Plant Life Processes Affecting Crop Production

Course and Title CrSc 1.1 (Principles of Crop Science) Date December 07, 2022
Name Raniel John M. Collantes
Yr & Sec 1 – ABE2 Score
Lab Sched Wednesday 9:00 am – 11:00 am

Answer the following questions to guide in understanding and learning the topics:

A. PHOTOSYNTHESIS
1. What is photosynthesis?
 Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and other organisms convert
light energy into chemical energy, which is then released through cellular
respiration to power the organism's activity.
2. What are the requirements of photosynthesis?
 For photosynthesis, is the conversion of light energy into chemical energy by
plants and other organisms, which is then released through cellular
respiration to power the organism’s activity.
3. What are the products of photosynthesis?
 In photosynthesis carbon dioxide and water are converted into oxygen and
glucose Plants use glucose as food, and oxygen is produced as a byproduct.
Cellular respiration is the process by which oxygen and glucose are converted
into water and carbon dioxide. Water and carbon dioxide are byproducts, and
ATP is the process’s converted energy.

4. What happens during the light reaction/ photochemical reaction?

 Light-dependent reactions are photochemical reactions that occur in the
chloroplast thylakoid membrane in which light energy is converted into
adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
phosphate (NADPH).

5. What happens during the dark reaction/ biochemical reaction?

 In the dark reaction, plants use carbon dioxide along with ATP and NADPH
from the light reaction to produce glucose. It occurs in the stroma of the
chloroplast.

6. Differentiate the Calvin-Benson or C3 pathway, Hatch-Slack or C4 pathway and the

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM).
 C3 plants have no special photorespiration control properties, whereas C4
plants minimize photorespiration by carrying out carbon dioxide fixation and
the Calvin cycle in separate cells. CAM plants, on the other hand, minimize
photorespiration by performing carbon dioxide fixation and the Calvin cycle
at separate times.

7. Give examples plants following the C3, C4 or CAM pathways.

C3 Plants Example:
 Barley, Oat, Rice, Rye, Wheat, Peanuts, Potato, Soybeans, Cotton, Sugar
beets, Tobacco and Spinach
C4 Plants Example:

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  Corn, Sorghum, Sugarcane, Millet, Bermuda grass and Amaranth
CAM Plants Example:
 Aloe vera, Cactus, Sedum, Pineapple and Orchids
8. What is Kranz anatomy?
 The word Kranz means “ring” or “wreath”. The mesophyll cells are arranged
in a ring-like pattern around the bundle-sheath cells in the Kranz Anatomy of
C4 plants. The bundle-sheath cells have a greater number of chloroplasts than
mesophyll cells.

9. What is light saturation point? How about light compensation point?

Light Saturation
 at low levels of light intensity the gross assimilation rate of an individual leaf
increases linearly with light intensity.
Light Compensation
 the rate of photosynthesis is equal to the rateof respiration
10. What is photorespiration? Is it advantageous or disadvantageous in food production?
 Photorespiration refers to a process in plants metabolism where the enzyme
RuBisCo oxygenates RuBP, wasting some of the energy produced by
photosynthesis, it is disadvantageous to plants specially on C3 plants because
it reduces plants productivity, which is why it is also known as a wasteful
process. Many higher plants use photorespiration as means of respiration.
11. List down your learnings about photosynthesis and its application in crop production.
 Green plants and certain organisms convert light energy into chemical energy
through process is called photosynthesis. Light energy gathered and utilized
during photosynthesis in green plants to change water, carbon dioxide and
minerals into oxygen and energy-rich moleculs.

B. RESPIRATION
1. What is respiration? Where does it take place, which organ/s of the plant?
 Respiration is the oxidation of food by plants and also by animals to give off
energy for cellular activities. Respiration takes place in the mitochondria of
the cell in the presence of oxygen.

2. What are the requirements of respiration? How about its products?

 CH2O (product of photosynthesis) and oxygen (for aerobic respiration) are the
requirements pf the respiration process. The breaking down of the products of
photosynthesis to release CO2, H2O and energy involve three major reactions
and these are glycolysis, Kreb’s cycle and the electron transport system
(ETS).
3. Describe the respiration process.
 The process of respiration in plants involves using the sugars produced during
photosynthesis plus oxygen to produced energy for plant growth. In many
ways, respiration is the opposite of photosynthesis. In the natural
environment, plants produces their own food to survive.
4. What factors influence the rate of respiration? Explain how its factor affect the
respiration process.
 Oxygen content of atmosphere
 Effects of temperature
 Effect of light
 Effect of water contents

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  Effect of Respirable Material
 Effect of Carbon Dioxide Concentration
 Protoplasmic Conditions
are some factors influence the rate of respiration. Like most chemical
reactions, the rate of respiration is greatly influenced by this factors because it
is rapidly affects plants to respire after having exposed to these factors.
5. What do you understand about: Crop production = Assimilation – Respiration
 Assimilation process like photosynthesis are advantageous to crop production,
while respiration produces the opposite by products needed for crop
production namely carbon dioxide and water.
6. List down your learnings about respiration and its application in crop production.
 Respiration is essential for growth and maintenance of all plant tissues, and
plays an important role in the carbon balance of individual cells, whole-plants
and ecosystems, as well as in the global carbon cycle.

