Plant Tissue

Plant tissues fit into 3 main categories:

Dermal tissues: epidermis, trichomes (“hairs”),
guard cells, root hairs
Ground tissues: parenchyma (with chloroplasts
= chlorenchyma), sclerenchyma, collenchyma
Vascular tissues: xylem (dead at maturity:
tracheids and vessel elements), phloem (living:
sieve tube cells [no nuclei], companion cells
[with nuclei])
 Meristematic tissues – localized regions of cell division

1. Apical Meristems
◦ Primary or Transitional Meristem  Primary growth
 Protoderm  gives rise to epidermis
 Ground meristem  gives rise to ground tissue
 Procambium  gives rise to 1o vascular tissue
2. Lateral Meristems
◦ Vascular cambium  2o vascular tissue
◦ Cork cambium or phellogen  periderm
3. Intercalary Meristems (found in the nodes of
grasses)
 shoot
apex shoot apical
meristem

axillary bud
bud primordium
internode
node

lateral
branch shoot tip

lateral branch

root tip

shoot

root hairs

lateral roots
root
root apical
meristem

root cap
meristem - region of actively dividing cells
1) apical (shoot & root);
2) lateral (vascular & cork cambia)
Cell differentiation:
1) Cell expansion (elongation)
2) Cell maturation / specialization
Derivation from the Apical Meristem
 Plant Body Organization
11

Meristems are clumps of small cells with dense

cytoplasm and large nuclei

They act as stem cells do in animals

-One cell divides producing a differentiating cell and
another that remains meristematic
12
 Dermal Tissues

dermal tissues cover the organs of a plant. They

are analogous to skin.
epidermis
 outermost layer of cells
 usually one cell layer thick
 epidermal cells have a layer of cutin (cuticle)
 resistant to bacteria and other disease organisms
 Plant Epidermis

1. Outer layer covering primary plant body

2. Interface through which plant interacts with

external environment

3. Replaced by cork or bark in plants with

secondary growth
 Function of Epidermis

1. Protection
1. Sunlight
2. Other organisms
3. Abiotic damage

2. Regulates water movement

1. Uptake and loss
2. Shoot reduces water loss
3. Root regulates absorption

3. Secretion
 Cell Wall and its Coverings

1. Epidermal Cell Wall – varies in thickness

2. Cuticle – made of cutin and waxes
3. Cutin – high molecular weight lipid polyester
material C16Hn or C18Hn or a combination of both
1. Arrangement 1 – cutin + cell wall
2. Arrangement 2 – cutin  pectin  cell wall

4. Wax layer
1. epicuticular (on surface)
2. intercuticular (pockets inside cuticle)
Epicuticular Waxes
 Epidermal Cells – Ordinary
Cells

Ordinary Cells
1. Dicots – sinuous cell wall

2. Monocots – “straight” cell walls

3. No intercellular spaces

4. Typically no chloroplasts (exceptions??)

5. May have leucoplasts (plastids that do not have any pigments)

 Epidermal Cells – Guard Cells
and Stomata
Stomata
1. Openings in epidermis
2. Occur on all aerial parts of plant
3. Most abundant on leaves; typically absent in
roots
4. Pore size regulated by guard cells

Guard Cells
1. Found on all green plants and flower parts
2. Regulate gas exchange (CO2 and H2O vapor)
3. Special arrangement of microfibrils in cell wall
allows pore to open and close between guard cells
 Epidermal Cells – Trichomes

1. Highly variable appendages of the epidermis

2. Living or dead, uni- or multicellular

3. Lots of forms: glandular, nonglandular, scales,

papillae, absorbing hairs of roots…

4. Functions – highly variable including protection,

excretion, reflection, water absorption, water
shedding…
Epidermal cells of root
showing formation of root
hairs from single cells.
Cuticle Wax

Wax Myrtle
Myrica cerifera
waxes obtained
from boiling the
leaves is used to
make bayberry
candles
Epidermis is made of many types of cells
1. Guard cells form stomata
2. Trichomes
 Outgrowths – ‘hairs’

