Nutrition in Plant

Nutrition: Process of collecting food

2 types: i) Autotrophic ii) Heterotrophic
Plants are autotrophic.
Produce their food by photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis:
● The process by which plants manufacture carbohydrates from CO2 and water using
energy from light.
● O2 is released as a by-product of the process.
carbon dioxide + water →chlorophyll + light → glucose + oxygen

● Respiration and Photosynthesis occur in plants for 24 hours.

● At night the rate of respiration is higher than the rate of photosynthesis.
● In the presence of light, the rate of photosynthesis is higher than the rate of
respiration.

Importance of photosynthesis:
○ A source of food
○ Reduces the CO2 conc. in the environment
○ Provide O2 to the atmosphere
○ Keep the soil water level near the ground.
○ Retain rain water
○ Maintain moisture in the atmosphere

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Importance of chlorophyll, CO2 and light:
● chlorophyll transfers light energy into chemical energy in molecules, for the
synthesis of carbohydrates.
● CO2 is converted into sugars such as glucose.
● Light acts as the “fuel” or energy to drive the reaction
Variables of photosynthesis:
Constant
● Temperature
● Oxygen conc.
Independent variable
● Light intensity
● CO2 conc.
Stages of photosynthesis: 2
1. Light dependent:
Light energy ---[chlorophyll]-------> Chemical energy
12 H2O --[photolysis]-> 6O2 + 24 H+
2. Light independent:
CO2 + 24 H+ + Chemical energy ----> C6H12O6 + 6 H2O (v)
The process of photosynthesis
1. Green plants take in CO2 through their leaves (by diffusion).
2. H2O is absorbed through plants’ roots (by osmosis), and transported to the leaf
through xylem vessels.
3. Chlorophyll traps light energy and absorbs it.
4. This energy is used to break up H2O molecules, then to bond hydrogen and CO2 to
form glucose.
5. Glucose is usually changed to sucrose for transport around the plant, or to starch for
storage.
6. O2 is released as a waste product, or used by plants for respiration.
7. In this process, light energy is converted to chemical energy for the formation of
glucose and its subsequent storage.
Fate of glucose in plants:
● Excess glucose is stored temporarily in leaf as starch
● Excess glucose is stored permanently in phloem and sinks as sucrose
● Transported out of the source into the sink cells.
eg. the growing buds, the ripening fruits, the roots and the underground storage
organs.
● The sugar can be used for respiration to provide energy.
● Rearrange to form amino acids and proteins. eg. proteins for its cytoplasm and
pigments for its flower petals etc.
● Excess sugar molecules are rearranged to form carbohydrates and lipids. eg.
cellulose for cell wall, lipids for cell membrane etc.

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Lamina:

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1. Cuticle:

· made of wax – waterproofing/prevent loss of moisture from the leaf

· secreted by cells of the upper epidermis

2. Upper epidermis

· thin and transparent – allows light to pass through

· no chloroplasts are present

· act as a barrier to harmful organisms

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 Nutrition in Plant
3. Palisade mesophyll

· main region for photosynthesis

· cells are columnar (elongated) and packed with chloroplasts to trap light energy

· receive CO2 by diffusion from air spaces in the spongy mesophyll

4. Spongy mesophyll

· cells are more spherical and loosely packed

· contain chloroplasts, less than palisade cells

· air spaces between cells allow gaseous exchange – CO2 to the cells, O2 from the cells
during photosynthesis

5. Vascular bundle

· this is a leaf vein, made up of xylem and phloem

· xylem vessels bring water and minerals to the leaf

· phloem vessels transport sugars and amino acids away (translocation)

6.Lower epidermis

· acts as a protective layer

· stomata are present to regulate the loss of water

vapour (transpiration)

· site of gaseous exchange into and out of the leaf

7. Stomata

- each stomata is surrounded by a pair of guard cells

- guard cells – control whether the stoma is open or closed

- water vapour passes out during transpiration

- CO2 diffuses in and O2 diffuses out during photosynthesis

Compensation point: no intake or output of carbon dioxide or oxygen.

Effect of gas exchange of an aquatic plant kept in the light and in the dark:
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 Nutrition in Plant
Hydrogen carbonate indicator is used to show carbon dioxide concentration in
solution. It is:
● yellow in high concentrations of CO2
● red in equal conc. Of CO2 in the atmosphere and inside leaf
● purple in low conc. of CO2

Place a leaf from a plant in a stoppered boiling tube containing some hydrogen
carbonate indicator. You can then investigate the effect of light over a period of a few
hours.

