Excr

eti
oni
nPl
ant
s
Iti
st heprocessbywhi chwast eproduct sofmet aboli
sm andot hernon–usef ul
mat eri
alsareeli
minatedfrom anor ganism.Itisanessent ialactivi
tyi
nl i
vi
ng
organisms.Met abol
ism i
st henamegi ventoal lchemi cal processest hatoccur
withinalivi
ngorganism i
nor dertomai ntai
nlife.Itisdividedi ntoanabol i
sm and
cataboli
sm.Anabol i
sm isthesy nt
hesi sofallcompoundsneededbyt hebody,while
cataboli
sm isthebreakdownofmol ecul
estoobt ainener gyf orbodyuse.
Met aboli
sm resul
tsinthepr oduct
ionofusef ul andusel esspr oducts,someofwhi ch
aretoxic.Accumulationoftoxicproduct smayhar mt heor ganism.Thusl i
ving
organismsr emovetheset oxicwastesf rom t
hei rsitesofpr oductioni
nt heprocess
call
edexcr eti
on.
Excr
etor
yPr
oduct
sinPl
ant
s
The maj orexcretorypr oductsin plants ar
e carbon di
oxide,excess waterand
nit
rogenouscompounds.Car bondi oxideandexcesswat erarepr oduceddur i
ng
respi
ration,whil
eni trogenouscompoundsar eproducedduringprotei
nmet abol
ism.
Exampl esofexcr etoryproductsi
nplantsareOxy gen,wat
ervapour,carbon–dioxide,
resi
n,tannins,gum, r
ubber,l
atex,
essential–oil
s,etc.
Excr
etor
yOr
gansofPl
ant
s
Stomat a:(
singul
ar=st oma):St
omai sapor efoundintheepi
der
misofleav
es,stems
andot herorgansthatisusedtocontr
ol gaseousexchangeandl
ossofwatervapour
.
Iti
sbor der
edbyapai rofspeci
ali
sedparenchymacellsknownasguar
d-cel
lst
hatare
responsibl
ef orr
egulati
ngthesizeofthestoma.
Hydathodes:Ahydathodeisat y
peofsecretor
yti
ssueinl eav
es,usual
l
yfoundi
n
angi
osperms,t
hatexcreteswat
erthr
oughporesatt
heleaft
ip.
Lenti
cels:A lenti
celisapor oustissueconsisti
ngofcel l
swithlar
gei nt
ercel
l
ular
spacesint hecov er
ingofsecondari
lythi
ckenedor ganssuchasthebarkofwoody
stemsandr ootsofdicot
s.Lenticel
sarealsopresentonmanyfrui
ts.I
tfunct
ionsasa
poreforexcreti
ngexcesswat er
.
Cuti
cles:Acuti
clei
sthenon-
cel
lul
arwaxycoati
ngoft
heepi
der
misofal
lter
rest
ri
al
pl
ants.Itser
vesasporef
orexcr
eti
ngexcesswater
.
Mechani
smsofExcr
eti
oni
nPl
ant
s
Pl antslackawel l–dev elopedex cretorysystem l
ikethatinani mals,soexcr
etionin
plant sisnotsocompl ex.Excretionofcar bon–di oxideandoxy gen,twogaseous
wast e pr oducts produced by pl ants dur ing respir
ation and phot osy
nthesis
respect i
vely,t
akeplacet hrought hest omat alpor
esonl eaves.Theoxy genisused
forr espi
rati
onwhi l
ecarbondi oxidei susedf orphotosynthesis.Excesswaterisalso
excr etedfrom theplantbodyt hrought hest omatalpor esont hel eav
esandf r
om
sur f
acesoff r
uit
sandl enticel
sont hest ems.Thepr ocessofel iminati
onofexcess
wat eriscalledtr
anspir
ation.
Nit
rogenouscompoundssuchasgum,oil
s,l
atex,r
esi
ns,et
c.arestor
edi nplantpar
ts
l
ike barks,st
ems,leav
es,etc.Event
ual
ly,plant
s shed of
ft hese part
