Plant/Crop Physiology
• Plant physiology is a sub-discipline of
botany concerned with the functioning of
plants.
• Includes the study of all the internal
activities of plants—those chemical and
physical processes associated with life as
they occur in plants
Crop Physiology
• Includes
– at the smallest scale : molecular interactions of
photosynthesis and internal diffusion of water,
minerals, and nutrients.
– at the largest scale : processes of plant
development, seasonality, dormancy, and
reproductive control.
The scope of crop physiology as a discipline may be divided
into several major areas of research.
First
• The study of phytochemistry (plant chemistry) is included
within the domain of plant physiology.
– In order to function and survive, plants produce a wide array of
chemical compounds not found in other organisms.
– Photosynthesis requires a large array of pigments, enzymes, and other
compounds to function.
– Because they cannot move, plants must also defend themselves
chemically from herbivores, pathogens and competition from other
plants.
– They do this by producing toxins and foul-tasting or smelling
chemicals.
– Other compounds defend plants against disease, permit survival
during drought, and prepare plants for dormancy.
– While other compounds are used to attract pollinators or herbivores to
spread ripe seeds.
Secondly
• Plant physiology includes the study of biological and
chemical processes of individual plant cells.
– Plant cells have a number of features that distinguish them from
cells of animals, and which lead to major differences in the way
that plant life behaves and responds differently from animal life.
– For example, plant cells have a cell wall which restricts the shape
of plant cells and thereby limits the flexibility and mobility of
plants.
– Plant cells also contain chlorophyll, a chemical compound that
interacts with light in a way that enables plants to manufacture
their own nutrients rather than consuming other living things as
animals do.
Thirdly
• Plant physiology deals with interactions between cells,
tissues, and organs within a plant.
– Different cells and tissues are physically and chemically
specialized to perform different functions.
– Roots and rhizoids function to anchor the plant and acquire
minerals in the soil.
– Leaves function to catch light in order to manufacture nutrients.
– For both of these organs to remain living, the minerals acquired by
the roots must be transported to the leaves and the nutrients
manufactured in the leaves must be transported to the roots.
– Plants have developed a number of means by which this transport
may occur, such as vascular tissue, and the functioning of the
various modes of transport is studied by plant physiologists.
Fourthly
• Plant physiologists study the ways that plants
control or regulate internal functions.
– plants produce chemicals called hormones which are
produced in one part of the plant to signal cells in
another part of the plant to respond.
– Many flowering plants bloom at the appropriate time
because of light-sensitive compounds that respond to
the length of the night, a phenomenon known as
photoperiodism.
– The ripening of fruit and loss of leaves in the winter are
controlled in part by the production of the gas ethylene
by the plant.
Finally
• Plant physiology includes the study of how
plants respond to conditions and variation in
the environment, a field known as
environmental physiology. Stress from
water loss, changes in air chemistry, or
crowding by other plants can lead to
changes in the way a plant functions. These
changes may be affected by genetic,
chemical, and physical factors.
Cell Structures & Plant
Anatomy
Cells Types & Structural
Differences
• Prokaryotic cells • Eukaryotic Cells
1. No organelles 1. Organelles
2. Cell membrane 2. Cell membrane
3. Nucleiod 3. Cytoplasm
4. Cell wall 4. Ribosomes
5. Ribosomes • Animal cells
1. Lysosomes
6. Cytoplasm
7. Plasmid • Plant Cells
8. Flagella/cilia NOT 1. Cell wall
organelles 2. Plastids
3. Large central vacuole
Plant Cell Illustration
The Cell Boundary
Cell Wall - structure found around plant cells, fungi cells, and
certain protists, as well as prokaryotic cells. Located outside of
the plasma membrane and is composed primarily of cellulose
(in plants).
Plant cell walls
• Extracellular cell wall made of cellulose.
• Plasmodesmata connect neighboring cells
• Primary cell walls--all plant cells
• Secondary cell walls only in some cells
Lignin--polymer of alcohols, stable, resistant
waterproof coating
The Cell Boundary
Plasma Membrane - selectively permeable
membrane that is approximately 0.1 um
thick
Internal Structures of Cells
Cytoplasm - semi fluid, that serves as a pool of raw
materials. Most (70%) is water, and the rest is proteins
(mostly), carbohydrates, and nucleotides, as well as their
monomers.
Nucleus
• Two chief functions
a) carry hereditary information
b) exert influence on ongoing cell activity, helping to
to maintain homeostasis.
