See how sieve tubes and sieve plates stimulate mass flow within a plant's phloem cells
Water and nutrients such as sugars and starches are moved through plants via a vascular system of xylem and phloem.
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Transcript
NARRATOR: Growth demands not only carbohydrates like starch and sugar but also the formation of proteins and lipids for the development of new tissues, the storage of materials for future growth, and the repair of tissues that have been damaged. But how are useful materials carried to these growing, storage, and damaged tissues?
When we look at the xylem, that brings the water to the leaves, we can also see there are other cells within the stem that are not stained by the blue dye. Some of these form the phloem.
The sections of both these stems have phloem present even though the distribution of the vascular bundles is completely different. On the left is a monocotyledonous plant and on the right is a dicotyledonous plant.
Phloem tissue seen here between the areas of xylem extends all the way to the root. But what does it do?
To find out, let's remove the stem layer containing the phloem but not the xylem. We find that over a few hours, the concentration of sugar above the cut is greater than the concentration below the cut.
This evidence suggests that the phloem carries the complex organic products of photosynthesis in solution.
The structure of the phloem is very distinctive. The sieve tubes are as fine as a human hair. At intervals, the sieve tubes are interrupted by sieve plates. The sieve plates, stained red here, have pores of even smaller diameter. The narrowness of the tubes and the existence of plates help to produce pressure differences between different areas of the phloem and to stimulate a vast movement of materials from one place to another.
This is known as mass flow. The sucrose produced in the leaf cells is actively transported into the phloem cells. This causes water to flow after it by osmosis, increasing the turgor of the cell. As the cells of the phloem form columns, the sugars are pulled through them to the regions where the turgor is less. These are areas where the sugars are being removed and used by the cells either for storage and growth or for energy.
When we look at the xylem, that brings the water to the leaves, we can also see there are other cells within the stem that are not stained by the blue dye. Some of these form the phloem.
The sections of both these stems have phloem present even though the distribution of the vascular bundles is completely different. On the left is a monocotyledonous plant and on the right is a dicotyledonous plant.
Phloem tissue seen here between the areas of xylem extends all the way to the root. But what does it do?
To find out, let's remove the stem layer containing the phloem but not the xylem. We find that over a few hours, the concentration of sugar above the cut is greater than the concentration below the cut.
This evidence suggests that the phloem carries the complex organic products of photosynthesis in solution.
The structure of the phloem is very distinctive. The sieve tubes are as fine as a human hair. At intervals, the sieve tubes are interrupted by sieve plates. The sieve plates, stained red here, have pores of even smaller diameter. The narrowness of the tubes and the existence of plates help to produce pressure differences between different areas of the phloem and to stimulate a vast movement of materials from one place to another.
This is known as mass flow. The sucrose produced in the leaf cells is actively transported into the phloem cells. This causes water to flow after it by osmosis, increasing the turgor of the cell. As the cells of the phloem form columns, the sugars are pulled through them to the regions where the turgor is less. These are areas where the sugars are being removed and used by the cells either for storage and growth or for energy.
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