C. TRANSLOCATION
1. What is translocation? Describe the process.
 Refers to the movement of water and food materials in plants. The water
absorbed by the roots is being conducted on an upward direction to the
different parts of the plant through the xylem.

2. What are the functions of phloem in the translocation process?

 Through the system of translocation, the phloem moves photoassimilates,
mainly in the form of sucrose sugar and proteins, from the leaves where they
are produced by photosynthesis to the rest of the plants.

3. What are the functions of xylem in the translocation process?

 Xylem transport water and mineral salts from the roots up to the other parts of
the plants.

4. List down your learnings about the translocation process and its application in crop
production.
 Translocation connects distant components of the plant body, xylem and
phloem have long been considered to fulfill a role in communicating between
organs, through movement of plants hormones and other signaling molecules.
Such signals are envisaged to move with assimilates by mass flow.

D. TRANSPIRATION
1. What is transpiration?
 Is the loss of water from a plant in the form of vapor.

2. In which part of the plant does it take place?

 Transpiration takes place at the stomata.

3. What’s the importance of transpiration in plants?

 The importance of transpiration in plants is to cool the plant and provide water
and nutrients to the leaves.

4. What are the factors that affect the rate of transpiration? Aside from enumerating,
explain how each factor affects the rate of transpiration.

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 Factors affecting rate of transpiration:
A. Plant Factors:
 Root-shoot ratio – transpiration increases with increases in the root shoot
ratio. Under conditions favorable for good transpiration, the rate of the
transpiration is controlled by the efficiency of the absorbing surface and the
evaporating surface
 Leaf area – the larger the leaf area the greater is the magnitude of the water
loss.
 Leaf structure – plants with thick cuticle stomata, thick cell walls may loss
water at a slower rate
B. Environmental Factors:
 Light – stomata open when exposed to light except for those of CAM plants.
Open stomata allow transpiration to proceed.
 Humidity of the air – when the external humidity is high the vapor from the
leaf does not easily move out.
 Temperature – temperature affects rates of transpiration due to its effect on
stomata movement and humidity of air. At very low temperature the stomata
close.
 Wind – strong wind that blows and disperses the water vapor that
accumulates in the area of the leaf allows increased transpiration.

5. List down your learnings about the transpiration process and its application in crop
production.
 I have found that plants transpire the most during the afternoon. These results
would help people who leaves in dry/desert areas, as they would know the
best time to collect transpiration would be during the afternoon. Transpiration
helps in the conduction of water and minerals to different parts of the plants.
Due to the continuous elimination of water from the plant body, there is a
balance of water maintained within the plant. It maintains osmosis and keeps
the cells rigid.

E. ABSORPTION
1. What is active absorption? How about passive absorption?
 Active absorption refers to the absorption of water by roots with the help of
adenosine triphosphate, generated by the root respiration: as the root cells
actively take part in the process while passive absorption is the absorption that
occurs through the transpiration.

2. What are the factors that affect absorption? Explain how each factor affects
absorption.
 Temperature – at low soil temperature water absorption is lesser.
 Osmic potential of soil solution – water is absorbed because of the water
potential gradient that exists between the soil solution and the cell sap. Water
moves from where there is high salt concentration to where there is low salt
concentration.
 Soil aeration – poor soil aeration due to cases such as waterlogging results in
low water absorption. Under a waterlogged condition water molecules are
displacing oxygen in the soi;. Prolonged poor aeration will retard root growth
and metabolism.

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  CO 2 concentration – increased in CO 2 concentration in the soil retards water
absorption due to the viscosity of protoplasm and decreased permeability of
the root to the water that result from it.
 Soil moisture – the amount of water available for plant use is that between the
field capacity and permanent wilting percentage. Field capacity refers to the
amount of water the soils holds after it has been thoroughly wetted and
allowed to drain until capillary movement of water stops. Permanent willing
percentage is the percentage of the soil moisture left when the plant growing
soil first showed symptoms of permanent wilting. A PWP a plant will not
regain turgor even when subjected to conditions of abundant moisture.
3. List down your learnings about the absorption process and its application in crop
production.
 Absorption of water in plants is a vital process that is important for plant
growth and other metabolic activities. Water absorption in the lower plants
takes place by the process of osmosis through the whole plant body. In higher
plants, the mechanism of water absorption is through the root hairs.

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