 Some leaf trichomes use to keep

animals away
 Some used to eliminate salt

 Some thought to increase

reflection to reduce stem/leaf
temperature
 Root hairs are a type of trichome,
increase surface area to increase
uptake of nutrients
3. Glands
Root Hairs are
extensions of
epidermal cells
Dermal Tissues:
Epidermis

Glands secrete
substances that
protect the plant
secrete nectar
digestive glands
Sundews
trigger hairs of a
Venus Flytrap
Prickles grow out of
the epidermis
 A Few Definitions

 Periderm = secondary tissue

 replaces epidermis in roots and stems
 consists of phellem, phellogen, and phelloderm
 Phellem
 corky tissues
 non-living suberized cells
 produced by the cork cambium (phellogen) to outside of stem
 Phellogen
 cork cambium
 produces cork to the outside
 produces phelloderm to the inside
 Phelloderm
 parenchyma-like cells
 produced toward inside of stem by the cork cambium (phellogen)
 Dermal tissue: Periderm

How is the periderm like the layer of dead skin cells on

human skin?
Replaces epidermis on roots and stems of woody
plants with age.

The periderm composed mainly

of thick, waterproof cork cells.

Protects stems and root

 Ground Tissues
Ground tissue functions
metabolism: conduct photosynthesis; regulate gas exchange
storage: photosynthate (sugar, starch), water, & proteins
support: via cellulose and lignin
Ground tissues
Parenchyma
undifferentiated, thin, living cells; extremely common
‘filler;’ storage; photosynthesis; tissue healing
Ground tissues
Collenchyma
unevenly thickened, living cells; sub-epidermal
FLEXIBLE support
Ground tissues
Sclerenchyma
thick & lignified; non-living cells at maturity
RIGID support; conduction
 Ground tissue: Parenchyma

What can you see in these

parenchyma cells?
oThin-walled cells
oAlive at maturity
oMany functions, including
photosynthesis, starch
storage, hormone production.
 Ground Tissue: Collenchyma
How might support cells be different from other
plant cells?
Plants don’t have a skeletal system as humans do.
What holds a plant up?
What features do you see in these cells?

 Flexible support tissue.

 Elongated cells with irregular shapes and
unevenly thickened walls.
 Living at maturity.
 Ground tissue: Sclerenchyma
How are these thick-walled cells different from
collenchyma cells?
What features do you see in these cells?
Sclerenchyma cells are dead at maturity. Why
might that be?

 Support tissue.
 Elongated cells with thick cell walls.
 Dead at maturity.
 Forms long fibers, or smaller
sclerids (such as stone cells
in pears).
 Ground Tissue

Parenchyma: Gen. Collenchyma: support

metabol. 1) Elongate
1) Isodiametric to
elongate 2) Primary cell wall thick,
uneven, rich in pectins
2) Primary cell wall
3) Living
 Ground Tissue
Sclerenchyma
1) Secondary cell wall (+ primary)
2) Dead at maturity (usually)

Fibers
Elongate, sharply
 Ground Tissue
Sclerenchyma
1) Secondary cell wall (+ primary)
2) Dead at maturity (usually)

Sclereids
Isodiametric to
irregular
 VASCULAR TISSUE XYLEM
and PHLOEM

1. Structurally and functionally complex tissue

2. Continuous through plant as veins

3. Typically associated with each other

4. Functions
1. Water movement (Tracheids and Vessel members)
2. Storage (parenchyma)
3. Support (fibers and sclereids)
 Vascular Tissue

Xylem
Water & mineral conduction
Tracheary elements + parenchyma +
sclerenchyma
Phloem
Sugar conduction
Sieve members + parenchyma + sclerenchyma

- Both complex tissues

44
 Looking at the Vascular
Bundle

 Xylem and phloem found together in “collateral

bundle”

 In stem:
 Phloem toward epidermis

 Xylem toward center

 In Leaf:
 Phloem toward bottom (abaxial)

 Xylem toward top (adaxial)

1 = apical meristem, 2 = procambium,
3 = protoderm, 4 = ground meristem,
5 = primary phloem, 6 = primary xylem,
7 = leaf trace, 8 = pith ray, 9 = pith,
10 = epidermis
 Vascular tissue: Xylem

Xylem tissue moves water. What features would

the cells need to carry out this function?
What features do you see in these cells?

