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Plants cell wall distinguishes plant cell from animal cell;

Cell walls allow plant cells to build up large internal

hydrostatic pressures, called turgor pressure, which are
a result of their normal water balance.

Water and Plant Cell

What are the role of water to plant?

Water

plays a crucial role in the life of the plant.

every gram of organic matter made by the plant,
approximately 500 g of water is absorbed by the roots,
transported through the plant body and lost to the
atmosphere.
Every plant must delicately balance its uptake and loss of
water.
To carry on photosynthesis, they need to draw carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere, but doing so exposes them
to water loss and the threat of dehydration.
For

Why is Turgor pressure important?

Play roles in cell enlargement, gas exchange in the leaves,

transport in the phloem, and various transport processes
across membranes; and the rigidity and mechanical
stability of nonlignified plant tissues.

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So, what are we going to learn in this

chapter?

How water moves into and out of plant

cells, emphasizing the molecular
properties of water and the physical
forces that influence water movement at
the cell level.

Water is the most abundant and arguably the best solvent

known.
During the plants lifetime, water equivalent to 100 times
the fresh weight of the plant may be lost through the leaf
surfaces, called transpiration.
Transpiration is an important means of dissipating the
heat input from sunlight
For a typical leaf, nearly half of the net heat input from
sunlight is dissipated by transpiration.
The stream of water taken up by the roots is an
important means of bringing dissolved soil minerals to the
root surface for absorption.

WATER IN PLANT LIFE

Water typically constitutes:

80 to 95% of the mass of growing plant tissues;

Of all the resources that plants need to grow and

function, water is the most abundant and at the same
time the most limiting for agricultural productivity (Figure
3.1).

Common

vegetables such as carrots and lettuce may

contain 85 to 95% water;
Sapwood, which functions in transport in the xylem,
contains 35 to 75% water;
Seeds, with a water content of 5 to 15% (before
germinating must absorb water).

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The Polarity of Water Molecules Gives Rise

to Hydrogen Bonds

Yes, water availability likewise limits the productivity of

natural ecosystems (Figure 3.2).

THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES

OF WATER

The Polarity of Water Molecules Gives Rise

to Hydrogen Bonds

Water has special properties that enable it to act as a

solvent and to be readily transported through the body of
the plant.

The water molecule consists of

an oxygen atom covalently
bonded to two hydrogen atoms.
Because the oxygen atom is
more electronegative than
hydrogen, it tends to attract the
electrons of the covalent bond.
This attraction results in a
partial negative charge at the
oxygen end of the molecule and
a partial positive charge at each
hydrogen.

This unequal distribution of

electrons makes water a polar
molecule, meaning that the two
ends of the molecule have
opposite charges

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The anomalous properties of

water arise from attractions
between its polar molecules:
The slightly positive
hydrogen molecule is
attracted to the slightly
negative oxygen of a nearby
molecule.

The two molecules are thus

held together by a
Hydrogen bond (Figure
3.2).

A covalent bond is the

sharing of a pair of valence
electrons by two atoms.

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\Vhen water is in its liquid form, its hydrogen bonds are

very fragile, each about 1/20 as strong as a covalent bond.
The hydrogen bonds form, break, and reform with great
frequency. Each lasts only a few trillionths of a second, but
the molecules are constantly forming new hydrogen bonds
with a succession of partners.

The Polarity of Water Makes It an Excellent Solvent

Excellent solvent = dissolves a variety of substances more

than other related solvents, because:

1.

Small molecule size of water;

Its polarity nature (good for ionic substances and sugar
and proteins with OH or NH2 groups).

2.

The hydrogen bonding (water&ion; water&polar solutes)

reduce electrostatic interaction between charged
substances increase solubility.

The Thermal Properties of Water Result from

Hydrogen Bonding

Therefore, at any instant, a substantial percentage of all

the water molecules are hydrogen-bonded to their
neighbors.
The extraordinary qualities of water are emergent
properties resulting from the hydrogen bonding that
orders molecules into a higher level of structural
organization.

The extensive hydrogen

bonding between water
molecules results in high
specific heat and high latent
heat of vaporization.

Specific heat:
the heat energy required to
raise the temperature of a
substance by a specific
amount.

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Plants have hight latent heat of

vaporization, why?

Energy is required to break the hydrogen bond.

Water requires a large energy input to raise its
temperature (compare to other liquid);
This large energy input requirement is important for
plants because it helps buffer temperature fluctuations.

Allow plants to cool themselves by

evaporating water from leaf surfaces,
which are prone to heat up because of
the radiant input from the sun.

The Cohesive and Adhesive Properties of

Water Are Due to Hydrogen Bonding

Latent heat of vaporization : The energy needed to

separate molecules from the liquid phase and move them
into the gas phase at constant temperaturea process
that occurs during transpiration.

Water: 25C, the heat of vaporization is 44 kJ mol-1

(highest value known for any liquid).

