PLANT TISSUES AND ORGANS

Plant Cell Types (Support and Storage)

Parenchyma cells are the most numerous type of cell in young plants. Parenchyma cells usually have thin walls and large central vacuoles. The photosynthetic cells in leaves are parenchyma cells filled with chloroplasts. These cells are called mesophyll cells. Some parenchyma cells store lipids or starch (potatoes). Other parenchyma cells serve as packing material and play a vital role in supporting the stem especially in nonwoody stems.

Collenchyma cells are supporting cells that lay down primary cell walls that are thick in the corners. Collenchyma cells provide support to leaf petioles, nonwoody stems, and growing organs. These cell types compose the cortex and pith tissues of the root and stems.

Sclerenchyma cells are the main supporting cells of a plant. They have a thick secondary cell wall that contains a substance called lignin, a component of wood. Therefore they are found in woody plants.

There are two types of sclerenchyma cells: elongated fibers and variously shaped sclereids. Fibers often organize into bundles. (They are common components of xylem.) Sclereids may pack together very densely. (Sclereids are found in fruits such as pears and this give them their gritty texture.) They are often referred to as stone cells.

Plant Cell Types Vascular (Transport)

Xylem The xylem conducts water from roots to above ground plant parts. It contains conducting cells called tracheary elements.

Tracheids are evolutionarily more ancient tracheary elements found in gymnosperms. Both tracheary elements and tracheids undergo apoptosis(die) and do their jobs as empty cells (only the cell walls remain).

Tracheids and vessel elements: Water conducting cells

Vessel elements are the water pipeline system in flowering plants, also formed from dead cells. Flowering plants have both tracheids and vessel elements.
Vessel elements are generally larger in diameter than tracheids and are laid down endto-end to form hollow tubes.

Sieve-tube members: Food onducting Cells

Phloem

Cells of the phloem are alive when they do their job, unlike those of the xylem.

The characteristic cell of the phloem is the sieve tube member.

Cells of the phloem are arranged end-to-end and form long sieve tubes, which transport carbohydrates and other materials.

The plasmodesmata in sieve tube members enlarge as they mature, resulting in end walls that look like sieves. At functional maturity, a sieve tube is filled with sieve tube sap (water, sugars, and other solutes). The sieve tube members have adjacent companion cells. Companion cells retain all their organelles and may regulate the performance of and support the sieve tube members.

Plant Tissues

A tissue is an organization of cells that work together as a functional unit. Parenchyma cells make up parenchyma tissue, which is a simple tissue. Xylem and phloem are complex tissues; they are composed of a number of different cell types. Tissues are grouped into tissue systems that extend throughout the body of the plant to form the various organs of the plant. There are three plant tissue systems: vascular, dermal, and ground.

Plant Tissues

THREE TISSUE SYSTEMS IN PLANT

Vascular Tissue

The vascular tissue system includes the xylem and phloem; it is the conductive or plumbing system of the plant.
The phloem transports carbohydrates from sites of production (sources such as leaves) to sites of utilization for energy or where it is being stored (sinks) elsewhere in the plant.

Vascular Tissue

The xylem distributes water and mineral ions taken up by the roots to the stem and leaves.

Dermal Tissue

The dermal tissue system is the outer covering of the plant. All parts of the young plant body are covered by an epidermis, which is a single layer or multiple layers of cells. The epidermis contains epidermal cells and other specialized cells such as guard cells. The shoot epidermis secretes a layer of waxcovered cutin, the cuticle, which helps retard water loss from stems and leaves.

Ground Tissue

The ground tissue system makes up the rest of a plant and consists primarily of parenchyma tissue. Ground tissue functions primarily in storage, support, photosynthesis, and the production of defensive and attractant substances (oils and toxins).

Meristems generate cells for new organs(Plant Stem Cells)

In plants the growth of roots and stems is indeterminate and is generated from specific regions of active cell division. The localized regions of cell division in plants, called meristems, are forever embryonic. They have the ability to produce new cells indefinitely. The cells of meristematic tissues are analogous to the stems cells found in animals.

When a meristem cell divides, one daughter cell develops into another meristem cell, and the other differentiates into a more specialized cell. The meristem gives rise to all plant cell and tissue types.

There are two types of meristems:

Apical meristems give rise to the primary plant body, which is the entire body of many plants. Lateral meristems give rise to the secondary plant

body. The stems and roots of some plants form wood and become thick; it is the lateral meristems that give rise to the tissues responsible for this thickening. Apical meristems are located at the tips of roots and stems and in buds.
Shoot apical meristems supply the cells that extend stems and branches.