 Long, tube-like cells, joined end-to end, that

transport water and minerals from soil to leaves.
 Two types of cells: tracheids (in conifers) and
vessel elements (in flowering plants).
 Vascular tissue: Phloem

Phloem tissue
moves sap, which
is sugar dissolved
in water. What
features would the
cells need to carry
out this function?
What features do
you see in these
cells?
 XYLEM in the Primary Plant
Body

 Found in Higher plants (tracheophytes)

 Transport water and nutrients by bulk flow

 Several types of cells and structures

• Tracheary elements (conduct water)
• Xylary Fibers (support)
• Parenchyma (storage)
• Perforation plate (perforated part of a cell wall usually found at
the end)
 Protoxylem (still elongating) and Metaxylem (elongation complete)
 Tracheary Elements:
Tracheids

 Found in both gymnosperms and angiosperms

 Dead at maturity
 So-so water movement
 Small diameter with angular end walls
 NO perforation plates in end walls
 Water moves through pairs of pits (holes) in
adjacent cell walls
 Tracheary Elements: Vessel
Members

 Found only in angiosperms

 Dead at maturity
 Good water movement
 Large diameter and nearly circular in cross section
 Variety of perforation plate types in end walls
 Water moves through pairs of pits (holes) in
adjacent cell walls
 Pitting in Vessel Members
1 = annular thickening;
2 - 4 = helical thickenings;
5 = reticulate thickening;
6 = scalariform pitting;
7 = opposite pitting;
8 = alternate pitting

simple to more advanced

 Phloem
 Function is carbohydrate and nutrient transport
 Always from source to sink
 Living tissue with short functional life (days to
one season)
 Very fragile 1o cell wall
 Velocity of movement 10 – 100 cm/hr
 Component of phloem tissue
◦ Sieve elements (sieve cells and sieve tube elements
◦ Parenchyma
◦ Companion cells
◦ Fibers
◦ sclereids
Sieve tube and companion cells in the
phloem of squash

1 = companion cells;
2 = sieve tube content;
3 = parenchyma cell;
4 = sieve plate (oblique view);
5 = one sieve element;
6 = sieve plate (side view);
 SIEVE ELEMENTS

 No functional nucleus

 Few organelles, no vacuole when mature

 Two types
1. Sieve Cells (gymnosperms and lower vascular plants
only)

2. Sieve Tube Members (flowering plants)

 SIEVE ELEMENTS
Sieve Cells

 Lower vascular plants and

gymnosperms
 Long and gradually tapering
 End wall poorly defined
 Moderate efficiency for moving sap
 Side walls covered with primary pit
fields
 SIEVE ELEMENTS
Sieve Tube Members

 Flowering plants only

 Broad cell end wall – covered by sieve
plate
 More than one stacked on top of each
other = Sieve tube
 Two types of sieve plates
 Simple

 Compound
1 = inclined simple sieve plate;
2 = phloem parenchyma cells,
3 = companion cell;
4 = sieve tube members
 “Helper” Cells
1. help load sieve elements with photosynthates in source
area and unload in sink areas.

2. Ribosomes provide sieve elements with essential proteins

and ATP.

3. Companion cells and sieve elements together constitute a

functional unit in food conductance.

4. Two Types
1. Albuminous cells in Gymnosperms with sieve cells
2. Companion cells in Angiosperms with sieve tube
members
 Albuminous Cells

 Only in gymnosperms

 Specialized type of parenchyma

 Very small in comparison to sieve

cell

 The number associated with a

sieve cell varies
 Tracheary Elements
Tracheids - Imperforate Vessels - Perforate
Angiosperms (most)
Gnetales
A few Monilophytes
 Sieve Elements
Sieve cells - No sieve plates Sieve tube members -
Sieve plates
Apomorphy of Angiosperms
Vascular cambium - a lateral meristem