Adaptation of leaf for photosynthesis::

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Essential ions:

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Nitrates
· plants absorb nitrate ions from the soil, through their root hairs
· nitrate ions combine with glucose -----> amino acids
· amino acids bond together -----> protein
· deficiency causes poor growth of leaves. The stem becomes weak, lower leaves become
yellow and die, while upper leaves turn pale green
Magnesium
· plants absorb magnesium ions from the soil solution
· used for the manufacture of chlorophyll
· each chlorophyll contains one magnesium atom
· deficiency makes leaves turn yellow from the bottom of the stem upwards and eventually
stops photosynthesis

Principles of investigations
1. Investigations need controls
· Control plant (or leave) has all the substances it needs.
· Test plant lacks one substance (light/chlorophyll/CO2)
2. Plants must be destarched
· Leaves should not have any starch in them at the beginning of the experiment.
· So, the plants must be destarched by keeping them in the dark for 48 hours. The plants
use up all stores of starch in its leaves.
Starch test with Iodine solution
· After a few hours, a starch test is carried out on both the plants: Iodine solution is used; a
blue-black colour on the leaves is positive.
· Boil the leaf in water for 30 seconds. This kill the cells in the
leaf ----> break down the membrane -----> iodine solution gets through the cell membrane
to reach starch inside the chloroplasts and react with them.

Factor affecting photosynthesis:

1. Light intensity
2. CO2 conc.
3. Temperature
4. Opening and closing of stomata

Limiting factor: Factors that can control the speed of a process or a reaction.
Light Intensity
● In the dark, a plant cannot photosynthesise at all.
● In dim light, it can photosynthesise slowly.
● As light intensity increases, the rate of photosynthesis will increase, until a limiting
factor is limiting the speed.
● At this point, even if the light becomes brighter, the plant cannot photosynthesise
any faster.
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Between A and B in the graph, light is a limiting factor. The plant has a limited rate of
photosynthesis because of insufficient light. Between B and C, light is not a limiting factor.
The plant still cannot photosynthesise any faster though it has sufficient light.

Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide can also be a limiting factor. The more carbon dioxide a plant is given, the
faster it can photosynthesise up to a point, until a maximum conc. is reached.

Temperature
At low temperatures, photosynthesis can only take place very slowly. So a plant can
photosynthesise faster on a warm day than on a cold one.

Stomata
● The carbon dioxide diffuses into the leaf through the stomata. If the stomata are
closed, then photosynthesis cannot take place.

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● Stomata often close if the weather is very hot and sunny, to prevent too much water
being lost.
● This means that on a really hot day photosynthesis may slow down.

How guard cells control the movement of stomata:

1. In the presence of light, the conc. Of K+ (potassium ion) increases in the guard cells.
2. Chloroplast pumps potassium ions into the guard cells from neighbouring epidermal
cells during photosynthesis.
3. Water enters into the guard cells from the neighbouring epidermal cells as the water
potential in the guard cells decreases.
4. Guard cells have thicker cellulose cell walls on the side around the stomata. Thus
guard cells swell and become curved pulling the stomata open.
5. Potassium ions accumulated in the guard cells during the day diffuse out of them
and water potential becomes higher inside the guard cells.
6. Water leaves out of the guard cells due to increased water potential there.
7. Hence the guard cells become flaccid and the stomata closes.

Difference between the guard cells and epidermal cells

Guard Cell Epidermal Cell

Bean shaped in surface view Irregular in shape

Contain chloroplast to manufacture food by Do not contain chloroplast

photosynthesis.

Able to control the rate of gaseous diffusion in and Can not control the rate of gaseous
out of the leaf by controlling the size of stomata. diffusion.

Cell wall near the stoma is thicker than elsewhere Uniform thickness in the cell wall.
in the cell.

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 Nutrition in Plant
Investigating photosynthesis using a water plant

● As photosynthesis occurs, oxygen gas produced is released

● As the plant is in water, the oxygen released can be seen as bubbles leaving the cut
end of the pond weed
● The number of bubbles produced over a minute can be counted to record the rate
● The more bubbles produced per minute, the faster the rate of photosynthesis
● A more accurate version of this experiment is to collect the oxygen released in a test
tube inverted over the top of the pondweed over a longer period of time and then
measure the volume of the oxygen collected
● This practical can be used to investigate the effect of changing light intensity (by
moving a lamp different distances away from the beaker containing the pondweed)
or changing carbon dioxide concentration (by dissolving different amounts of
sodium hydrogen carbonate in the water in the beaker)

Investigating the production of starch and the need for chlorophyll

● Although plants make glucose in photosynthesis, leaves cannot be tested for its
presence as the glucose is quickly used, converted into other substances and
transported or stored as starch.
● Starch is stored in chloroplasts where photosynthesis occurs so testing a leaf for
starch is a reliable indicator of which parts of the leaf are photosynthesising.

Leaves can be tested for starch using the following procedure:

● A leaf is dropped in boiling water to kill and break down the cell walls
● The leaf is left for 10 minutes in hot ethanol in a boiling tube. This removes the
chlorophyll so colour changes from iodine can be seen more clearly
● The leaf is dipped in boiling water to soften it
● The leaf is spread out in a Petri dish and covered with iodine solution
● In a green leaf, the entire leaf will turn blue-black as photosynthesis is occuring in all
areas of the leaf
● This method can also be used to test whether chlorophyll is needed for
photosynthesis by using a variegated leaf (one that is partially green and partially
white)
● The white areas of the leaf contain no chlorophyll and when the leaf is tested only
the areas that contain chlorophyll stain blue-black
● The areas that had no chlorophyll remain orange-brown as no photosynthesis is
occurring here and so no starch is stored

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