Plants
Mader-Chapters 24-28
Evolutionary History of Plants
Evolutionary Milestones• Embryo protection…This is what
separates plants from Green Algae and allowed them to become terrestrial (490 mya)
• Vascular tissue… Allowed plants to move away from water and grow taller (430 mya)
• Seeds…Allowed for embryo dispersal and protection (420 mya)
• Flowers and Fruit…Greatly increased the plants ability to sexually reproduce by attracting pollinators (200 mya)
Classification of Plants
Alternation of Generations• All plants have a life cycle with an alternation of generations• Two multicellular individuals alternate producing each other • Sporophyte (2n) produces gametophyte (n) which then
produces sporophyte…
Nonvascular Plants (bryophytes)
• Hornworts, liverworts, and mosses (Do not try to remember the differences)
• Do not have differentiated organs as seen in the plants with a dominant sporophytic life cycle stage… Instead have “rootlike, stemlike, and leaflike” tissue
• Lack vascular tissue (phloem and xylem)• The sperm must swim “nakedly” in a film of water
for fertilization to occur• Limited in height by previous two bullet points
Nonvascular plant life cycle
Seedless Vascular Plants
• Club Mosses, Ferns, and Horsetails• Were much larger in ancient times• Most are homosporous as opposed to the
heterosporous seeded plants that produce both male and female gametophytes
Fern Life Cycle
Seed Plants
• Gymnosperms (Naked Seeds) and Angiosperms (Seeds covered in Fruit that came from Flowers)
• Most plentiful plants in the world today• Seed-Sporophyte embryo plus stored food
(endosperm) inside of a seed coat• Seeds may lay dormant for years• All seed plants are heterosporous…. Pollen is the
male gametophyte which moves toward the female gametophyte in the ovule
Gymnosperms
• Conifers, cycads, ginkgoes, and gnetophytes
Conifer Life Cycle
Angiosperms
• Flowering and fruiting plants whose ovules are always enclosed in diploid tissue
•Classified as either Monocotyledons (monocots) or Eudicotyledons (dicots) based on either having one seed leaf or two
The Flower
Angiosperm Life Cycle
Plant Vegetative OrgansRoots
• Anchor plants in soil
• Absorb nutrients and water from soil
• Contains vascular tissue for transport of water and nutrients
• May store products of photosynthesis as vegetables in perennials as in carrots and sweet potatoes
Stems• Support leaves in
optimum position for photosynthesis
• Contains vascular tissue for transport of water and nutrients
Leaves• Where
photosynthesis occurs
• May be specialized such as cactus spines or tendrils for climbing
Monocot vs. Eudicot (dicot)
Plant Tissue
• Plants grow their entire life because of meristematic tissue
• The apical meristem continuously produces three types of meristem:
1.Protoderm forms epidermal tissue2.Ground meristem produces ground tissue3.Procambium produces vascular tissue
Plant Tissue: Epidermis
• Covers plant and creates cuticle… waxy covering that prevents water loss
Plant Tissue: Ground Tissue
• Forms the bulk of the plant… least specialized
Plant Tissue: Vascular Tissue
• Xylem and Phloem• Xylem, made from hollow dead tissue,
transports water • Phloem, made from a sieve tube (no nucleus
but does have cytoplasm and a companion cell that actively pumps sugars into sieve tube) transports sugars and other organic compounds… with the aid of water
Plant Tissue: Vascular Tissue
Organization of Roots
Root Tip
Zone of Cell Division
Zone of Elongation
Zone of Maturation
What is this, what does it do, and how does it work?
Monocot or Dicot? … and how do you know?
Which one of these is the dicot?
?
Organization of Stems
How do we know that this is either a conifer or a woody eudicot and not a herbaceous stem?
Organization of Stems
Organization of Stems
Leaves
How do you know that this leaf is from a C3 plant?
No chloroplasts in the bundle sheath cells and the mesophyll cells are not arranged concentrically around the vein.
Who can recall C3 from C4 photosynthesis?In hot dry climates, the stomata close and limit the intake of CO2 . O2 builds up which combines with RuBP Carboxylase which limits 3PG production which limits G3P production which limits glucose production.
In C4, PEP combines with CO2 to form OOA which is pumped into the bundle sheath cells.