Surface tension: The energy required to increase the

surface area.
Surface tension at the evaporative surfaces of leaves
generates the physical forces that pull water through the
plants vascular system;
The extensive hydrogen bonding in water also gives rise
to the property known as cohesion, the mutual
attraction between molecules. [the hydrogen bonds hold
the substance together, a phenomenon called cohesion]
Arelated property, called adhesion, is the attraction of
water to a solid phase such as a cell wall or glass surface.

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The Cohesive and Adhesive Properties of

Water Are Due to Hydrogen Bonding

Surface tension, a measure of how

difficult it is to stretch or break the
surface of a liquid.
Water has a greater surface
tension than most other liquids.
Water behave as though coated
with an invisible film. (Figure 3.4).

Water Has a High Tensile Strength

Tensile strength: the maximum force per unit area that

a continuous column of water can withstand before
breaking (given by cohesion).

Cohesion, adhesion, and surface tension give

rise to a phenomenon known as capillarity,
the movement of water along a capillary tube.

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Water Has a High Tensile Strength

PUSH Positive hydrostatic pressure

PULL Negative hydrostatic pressure

WATER TRANSPORT PROCESSES

Diffusion Is the Movement of Molecules by
Random Thermal Agitation
Water

Pressure is measured in units called pascals (Pa) or, more

conveniently, megapascals (MPa).
1 MPa equals approximately 9.9 atmospheres.
Pressure is equivalent to a force per unit area (1 Pa = 1 N
m2) and to an energy per unit volume (1 Pa = 1 J m3).
A newton (N) = 1 kg m s1.

molecules in a solution collide to each other

exchange kinetc energy;
Thermal agitation causes the molecules to intermingle;

Diffusion: movement of molecules from regions of high

concentration to regions of low concentrationthat
concentration
is,
down a concentration gradient (Figure 3.7)

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Osmosis Is Driven by a Water Potential

Gradient

Membranes of plant cells are selectively permeable;

that is, they allow the movement of water and other
small uncharged substances across them more readily
than the movement of larger solutes and charged
substances.

Osmosis: The direction and rate of water flow

across a membrane are determined not solely by the
concentration gradient of water or by the pressure
gradient, but by the sum of these two driving forces.

Pressure-Driven Bulk Flow Drives Long-Distance

Water Transport

Pressure-driven bulk flow is the concerted

movement of groups of molecules en masse, most
often in response to a pressure gradient.
Example: Water moving through a garden hose, a river
flowing, and rain falling.

The predominant mechanism responsible for long-distance

long
transport of water in
the xylem.
The water flow through the soil and through the cell walls of plant tissues;
Unlike diffusion, pressure-driven
driven bulk flow is independent of solute concentration
gradients,

The Chemical Potential of Water Represents the

Free-Energy Status of Water

All organisms need energy to survive;

In plants, processes (biochemical reactions, solute
accumulation, and long-distance transport) are all driven
by an input of free energy into the plant.

The Chemical potential of water = amount of the free energy

associated with water; [Energy per mole of substance (J mol -1)]
Historically, plant physiologists use Water potential: the
chemical potential of water divided by the partial molal volume
of water (the volume of 1 mol of water): 18 106 m3 mol1.
These units = unit for pressure: Pascal.

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What is Water
Potential (W)?

Water potential is a useful measurement to

determine water-deficit stress in plants. Scientists
use water potential measurements to determine
drought tolerance in plants, the irrigation needs of
different crops and how the water status of a plant
affects the quality and yield of plants.

It is a quantitative description of
the free energy states of water.
The concepts of free energy and
water potential are derived from
the second law of hermodynamics.

Water potential affects plants in many ways. Atmospheric water

potential is one of the factors that influences the rate of
transpiration or water loss in plants. Soil water potential
influences the water available for uptake by plant roots.
In thermodynamics, free energy is defined as
the potential for performing work.
A water fall is a good example. The water at
the top of the fall has a higher potential for
performing work than the water at the base of
the fall. The water is moving from an area of
higher free energy to an area of lower free
energy. The free energy from water is the
power source for waterwheels and hydroelectric
facilities.

Atmospheric
Water
Potential

Water available for

uptake by plant roots

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Current Convention Defines w as:

Y W = P + S + E + G
Where,
P = pressure potential
S = osmotic or solute potential
E = electrical potential
- ignore because water is uncharged

G = gravitational potential
- ignore because gravity is not a
large force for small trees

Simplified Definition of w:

Y w = P + S
Where,
P = pressure potential
- represents the pressure in addition to
atmospheric pressure

S = osmotic or solute potential

- represents the effect of dissolved solutes on
water potential; addition of solutes will always
lower the water potential

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SUMMARY:
Water Potential of Plant Tissue
has two components
and is always negative
Pressure Potential
Positive

Negative

Turgor (in cells with

membranes)

Q U I Z

Tension (in xylem)

Osmotic or Solute Potential

- Negative

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