Plant Physiology

Water and Plant Cells

Water and plant cells

I. Background on water in plants
II. The properties of water
III. Understanding the direction of
water movement: Water potential

I. Water
Plant cells are mostly water; 80 - 95%
of the mass of growing cells,
Wood (Sapwood 35-75%)
Seeds 5-15%
Living cells must maintain a positive
water pressure, or turgor to grow
and function properly.
Cell walls
build Internal Hydrostatic Pressure
Turgor Pressure
Cell enlargement
Gas Exchange in Leaves
Transport in Phloem
Transport across membrane
Rigidity and Mechanical
stability to nonlignified plant tissues

I. Water

Plants lose large quantities of water in transpiration, the

evaporation from the interior of leaves through the stomata is
referred to as Transpiration.

CO2
H 2O
100% water exchange in one hour
Water loss through leaf surface
Heat dissipation by leaves through transpiration
Half of the heat by sunlight is dissipated by
transpiration
Latent Heat of Vaporization

Plant - Water

Relations

Corn yield as a function of water

availability

Plant - Water

Relations

Productivity of various ecosystems as a

function of annual precipitation

Water passes easily through biological membranes,

Formed
by Aquaporins
particularly through Aquaporins - low resistance
pores.
Aquaporins:
are proteins embedded in
cell membrane that regulate
flow of water.
Prof Peter Agre and
discovery of Aquaporins?

II. The properties of water

Polar molecule that forms hydrogen bonds.

1) good solvent
2) cohesive properties - attraction to like molecules
3) adhesive properties - attraction to unlike molecules

The polarity of water molecules

results in hydrogen bonding

Covalent bond

Properties of water, continued

Cohesion is the attraction of like molecules (H2O
here) that gives water its tensile strength.
Adhesion is the attraction of unlike molecules.
Water adheres to cell walls, soil particles, glass
tubes, etc.
Adhesion explains capillarity & surface tension.
Surface Tension is caused by cohesive forces
within liquid molecules.
All of above forces give rise to a phenomenon
called Capillarity (the movement of water along a
capillary tube)

III. What factors determine the direction of water

movement (through the soil, between cells, from roots to
leaves, from leaves into air)?
1. Gravity
2. Pressure
3. Concentration

100

80

water flows upward

in trees.

70

How does this work?

90

60 Height,
50

meters

40
30
20
10

Gravity causes water to move

downward unless it is opposed
by an equal and opposite force.

Pressure
Water moves from regions of higher to lower pressure
garden hose
straw
through xylem of plants

Water moves from higher to lower pressure

Water pressures in plant cells can be positive (turgor),

or negative, (tension).
Living cells 0 MPa to +3 MPa)
Dead xylem cells 0 MPa, to as low as -12 MPa.

3) Concentration
Water moves by diffusion from regions of higher to lower
water concentration.
Solutes added to pure water dilute the water concentration.

Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a selectively

permeable membrane from a region of higher to lower
water concentration.

How does reverse osmosis purify water?

A process by which a solvent passes through a porous membrane in the
direction opposite to that for natural osmosis.

The concept of water potential, , brings together the

influences of gravity, pressure, and concentration (solutes)
in describing the energy state of water and the direction
of water movement.

The water potential equation:

W S P g
W = total water potential
S = solute potential
P = pressure potential
g = gravitational potential

All units will be pressure, pascals, Pa.

MPa is megapascal, 106 Pa

Change in water status causes physiological changes

Measure of the rate of passage of

CO2 entering or water vapors
exiting through stomata

Further readings
Water and Plant Cells, Chapter 3, Plant Physiology by
Taiz and Zeiger