s.The oil
producedfrom orange,eucal
yptus,j
asmine;l
atexfr
om t
herubbertree,papayatree
andgumsf rom acaciaarediff
erentfor
msofst or
edwast
epr oducts.Sometimes,
plantsexcr
etewast eproduct
sintothesoil.Excr
eti
oni
naquati
cpl antstakesplace
throughdif
fusi
on.
I
mpor
tanceofExcr
eti
oni
nPl
ant
s
 I
tremov
eswast
epr
oduct
sfr
om t
hebodyofpl
ant
s
 Oxygeni
sthemostusef
ulex
cret
orypr
oductofpl
ant
sandi
sessent
ialf
or
l
if
eonearth.
 Phy
tochemi
cal
shav
emedi
cinal
andi
ndust
ri
alv
alues.
 Woodofpl
ant
sisusedf
ormaki
ngpaper
,fur
nit
ure,
etc.
Tr
anspor
tat
ioni
nHi
gherPl
ant
s
Meani
ngofTr
anspor
tat
ion
I
ti sthemov ementofmat er
ialsinsol ut
ionwi t
hinthebodyofal ivi
ngthi
ng.Essent ial
mat eri
alssuchasf ood,oxy genandhor monesar emov edfrom thei
rsour cest o
wher etheycanbeut i
l
izedorst oredwhi lewastepr oductssuchascarbon–di oxide,
urea,etc.aremov edtot heexcr etoryorganswher etheycanbeel i
minat
edoutoft he
body .I
nhi gheranimals,themedi um oft ransport
ationisthebloodwhileitissapi n
higherplants.Theorgansoft ransportati
oni nhigheranimalsaretheheartandbl ood
vessels(arteri
esandv ei
ns)whi l
et heor gansoft ransport
ati
oninhigherplant sare
thexy l
em andphl oem,jointl
ycal l
edt hev ascul
arbundles.
Mat
eri
alsThatar
eTr
anspor
tedi
nLi
vi
ngThi
ngs
Material
st hataretransport
edinhigherplant
sar ewater,mi
neralsal
ts,product
sof
photosynthesisandhor mones,whi
lematerial
sthatar
et r
anspor
tedinhigheranimal
s
areexcretoryproducts,di
gestedf
ood,hormones,heatandoxygen.
Reasonsf
orTr
anspor
tat
ioni
nLi
vi
ngThi
ngs
1.I
nhi
gherplant
sandanimals,theSur
faceArea(S.
A.)t
oVolumerati
oist
oo
l
ow,
ther
eforemat
eri
alscannotbemovedef
fecti
vel
ythr
oughdi
ff
usi
on.
2.Theplacesofproducti
onofmat er
ialssuchashormonesanddi gestedf
ood
wit
hinthebodyarefarf
rom wheretheycanbeuti
l
ised.Si
mil
arl
y,placeswhere
thewasteproductsareproducedarenotclosetotheexcr
etor
yor gansthat
canremovethem fr
om thebody.
3.Someoft
hemat
eri
alst
hatar
etr
anspor
tedar
ever
ylar
gei
nsi
zeandquant
it
y.
Or
gansofTr
anspor
tat
ioni
nHi
gherPl
ant
s
Wat erandsomemi neralnut
ri
entsaretranspor
tedbythexylem f r
om t
heroot
s
upwar dstoot herpart
soft heplant,whi
l
epr oduct
sofphotosynthesi
sandsome
organicnutr
ientsaret r
ansport
edbyt hephloem fr
om gr
eenleavesandtheroot
s
respecti
vel
y,tootherpartsoft
heplant.
Xy l
em ismadeupoft racheids,xylem element s,parenchymacellsandf i
br es.They
arealldeadcel l
s.Thephl oem t issueconsi stsofsi evet ubes(sieveel ements)
,
parenchymacell
s(companioncel ls,albuminouscel l
s),fi
bresandsclerei
ds.Theyar e
alll
ivi
ngcell
s.Thephloem isf oundont heoutsideoft hexy l
em i
nmostpl ants.I
tis
theinnermostl
ayerofthebarkoft rees.Ittr
anspor t
smat erial
sinal
ldirect
ionswi t
hin
theplantbody.