• Contains DNA in the form of chromatin fibers or
chromosomes
• Nuclear Envelope - double membrane formed by two lipid
bi-layers perforated by pores through which RNA passes
• Nucleolus (typically 2 per cell) - it manufactures ribosomal
RNA
Organelles of
Synthesis, Storage, and Export
•Endoplasmic reticulum –
•Network of flattened hollow tubules and channels
•Smooth ER - manufactures lipids, contains enzymes
that detoxify certain poisons, transports carbohydrates,
lipids, and other non-proteins.
•Rough ER - these tubules are studded with ribosomes
•Ribosomes
•small structures occurring mostly in the cytoplasm
•site of protein synthesis
•molecular complexes of ribosomal RNA and proteins.
Golgi Apparatus
• Collection of flat sacs that transport proteins produced by
rough ER to the outside of the cell.
• Enzymes in the Golgi apparatus modify proteins by
adding functional groups.
Microbodies
Peroxisomes - aid in the metabolism of glycolic acid during
cell respiration
Glyoxysomes - contain enzymes aiding conversion of fats to
carbohydrates during seed germination of some
plants.
Energy Organelles
1. Mitochondria - double membrane bound organelle
• ATP is produced here by cell respiration
• elongate and surrounded by 2 phosphobilipid
membranes
Energy Organelles
2. Plastids - found in plants, some protists
a. Chloroplasts - site photosynthesis
• contain chlorophyll pigment
• double membranes like mitochondria
b. Chromoplasts - store yellow, orange, and red
pigments
• give the color to fruits and flowers
c. Leucoplasts - store starches and proteins in plants
Electron micrograph of
a chloroplast from a leaf
of timothy grass,
Phleum pratense
Vacuoles - Small in animal cells (storage)
• Plant cells - Central Vacuole appears as empty space,
pushing the other organelles and cytoplasm towards the
outer boundary of the cell & storing water.
• Vacuoles bound by a single membrane - tonoplast.
• Functions:
a) taking up space; pushing other organelles closer to the
plasma membrane & give cell its shape,
b) store waste products to be released later or to prevent
other organisms from eating them
c) in some single-celled organisms, they are used to
eliminate water (Contractile Vacuole).
The cells of a plant are classified
into three cell types
• Parenchyma cells
• Collenchyma cells
• Sclerenchyma cells
Parenchyma cells
• Least specialized cell type
• Primarily involved in metabolism
• Thin primary cell wall (no secondary
cell wall)
• Alive at maturity
• Examples: photosynthetic cells of the
shoot system , starch- or sugar-storing
cells
Collenchyma cells
• Unevenly thickened primary (1°) cell walls
• Mechanical support
• Cell walls are flexible (no 2° cell walls)
• Alive at maturity
• Example: the 'strings' in a stalk of celery
Sclerenchyma
• Mechanical support
• Thick secondary cell walls, often with
lignin
• Usually dead at maturity
• Fibers-long, sclereids-short
• Examples: flax stems (fibers), walnut
shells, gritty cells in pears (sclereids),
xylem cells
The cells of a plant are organized into
three tissue systems
• Dermal
• Vascular
• Ground
Dermal tissue system
• Function: protection, minimize water loss
• Epidermis covered by a waxy cuticle
• Leaves -- stomata and guard cells - by
which air enters the leaf.
• Long root hairs increase surface area for
water absorption.
Vascular tissue system-xylem
• Transport of water (and all dissolved
solutes) from roots
• Tracheids and vessel elements conduct
water
– Thick 2° cell walls
– Dead at maturity
Tracheids and vessel elements
• Tracheids: narrow and elongated
– Pits
– Gymnosperms have only tracheids
• Vessel elements - short and cylindrical
– Line up end-to-end (vessel)
– Holes in their end walls allow free
movement of water
– Only in angiosperms
Vascular tissue system-Phloem
• Sieve-tube members, companion cells
• Alive at maturity
• Sieve-tube members lack nuclei and
ribosomes. Dependent on companion cells
• Active transport between the cytoplasm of
successive sieve-tube members via
plasmodesmata.
• Selectively transport specific solute
molecules (e.g. sucrose).
Vascular tissues also provides some
mechanical support
• From the cell walls of tracheids and vessel
elements (sclerenchyma)
• From the hydrostatic pressure of the liquids
within the vascular tissue
Ground tissue system
• Fills the spaces between the epidermis and
vascular tissues
