KNOWLEDGE AREA: Life processes in plants and animals

Topic 7: Support and transport systems in plants

Anatomy of dicotyledonous plants

1. Knowing Life Sciences
2. Investigating Phenomena in Life
Sciences
3. Appreciating and Understanding the
History, Importance and Applications
of Life Sciences in Society
 Access information  Apply knowledge in new
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 Recall information
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knowledge
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between existing knowledge
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and new ideas
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maps
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 Recognise patterns and trends
 We shall look at two reasons for the need of a
transport system in plants.
 In order for photosynthesis to occur the plant
requires water, sunlight and carbon dioxide.
 Sunlight and gases enters the plant directly at
the leaf where photosynthesis occurs.
 But water is absorbed by the roots, a transport
system must be present to carry the water
from the roots to all parts of the plant.
 Once the food is manufactured it must be
transported to all parts of the plant from the
leaves, a transport system is needed for this.
 Most plants need to grow tall in order
for the to reach the sunlight.
 If these plants do not have any
supporting tissue they cannot be held
upright.
 Therefore they need supporting tissue
to hold the plant upright so that they
can reach great heights in order to
reach sunlight.
 The root is an example of a plant
organ.
 The are two types of root systems.
 These are the:

1. tap root system and the

2. adventitious root system.
 We shall look at the main differences
between these two root systems
THE TAP ROOT:
 The tap root has one main root and
other smaller roots arising from it.
 The main root is called the tap root.
 The smaller roots that arise from it are
called lateral or side roots.
 The tap root arises from the radicle of
the embryo found in a seed.
 The radicle is the first root.
 The diagram of the next slide shows us
an embryo with the radicle.
ADVENTITIOUS ROOT:
 The adventitious root has no
distinguishable main root all the
roots are more or less the same
size.
 These roots do not arise from the
radicle.
 They arise from any other part of
the plant.
Name the two types of roots systems you
have studied and tabulate two
differences between them.
 Tap root system and adventitious root
system.
 The differences between tap root
system and adventitious root system
Tap root system Adventitious root
system
Arises from the radicle of Does not arise from the
embryo. radicle of embryo, it
arises from any other
part of the plant.
Has one main from which The main root cannot be
the lateral roots arise. distinguished.
FUNCTIONS OF ROOTS:
 Roots have two main functions.
 These are:

1. They absorb water and mineral salts.

2. They anchor the plant firmly to the
ground.
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE ROOT
TIP:
 The root tip has 5 main regions has
shown in the diagram alongside.
 These are:

1. Root cap
2. Growing point
3. Region of elongation
4. Region of root hairs
5. Mature region
THE ROOT CAP:
 The root cap covers the root tip.
 It is made up of parenchyma cells.
 Some of these cells are rubbed off and
damaged as the root tip pushes its
way through the soil.
FUNCTION:
 The root tip protects the inner layers
of the root tip.
GROWING POINT:
 This region is found within the root
cap.
 It is made up of meristematic cells.

Do you remember what are

meristematic cells?
 This region produces new cells.

FUNCTION:
 These cells are used to…

1. Replace the cells that are damaged or

lost by the root cap.
2. Some cells are pushed to the region
of elongation.

REGION OF ELONGATION:
 This region occurs above the
growing point.
 These cells come from the growing
point.

FUNCTION:
1. Cells in this region elongate.
ROOT HAIR REGION:
 Found above the region of elongation.
 It has the root hairs externally.
 Internally the cells in this region start to
differentiate. They start to become
mature tissue. Sometimes it is also called
the region of elongation.
Do you remember what
differentiate means?

FUNCTION:
1. The root hairs absorb water and mineral
salts.
THE MATURE REGION:
 This is the last region of the root tip.
 Externally it has lateral or side
roots.
 Internally it has fully differentiated
tissue.
Name some examples of these
fully differentiated tissue?
 Meristematic cells are cells that divide
continuously and can become
differentiated into any type of tissue.
 Differentiated is when the structure of
the cell changes so that it can perform a
different function.
 Some examples of differentiated tissues
are parenchyma, sclerenchyma,
collenchyma, xylem and phloem.
INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF YOUNG
DICOT ROOT:
 We will study the cross section of the
young dicot root.
 Cross section is also called a
transverse section.
 Transverse section can be also
represented by the letters t/s.
 The next slide shows a plan diagram of
the t/s of young dicot root.
 From the plan diagram we can see that
the root is made up of 3 main regions.
 These 3 regions are the…

1. Epidermis
2. Cortex
3. Stele
 The next shows a detailed diagram.
 This shows the detail of each region
which we shall now discuss.
EPIDERMIS:
 The epidermis forms the outermost layer
of the root.
 The epidermis is a single layer of cells.
 These cells are brick shaped, thin
walled and transparent.
 Amongst the epidermal cells are
specialized epidermal cells called root
hairs.

