3/10/2008

Plant Nutrition and Transport

assigned readings:
32.1-32.6, (32.7), 32.8, (32.9-11), 32.12-32.15

Plants Acquire Nutrients

from Soil & Air

CO2 • roots absorb water,

minerals, and some O2 from
the soil

• leaves absorb CO2 from the

air

• photosynthesis uses
O2 CARBON, OXYGEN, and
Minerals HYDROGEN to construct
sugars and other organic
materials the plant needs
H2O fig. 32.1

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Uptake of Water & Solutes in Roots

• the surface area of roots is large
enough to provide the water,
minerals / inorganic ions, &
dissolved O2 for a plant’s growth &
survival

• recall that root hairs greatly expand

surface area for absorption, but...
• may be bypassed in the wild (see
32.12, mycorrhizae)
fig. 32.2A
• water & minerals must pass through the membrane
of at least 1 cell before entering vascular tissue, thus
plants control the entry of substances into their
roots

3 Routes for Soil Water & Mineral

Uptake in Roots
• intracellular (symplastic) pathway
• water first crosses cell wall and plasmalemma of an
epidermal cell (usually at a root hair), then moves via
plasmodesmata from cell-to-cell (from epidermal cells, to
cells of the cortex, then to endodermal cells, and finally to
xylem of a vascular bundle
• extracellular (apoplastic; intercellular) pathway
• water moves between epidermal cells and cells of the
cortex... water moves in & between those cell walls; this
extracellular path is eventually blocked by the waxy
Casparian strip of endodermal cells; note that in this
pathway the first cells that water molecules enter are
endodermal cells, followed by passage into xylem of a
vascular bundle
• a combination of these 2 pathways (typical)

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Animation: Transport in Roots

Root hair Epidermis Cortex Phloem
Key
Dermal tissue system
Ground tissue system
Vascular tissue system

Caesarian
Xylem strip

Endodermis

extracellular (apoplastic) route, Casparian strip Xylem

via cell walls; stopped by

Casparian strip
Root hair

plasmodesmata

intracellular (symplastic) route,Epidermis Endodermis

via cell interiors,
Cortex
through plasmodesmata fig. 32.2B

Ascent of Xylem Sap (1)

• root pressure...
• in some plants inorganic ions are actively
transported into xylem
• water follows by osmosis
• responsible for guttation...
• this push from below is sufficient for plants a
few metres in height, but...

• the major mechanism for the one-way bulk flow of

water & minerals in xylem from roots to shoots is a
solar-powered PULLING force...
• the transpiration-cohesion-adhesion-tension
mechanism...

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Ascent of Xylem Sap (2)... Guttation

Ascent of Xylem Sap (3):

Animation: TCAT Mechanism*
Xylem sap

Mesophyll cells
Air space within leaf
Stoma

Outside air

Adhesion
Transpiration Cell
wall

Water
molecule

Xylem
Cohesion and cells Cohesion,
adhesion in the xylem by hydrogen
bonding

Root hair

Soil particle

Water

Water uptake from soil

fig. 32.3
*TCAT is a non-standard abbreviation for the transpiration-cohesion-adhesion-tension mechanism

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Ascent of Xylem Sap in Xylem (4)

• transpiration-cohesion-adhesion-tension mechanism...

• transpiration...
• evaporative loss of water from a plant

• tension (negative pressure) is created by

transpirational loss of water
• pulls column of water up xylem

• cohesion of water molecules to each other &

adhesion of water molecules to interior hydrophilic
(cellulose) walls of xylem...
• cohesion & adhesion allow transpirational pull
to be effective along the entire length of xylem
• help counteract pull of gravity

Other Aspects of Gas Exchange (1)

• what gases are involved & why those gases?

• where does gas exchange take place?

• what about big thick stems / tree trunks?

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Other Aspects of Gas Exchange (2)

• why don’t plants have lungs & complex gas transport
systems like animals?

• how is most gas exchange regulated in plants?

• why can’t stomata remain open all the time?