Plant Nutrition and Soil• There are essential
nutrients that a plant needs or it will die and there are beneficial nutrients that will help it grow
• Essential nutrients are divided into Macro and Micro depending on their concentrations in plant tissue
Soil• All terrestrial life is based on soil!• Created through mechanical, chemical, and organic
erosion• Consists of mineral particles (sand, silt, and clay), decaying
organic material (humus), living organisms, air, and water• Soil profile with horizons can be analyzed • Takes a very long time to create (1cm/15yrs)• Soil erosion is happening at a very fast rate due to poor
agricultural practices and this is a serious threat to life on earth
Water Uptake•Water travels between cells, through the porous cell walls, until it get to the Casparian strip or it can enter the cell at the root hair and travel intracellularly •Water will enter root cells as long as they have lower osmotic pressure than surrounding soil or a lower water potential which is a combination of pressure potential and solute potential
The effects of Mycorrhizae
Mineral Uptake• Plants absorb minerals in their
ionic (charged) form and therefore these ions must pass through ion channels
• Plants expend energy to transport ions into the roots
• H+ is pumped out creating an electrochemical gradient which causes positive ions such as K+ to diffuse in
• H+ diffuses back down its concentration gradient along with negative ions
Transport Mechanisms•Xylem, consisting of tracheids and vessel elements move water and minerals from the roots to the leaves•Phloem, consisting of sieve-tube members and companion cells move sugars and organic nutrients, along with water, from the leaves to other tissue in the plant•Water potential and chemical properties of water such as cohesion allow these to occur
Water Transport by Cohesion-Tension Model
• Water is cohesive due to hydrogen bonds
• When stomata open, mesophyll cells are exposed to air and evaporation occurs
• There is a continuous column of water from roots to leaves through the xylem
• As each water molecule evaporates, it exerts a force, pulling up the water column
• Root pressure also contributes
Opening and Closing of Stomata
Water
Transport of sugars and other organic nutrients by the Pressure-Flow model
• Sugars and other organic nutrients are synthesized on the leaves
• Sieve-tube members connect leaves (source) to roots, developing leaves, and flowers (sink)
• Companion cells actively pump nutrients into sieve-tube members and water follows
• The water pressure creates a flow of nutrients form source to sink
Plant Responses
• Plant growth toward unidirectional stimulus is called tropism…. Toward stimulus is called positive tropism and away is negative tropism
• Examples… Phototropism (light), Gravitropims (gravity), Thigmotropism (touch)
Describe the following tropisms
How are they similar and how are they different?
Hint… I am a root!
Plant Responses
• Nastic Movements do not involve growth and occur even more rapidly than tropisms… almost as if there were a nerve impulse coordinating the movement
Nastic movement can be linked to touch, temperature, day cycles, or light cycles
Plant Hormones
• Almost all communication in plants in done by hormones
• Synthesized in one part of the plant and travel though phloem or intracellularly to target tissue
• Do not require large concentrations to be effective
Common Plant Hormones
1.Auxins-Promote many aspects of growth2.Gibberellins-Promotes many aspects of
growth such as stem elongation, break of dormancy in buds, and flower growth
3.Cytokinins- Promote cell division4.Abscisic Acid (ABA)- Prepares plant for
stressful period5.Ethylene-Prepares plant for abscission or the
dropping of leaves, flowers or fruit
Auxins-Promotes growth by weakening cell walls, creating cell membrane,
and turning on growth factors
Apical Dominance
Signal-Transduction-Response
Gibberellins-promotes amylase production which breaks down starch into sugar
for growth
What do we call this type of system where a hormone binds to an integral protein causing a cascading effect
Signal-Transduction-Response
• Cytokinins promote differentiation of tissue with the help of other hormones such as auxins
• Inhibit senescence, or the aging process in plants
Cytokinins-promotes cell division
• Maintains seed and bud dormancy so that energy will not be wasted on growth in unfavorable conditions, such as winter time
• Close stomata under water stress
Abscisic Acid (ABA)-Prepares plant for stress
• Ethylene is a gas that promotes the ripening of fruit by breaking down the cell wall
• Inhibits growth in roots, leaves, and stems• Promotes leaf abscission, or the dropping of
leaves
Ethylene-Promotes abscission
Photoperiodism• A physiological response prompted by a change in length of day
or night• Short day plants should really be called long night plants and
long day plants should really be called short night plants
Flowering Plants1. Long-Day- Plants flower in
spring or early summer when D.L. is increasing
2. Short-Day-Plants flower in late summer and early fall when D.L. is decreasing
3. Day-neutral
Flowering Plants• The life cycle of flowering plants
is adapted to a land existence• The microscopic gametophyte
develops within the sporophyte and are thereby protected from desiccation (drying out)
• Microspore (male),created through meiosis of microsporocyte, undergoes mitosis to become pollen
• Megaspore (female), created through meiosis of megasporocyte, undergoes mitosis to become an embryo sac within an ovule found in the ovary
Flowers*Not all flowers are “complete” or “Perfect” meaning hermaphroditic
Corn is monecious because it has both male and female flowers on the same plant
Life Cycle of Flowering PlantsInteresting Points to Remember
Seed Development
Fruits• Simple fruit-derived from a
simple ovary of a single carpel or from a compound ovary of several fused carpels
• Compound fruit is derived from several individual ovaries
…. Also, some fruit is fleshy (pear, orange, berry) and others are dry (Peas, beans, rice, oats)
I am fleshy!
Seed GerminationGermination
•During dormancy metabolism is slowed way down•Cells are dry and water is needed for germination•Fleshy fruit seeds need to be washed before they will germinate•For some seeds, bacterial action, mechanical abrasion, or even fire may be needed
Asexual Reproduction
• Plant cells are totipotent, meaning that each cell has the full genetic potential to makes a whole new organism
• This is done regularly in labs with the proper administration of various plant hormones such as Auxins and Cytokinins
• In nature, plants reproduce by vegetative propagation • Vegetative propagation occurs from growth of
meristematic tissue at nodes of stems or roots