FUNCTION:
1. The epidermis allows sunlight to pass
through to the deeper lying tissues.
2. Since the epidermis is the outermost
layer it provides the inner tissues of
the root with protection.
3. The root hair is used to absorb
water and mineral salts.
THE ROOT HAIR:
 The root is made up of elongated cells.
 The cell wall is extremely thin.
 In fact it is so thin that in places there
are pores so it makes direct contact
with the soil.
 Within the cell wall there is a cell
membrane.
 The cell membrane surrounds the
cytoplasm.
 Embedded in the cytoplasm is a very
large vacuole and a nucleus.
 Look at the diagram of the root hair
below.
CORTEX:
 The cortex lies within the epidermis.
 It is made up of many layers of
parenchyma cells.
 The cortex ends in a single layer of
cells called the endodermis.
 The endodermis is thickened by a
substance called suberin.
 This suberin is laid down on the inner
and radial walls.
 Since the endodermis is thickened by
suberin we say that the endodermis is
suberised.
 The strip of suberin is called the
Casparian strip.
 The Casparian strip is waterproof.
 Between the thickened endodermal cells
there are unthickened cells.
 These unthickened cells are called
passage cells.
 These passage cells are found opposite
the xylem arms of the stele.
 These cells will allow water to pass
through.
FUNCTION:
1. With the passage cells the
endodermis directs the movement of
water through the root into the
xylem.

STELE:
 The stele is also known as the vascular
cylinder.
 It is made up of 4 different types of
tissue.
 These are the pericycle, xylem, cambium
and phloem.
 The pericycle is found immediately
below the endodermis.
 It is made up of thin walled cells.
 The xylem is found at the center of the
stele.
 The xylem has a number of arms
radiating outwards.
 This gives the xylem its star shaped or
cross appearance.
 The phloem is found in the arms of
the xylem.
 The vascular cambium is found
between the xylem and phloem.

FUNCTIONS:
1. The pericycle gives rise to lateral roots.
2. The xylem transports water and
mineral salts from the roots to all
parts of the plant.
3. The phloem transports manufactured
food from the leaves to all parts of
the plant.
4. The vascular cambium gives rise to
more xylem and phloem as the root
increases in thickness.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF A
ROOT:
 These features will help you tell the
difference between the root and stem
and will also help you to identify the
root.
1. The presence of root hairs.
2. A clearly defined endodermis.
3. The presence of a central stele.
4. The star shaped xylem.
5. Xylem alternates with the phloem.
Study the diagram and answer the
questions that follow: B
1. Identify the organ shown. A
2. Give 3 visible reasons for
c
your answer above.
3. Provide labels for B and C.
4. Identify cell A. Explain
how it is adapted for its function.
D
5. Label D is the xylem. Give 1 visible
reason for your answer.
1. Root.
2. Presence of a well defined endodermis.
Star shaped xylem. Xylem alternates
with the phloem. Presence of a central
stele.
3. B- cambium C-phloem
4. A- passage cell. It is unthickened and
occurs in line with arms of the xylem
to allow for easy entry of water into
xylem.
5. It is round in cross section.
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE:
 Stems are found above the ground.
 They are cylindrical and erect.
 Stem are green in colour when young

due to the presence of chloroplasts.

 Leaves and buds arise from the

stem.
 The part of the stem from which the

leaf arises is called the node.

 The part between 2 nodes is called

the internode.
 The stem has two types of buds.
 These are the terminal bud and the
axillary bud.
 The terminal bud is also called the
apical bud.
 The terminal bud is found at the
tips of stems.
 The axillary bud is found in the
axil.
 The axil is the area between
the leaf and the stem.
INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF YOUNG DICOT
STEM:
 We shall look at the cross section of a
young dicot stem.
 Look at the next 2 slides that show plan
and detailed diagram of the young dicot
stem.
 The plan diagram of the dicot stem.
 The diagram shows us

that the stem is made

up of 4 regions.
 These are the:

1. Epidermis
2. Cortex
3. Vascular bundles
4. Pith
 We shall now look at

each of these 4 regions in detail.

