Lewis/Life - Review of Key Concepts

Review of Key Concepts - Chapter 27

The tissues of a flowering plant are meristems, ground tissue, dermal tissue, and vascular tissue, which includes phloem and xylem. The plant body consists of a shoot and a root.
Meristems are localized collections of cells that divide throughout the life of the plant. Apical meristems located at the plant's tips provide primary growth, and lateral meristems add girth, or secondary growth.
Most of the plant body is ground tissue. It includes parenchyma cells, which can divide and store substances. Chlorenchyma is a type of parenchyma that photosynthesizes. Collenchyma supports growing shoots and sclerenchyma supports nonliving plant parts. Sclerenchyma includes sclereids, which form hard coverings, and fibers, which form strands.
Dermal tissue includes the epidermis, a single cell layer covering the plant, and the cuticle, which the epidermis secretes. Gas and water exchange occur through epidermal pores (stomata) and much water is lost through transpiration. Trichomes are epidermal outgrowths that deter predators.
Vascular tissue is an adaptation to multicellularity and life on land. Xylem transports water and dissolved minerals from roots upwards. Xylem cells are elongated with thick walls and are dead. They include the long, narrow, less-specialized tracheids and the more specialized, barrel-shaped vessel elements.
Phloem transports dissolved carbohydrates throughout a plant and includes sieve cells and the more specialized sieve tube members. Pores of sieve tube member cells cluster at sieve plates, allowing more efficient nutrient transport. Companion cells help transfer carbohydrates.
A stem is the central axis of the shoot and consists of nodes, where leaves attach, and internodes between leaves, where the stem elongates. Vascular bundles in the stem contain xylem and phloem, which are scattered in monocots and form a ring in dicots. Between a stem's epidermis and vascular tissue lies the cortex, made of ground tissue. Pith is storage ground tissue in the center of a stem. Stem modifications include stolons, thorns, succulent stems, tendrils, and tubers.
Simple leaves have undivided blades, and compound leaves form leaflets, which may be pinnate (with a central axis) or palmate (extend from a common point). Leaf organization may be alternate, opposite, or whorled. Leaves are the sites of photosynthesis.
Leaf epidermis is tightly packed, transparent, and nonphotosynthetic. Veins may be in either netted or parallel formation. Leaf ground tissue includes palisade and spongy mesophyll cells. Leaf modifications include tendrils, spines, bracts, storage leaves, insect-trapping leaves, and cotyledons. Leaves are shed from an abscission zone in response to environmental cues.
Roots absorb water and dissolved minerals. A plant's first root is the radicle. Taproot systems have a large, persistent major root, whereas fibrous root systems are shallow, branched, and shorter-lived. A root cap protects the tip as an apical meristem replaces cells lost during rapid extension. The subapical region behind the root cap is divided into three areas: the zones of cell division, cell elongation, and cell differentiation. This last zone includes root hairs, epidermis, and the cortex. The cortex consists of hypodermis, storage parenchyma, and endodermis. Some roots are specialized for storage or adapted to low-oxygen environments.
Secondary tissues increase a tall plant's girth and enable plants to reach sunlight. Two lateral meristems, vascular cambium and cork cambium, each produce secondary xylem and phloem to provide support. The vascular cambium forms a tree's wood, while cork cambium produces part of its bark.