

 Cuticular transpiration- Occurs through surface of stem and leaves
 Lenticular transpiration- Occurs through lenticels

Differences between Evaporation and Transpiration

Evaporation Transpiration
Loss of water from the surface in the Loss of water from aerial parts of plants in
form of water vapours the form of water vapours
Fast process Slow process
 A partially physical and vital process
A physical change controlled by
controlled by various internal and external
temperature and pressure
factors

 The uptake of mineral ions into the cytoplasm of endodermis cells occur by active
absorption.

 The suberin layer found in root endodermal cells allows the transport of ions in one
direction only.