EPIDERMIS:
 The epidermis is covered by a
transparent cuticle.
 It is made up of single layer of cells.
 These cells are transparent, thin
walled cells.
 Specialized epidermal cells called
guard cells maybe found amongst the
epidermal cells.
 These guard cells have the same
structure discussed earlier in the leaf.
FUNCTION:
1. The transparent cuticle allows for
sunlight to pass through
2. The cuticle also reduces water loss
by transpiration.
2. As the outermost layer the epidermis
protects the inner lying tissue.
3. The guard cells allow for gaseous
exchange.
CORTEX:
 The cortex is found within the
epidermis.
 Sometimes immediately below the
epidermis there are layers of
collenchyma or sclerenchyma.
These layers make up the hypodermis.
 The micrographs below show the 3
types of tissue found in the cortex.
 Form the diagram you can see the
sclerencyhma cells are evenly
thickened, while the
collenchyma is
thickened only
in the corners.
 Sclerenchyma
tissue is made up
of sclerenchyma
fibers and stone
cells. The fibers have tapered ends.
 The sclerenchyma of the hypodermis
is made up of sclerenchyma fibers only.
 Below the hypodermis is the
parenchyma.
 The parenchyma is made up of thin-
walled irregularly shaped cells, with
large intercellular spaces.
 The final layer of the cortex is the
endodermis.
 The endodermis forms a single layer.
 The endodermis of the stem is not
clearly visible.
FUNCTION:
1. The hypodermis strengthens the
stem and helps to keep it upright.
2. The parenchyma stores food.
3. The intercellular airspaces of the
parenchyma are used for the
transport of water and gases.
4. The endodermal cells store starch.
VASCULAR BUNDLES:
 The vascular bundles have a circular
arrangement around the pith.
 Each vascular bundle has the following
structure.
 It has a sclerenchyma cap made up of
sclerenchyma fibers right on the
outside.
 The phloem tissue is found below the
sclerenchyma cap.
 This is followed by the vascular cambium.
 Then immediately below the cambium is
the xylem.
FUNCTION:
1. The sclerenchyma fibers provides the
plant with strength and helps to
keep it upright.
2. The xylem transports water and
mineral salts from roots to all parts
of the plant.
3. The phloem transports
manufactured food from the leaves
to all parts of the plants.
 The tissues that are responsible for
transport and support are xylem,
phloem, sclerenchyma and
collenchyma.
 All these tissues have been discussed
earlier, but there a little new information
to consider.

The tissues responsible for transport are

xylem and phloem.
XYLEM:
 This tissue is found in the stele of
roots, in the vascular bundle of
stems and in the veins of leaves.
 The structure of xylem tissue has been
discussed already.
 However we want to discuss the
thickening in a little more detail.
 Remember xylem vessels are
thickened with lignin.
 The lignin may be laid down in four
patterns or arrangements.
These are as follows:
1. The lignin maybe laid down in circles or
have a circular arrangement. This
pattern is called annular thickening.
2. The lignin may have a spiral
arrangement. This is known as spiral
thickening.
3. The thickening may have a ladder like
arrangement. This is called sclariform
thickening.
4. Sometimes the whole wall is
thickened. There are some
unthickened areas. These unthickened
areas are called pits. This type of
thickening is called whole wall or
pitted thickening.
B- annular thickening
C- spiral thickening
D- sclariform thickenin
E- reticular thickening
F- pitted thickening
G- pitted thickening
 With the continuous movement of water up the
xylem tissue it is possible for the xylem to
become distorted.
 This means to lose their shape.
 However this does not happen because the
xylem vessels and tracheids are adapted
to make them strong so that they are able to
maintain their shape.
They are adapted in the following way:
1. The vessels and tracheids are thick
walled.
2. They are round in cross section. Structures
that are round have additional strength.
PHLOEM:
 Phloem is found in the stele of the
root, in the vascular bundle of
stems and in the vein of leaves.
 There only a few additions to add to
what we have already learnt.
 Phloem is made up of two types of cells;
the sieve tube and the companion cell.
 The sieve tube has cross walls called
sieve plates.
 Remember the companion cells also
have cross walls.
 Collenchyma and sclerenchyma
provide the plant with strength and
support.

COLLENCHYMA:
 The collenchyma occurs as the
hypodermis in some young stems.
 Remember that these are brick shaped
cells in surface and side view, and
they are thick walled.
 But only the corners of the cells are
thickened.
FUNCTION:
1. The collenchyma tissue gives strength and
support to the aerial parts of the plant.

SCLERENCHYMA:
 Sclerenchyma is made up of the fibers
and stone cells.
 The sclerenchyma fibers occurs as a cap on
the vascular bundle of the dicot stem.
 It may also occur as the hypodermis in
some stems.
 The fibers as mentioned earlier, have
tapered ends, thick cell walls and very
small lumens.
 Lumens are the inner cavities of cells.
 The stone cells are small cells.
 They may be round to oval, irregularly
shaped cells.
 They have very thick cell walls.
 The cell walls are so thick that their
lumens are almost completely
blocked.