Root apical meristems supply the cells that extend roots. Apical meristems are responsible for primary growth, which leads to elongation and organ formation.

Location of Meristematic Tissues

Primary Growth of Root

Root Cap Thimble-like covering which protects the delicate apical meristem Produced from cells derived from the root apical meristem Secretes polysaccharide slime that lubricates the soil Constantly sloughed off and replaced

 Apical Meristem Region of rapid cell division of undifferentiated cells Most cell division is directed away from the root cap Quiescent Center Populations of cells in apical meristem which reproduce much more slowly than other meristematic cells Resistant to radiation and chemical damage Possibly a reserve which can be called into action if the apical meristem becomes damaged

 The Zone of Cell Division - Primary Meristems Three areas just above the apical meristem that continue to divide for some time Protoderm - outermost primary meristem produces cells which will become dermal tissue Ground meristem central primary meristem produces cells which will become ground tissue Procambium - innermost primary meristem produces cells which will become vascular tissue

 The Zone of Elongation Cells elongate up to ten times their original length This growth pushes the root further downward into the soil The Zone of Maturation Region of the root where completely functional cells are found

The leaf
vein lamina

midrib

stalk

The Leaf Cross-section

Midrib - extension of the stalk into the leaf Vein Branch-off from the midrib Lamina - the blade of the leaf Stalk - attaches the leaf to the stem
midrib lamina

vein

Waxy Cuticle & Epidermis

The waxy cuticle is a thin layer atop the epidermis. Its function is to reduce the water lost from the leaf. In arid conditions this cuticle layer can be quite thick. Epidermis cells contain no chloroplasts not true of the stoma cells. They form layers on the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf. Their function is to prevent water getting out and stopping unwanted substances/organisms getting in.

cuticle

epidermis

Palisade Mesophyll Layer

The palisade mesophyll layer is where most of the photosynthesis occurs in the leaf. The palisade cells contain a lot of chloroplasts to help them perform this photosynthesis. The palisade cells are closely packed together to maximize light absorption. In the leaf cross-section we can see the palisade cells are only found in the upper part of the leaf.

Spongy Mesophyll Layer

The cells in the spongy mesophyll layer are not as closely packed as the cells in the palisade mesophyll
layer

This creates air spaces inside the leaf to enable gases to move in and out. There are not as many chloroplasts in the spongy mesophyll cells as there are in the palisade mesophyll cells but photosynthesis still occurs in the spongy mesophyll layer.

Stomata

There are holes found in leaves called stoma These holes allows gases to diffuse in and out of the leaves The stoma are formed by two highly specialized epidermis cells. These cells, called guard cells, are the only epidermis cells that contain chloroplasts. The stoma open and close depending upon the requirements of the plant. It is through these stoma that water leaves the leaf, the process that powers transpiration.

 During photosynthesis carbon dioxide diffuses in and oxygen diffuses out When the stomata are closed,often at night or in a humid environment, this stops gases diffusing in and out of the leaf

Open stomata

Close stomata

FLOWERS A flower is were the reproductive parts of the plant is held. Many parts are inside of a flower. The major parts are: -Stamen -Pistil -Ovary -Pollen/Sperm -Stigma -Filament -Eggs -Anther

Flowers
Flower Parts
Pistil Female part of plant Containing: Stigma Style Ovary

 The pistil is the term for all the female parts of a flower. Each pistil includes an ovary (where the eggs are produced; the female reproductive cells, a style (a tube on top of the ovary), and a stigma (which the pollen sticks to during fertilization).

Stamen Male reproductive part Contains Anther Filament The male parts of the flower help fertilize the egg of the flower. These parts are usually in a place that can be easily moved by insects and animals.

 Sepals Small green structures on the base of a flower that protect the flower bud Petals Highly colored part of the flower, may contain perfume and/or nectar glands

Parts of the Seed

Embryo
Growing part of seed containing:
Plumule Shoot Hypocotyl Stem Radicle Root

Endosperm
Tissue that provides nutrition for the developing seed

Cotyledon
Food Storage

Seed Coat
Protective outer covering of the seed

Parts of the Seed

 Testa -outer covering of the seed; protects the embryo Hilum - the scar on the seedcoat; place where the seed was attached to the ovary Endosperm-the food supply of the baby plant.