Lenticels
elder
birch

cherry

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The Opening & Closing of Stomata

turgid flaccid
Stoma Guard cells

K+

Vacuole

Stoma opening Stoma closing

fig. 32.4
• when stomata need to be opened...
• K+ are actively pumped into central vacuoles,
• H2O follows by osmosis,
• guard cells buckle when turgid, &
• the stoma opens

Transport of Sugars & Other Nutrients

in Phloem (1)
• occurs by a pressure-flow mechanism from source to
sink...
• active transport of sugars from SOURCE to sieve-
tube members
• water follows (by osmosis) the high concentration
of nutrients in the sieve-tube members
• sugars actively taken up at SINK
• the pressure gradient causes bulk flow
• H2O follows by osmosis & returns in xylem

• recall that the movement of phloem sap is not

unidirectional

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Phloem Xylem
Animation:
Transport of Sugars
High sugar
concentration
High water pressure Sugar
Sugar
source Water
& Other Nutrients
in Phloem (2)
Source
cell
Sieve plate

animations:
phloem transport
(summer)
Sugar Sink
sink cell

phloem transport
Sugar (spring)
Water
Low sugar
concentration
Low water pressure

fig. 32.5B

Plant Nutrition

• the bulk of the organic mass of a plant is derived

from the CO2 that it assimilates (fixes) from air during
photosynthesis

• recall that water supplies the oxygen released

during photosynthesis & much of the hydrogen
used to make sugars

• recall that plants are autotrophs, they survive solely

on inorganic nutrients

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Macronutrients

*
C
O
carbon
oxygen
in all organic molecules
in most organic molecules
H hydrogen in most organic molecules
N nitrogen in proteins, nucleic acids...
S sulphur in proteins, coenzymes
P phosphorus in nucleic acids, ATP, phospholipids...
K potassium enzyme activity, H20 & ionic balance
Ca calcium cell walls, regulation,...
Mg magnesium in chlorophyll, enzyme activity

* ~98% of a plant’s dry weight

micronutrients: Cl, Fe, B, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, Ni; most are
cofactors for enzymes

Obtaining Soil Nutrients Through

Cation Exchange (1)
• since clays are
Soil particle surrounded negatively charged,
by film of water
Root hair cations tend to be
Water retained by soils...
they are harder to
wash away than
anions, but harder
for plants to obtain

Air space • anions tend to be

lost from soils...
they are more easily
obtained, but also
fig. 32.8B more easily leached
out of soil

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Animation: Obtaining Soil Nutrients

Through Cation Exchange (2)
• to release bound cations, plants employ a
cation exchange mechanism...

• protons are actively

K+
pumped from the
K+ K+
roots & displace
Clay bound cations,
H+ particle K+
freeing them for
K+
K+ absorption by root
K+ K+
hairs
Root hair
• CO2 released by
roots also
contributes protons
to the mechanism
fig. 32.8C

Mycorrhizae
• mycorrhizae are mutualistic symbiotic associations
between plant roots and fungi
• aid in water & mineral absorption
• fungi secrete acids that help dissolve minerals
• may also help protect against pathogens
• plants nourish fungi with photosynthates
• almost all plants
form mycorrhizal
associations!
• recently it has been
shown that via
mycorrhizae, some
plants share
nutrients with each fig. 32.12
other

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The Special Case of Nitrogen (1)

• plants cannot directly use N2(g) as a source of

nitrogen

• to be assimilated by plants nitrogen must be in the

form of...

mostly provided by bacteria

The Special Case of Nitrogen (2)

• nitrogenase of nitrogen-fixing bacteria...
N2(g) + 8 e- + 8 H+ + 16 ATP
2NH3 + H2 + 16 ADP + 16 Pi
• in soil, ammonia is converted into ammonium...
NH3 + H+ NH4+
• plants acquire most of their N in the form of nitrates
(NO3-) produced by nitrifying bacteria that oxidize
NH4+ NO3-
ATMOSPHERE
N2

Amino
acids, etc.
N2 Nitrogen-fixing
bacteria NH4+
H+
Soil
NH3 NH4+ NO3−
(ammonium) (nitrate)
Nitrifying
Ammonifying bacteria
Organic bacteria
material Root
fig. 32.13

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The Special Case of Nitrogen (3)

• legumes (peas, beans, alfalfa, clover) have an
advantage... nitrogen-fixing bacteria reside in their
roots as symbionts

Shoot

Nodules

Roots

The Special Case of Nitrogen (4)

• carnivorous plants are photosynthetic, but

• live in N-poor soils
• e.g. bogs, acidic soils with poor growth of
nitrifying bacteria

• these plants obtain some N & minerals from killing &

digesting insects
• e.g. sundews, venus flytrap, pitcher plants

• their resident bacterial population produces

chitinase...

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Venus’ Flytrap Digesting a Katydid

fig. 32.15d

Video: Sundew Plant

fig. 32.15c

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