FUNCTION:
1. Sclerenchyma provides mechanical
support to the plant.
 Tap root: has one main root and other
smaller roots arising from it.
 Radicle: is the first root.
 Adventitious root: has no distinguishable
main root all the roots are more or less the
same size.
 Suberin: is the thickening that is laid down
on the inner and radial walls of the
endodermis.
 Casparian strip: is a strip of thickening of
the endodermal cells
 Passage cells: are the unthickened cells of
the endodermis.
 Axil: is the area between the leaf and
the stem.
 Apical or terminal buds: are found at the
tips of stems.
 Axillary buds: are found in the axil
between the stem and the leaf.
 Hypodermis: is the layers of
collenchyma or sclerenchyma tissue
found immediately below the epidermis
of the stem.
 Whole wall thickening: is when lignin is
laid down on the entire xylem wall, with
some unthickened portions.
 Pits: are the unthickened portion of the
xylem walls that are not thickened by
lignin during pitted thickening.
 Spiral thickening: refers to the spiral
arrangement of the lignin on the xylem
wall.
 Sclariform thickening: refers to the ladder
like arrangement of the lignin on the
xylem wall.
 Annular thickening: refers to circular or
ring like arrangement of the lignin on the
xylem wall.
 Distorted: this means to lose their
shape.
 Sieve plates: are the cross walls of the
sieve tubes.
 Lumens: are the inner cavities of cells.
This made up of fibers and stone cells.
A. Xylem
B. Phloem
C. Sclerenchyma
D. Collenchyma
The tissue that is made up brick shape cell that are
thickened in the corners only.
A. Xylem
B. Phloem
C. Sclerenchyma
D. Collenchyma
The tissue who has transport function, with thin
walled living cells.
A. Xylem
B. Phloem
C. Sclerenchyma
D. Collenchyma
The tissue that is made up of sieve tubes and
companion cells.
A. Xylem
B. Phloem
C. Sclerenchyma
D. Collenchyma
The tissue that is made up of dead cells and no cross
walls.
A. Xylem
B. Phloem
C. Sclerenchyma
D. Collenchyma
The thickening that is laid down on the xylem vessel
is…
A. Lignin
B. Suberin
C. Casparian strip
D. None of the above
Xylem cells that are round in cross-section…
A. Are the vessels.
B. Provides extra strength to prevent
distortion
C. A only
D. Both A and B.
Choose the correct answer.
LETTER TISSUE STRUCTURE FUNCTIO
N
A. xylem lignin support
B. phloem suberin strength
C. collenchym Thick cell Transport
a walls
D. xylem Cross wall transport
present
B on this diagram shows…
A. Annular thickening
B. Spiral thickening
C. Pitted thickening
D. Scalariform thickening
The micrograph is of a…
A. Root
B. Stem
C. Stele
D. Vascular bundle
Write down the letter of the tissue that is involved in
transport only.
A. B
B. C
C. D
D. A
The tissues that may form the hypodermis is…
A. A and B
B. C and D
C. A and C
D. B and D

A B C D
The tissue found between the xylen and phloem in
the vascular bundle is the…
A. Cambium
B. Sclerenchyma
C. Collenchyma
D. Endodermis
The layer that contains the Casparian Strip is the…
A. Hypodermis
B. Epidermis
C. Endodermis
D. Pericycle
The passages cells are found amongst the cells of
the…
A. Hypodermis
B. Epidermis
C. Endodermis
D. Pericycle
The layer that gives rise to the lateral roots is the…
A. Hypodermis
B. Epidermis
C. Endodermis
D. Pericycle
The layer that is able to provide protection and is
transparent to transmission of sunlight is…
A. Hypodermis
B. Epidermis
C. Endodermis
D. Pericycle
In the vascular bundle the…
A. Phloem is found on the outside and xylem
is found on the inside.
B. Xylem is found on the outside and phloem
is found on the inside.
C. Xylem alternates with the phloem.
D. Xylem alternates with the sclerenchyma
fibers.
The apical bud is…
A. Found at the tip of the stem
B. Found in the axil
C. Between the leaf and stem.
D. A and C
The specialized epidermal cells that absorbs water
and mineral salts is the…
A. Guard cell
B. Root hair
C. Sieve tube
D. Sieve plate
1. C
2. D
3. B
4. B
5. A
6. A
7. D
8. A
9. A
10. C
11. A
12. C
13. A
14. C
15. C
16. D
17. B
18. A
19. A
20. B