Pl
ate1:
Cross-
Sect
ionofaDi
cotRootshowi
ngt
hephl
oem andxy
lem.

(
Avai
l
abl
eonl
i
ne@
i
l
e:/
//E:
/Books/
Anat
omy
%20of
%20a%20Ty
pical
%20Di
cot
%20Root
%20_
%20Tut
orv
ist
a.com.
htm)

Mechani
smsofTr
anspor
tat
ioni
nHi
gherPl
ant
s

Material
sthataret
ranspor
tedarewat
er,
product
sofphotosy
nthesisandminer
al
nutr
ients.Themechanismsinv
olvedi
ntr
ansport
ingt
hesemateri
alsdif
fer
,andare
expl
ainedasf ol
l
ows

Mechani
sm ofTr
anspor
tat
ionofWat
eri
nHi
gherPl
ant
s
Wat erisabsor bedbyt her oothairsfrom thesoilt hroughosmosi sandi tmov es
withint herootcellsbyosmosi suntilitreachest hexy l
em v esselsinthest em.
Mov ementofwat erwithinthexylem vesselsisalongaconcent r
ationgradi
entina
passivepr ocessgov er
nedbycohesi on,adhesionandt r
anspirati
onpul l
.Cohesionis
thef orcebetweensi milarmoleculeswhileadhesioni st heforcebet weendiffer
ent
mol ecules.Transpi
rati
onpul li
sasar esultoft r
anspirati
on( l
ossofwat ervapourin
plants).

Wat erisapol armol ecule,andformshy dr

ogenbondsbet weenpositiv
ely–charged
+ -
hydrogeni ons( H )andnegat i
vely–chargedoxy genions(O).Hydr
ogenbondshav e
tensionbet weent hem,sowat ermol ecul
esst i
cktogetherasacol umnandmov e
togetherupwar dsi nthexy l
em vessel
s.Whent r
anspir
ati
onoccursintheleav
es,the
restoft hewat ermol eculesinthexyl
em v essel
swi l
lbeundertensi
onandar ethen
pull
edupt hest em,likewat ermov i
ngupast r
aw.Thisiscalledthecohesion–
t
ensi
ont
heor
y.
Mechani
sm ofTr
anspor
tat
ionofPr
oduct
sofPhot
osy
nthesi
sinHi
gher
Pl
ant
s
Mov ementofpr oductsofphot osy nt
hesist
hroughthephloem iscall
edt r
anslocati
on.
Thepr oductsofphot osynthesisar emov edfrom greenleavest ov ari
ousnon–
photosynthet
icpartsoft hepl ant
.Sinceagr eenleafisthesi
teofphot osynthesis,i
t
i
scal l
edasugarsour ce.Storageor ganssuchasr ootscanalsobesugarsour cesif
theyarer el
easingsugar s,suchasaf t
erthewi nt
er.Phl
oem makesi t
sdel i
veri
est o
sugarsinks(placesthatdonotpr oducesugars)inamulti–dir
ectionalpatt
ern.
Thesievetubeel ement softhephl oem lineupendt oendl i
keanev erl
astingt r
affi
c
j
am.Thesi eveel ementsloadsugar satt hesugarsour cesinapr ocesscal l
ed
phloem l
oading.Dur i
ngthisprocess,solutesar eact i
vel
ytransport
edintot hecellsof
+
thesieveelement susingHy drogeni ons( H) /AdenosineTr i
oPhosphat e( ATP)
pump.Af t
erphl oem loadi
ng,wat ermov esi ntot hecel
lsoft hesieveelement sby
osmosis.Thef low ofwat ercausest urgorpr essuretobuildupf orcingt hesieve
elementstomov e.Whent hesugar sar ri
veatt hesinks,thephloem unl oadsits
contentthr
ought hefl
owofwat eroutoft hesi eveelements.Thiswat ercar r
iesthe
sugars.
Mechani
sm ofTr
anspor
tat
ionofMi
ner
alNut
ri
ent
sinHi
gherPl
ant
s
Macr o–andmi cr o–nut r
ient
sar etransport
edt hroughthev ascularbundl
esaswel l
.
Roothai rsabsor bthesenutri
entsfrom thesoi l
;inorgani
cmi neralnutri
ent
smov eup
thepl antthrought hexy l
em v esselswhi l
et hephl oem takescar eoft heorgani
c
mi ner
alnut r
ients.Themi neralnutri
entsar edeliveredinthear east hatneedthem
suchasnewl eav esorbranches.Themi neralnutri
entsmov ebydi f
fusi
onoractiv
e
transportwit
hint hexylem andphloem.