Tissues

Introduction
→ A group of cells that are similar in structure and/or work
together to achieve a particular function forms a tissue.
→ Most of the tissues in plants are supportive, which provides
them with structural strength.
→ These tissues are dead, since dead cells can provide
mechanical strength as easily as live ones, and need less
maintenance.
→ Plant Tissues are of two types Meristematic & Permanent
tissues.

Meristematic Tissue
→ These are simple living tissues having thin walled compactly
arranged immature cells which are capable of division and
formation of new cells.

Features of Meristematic tissues:

→ Thin primary cell wall (cellulosic).
→ Intercellular spaces are absent (compact tissue).
→ Generally vacuoles are absent, dense cytoplasm & prominent
nuclei are present.
→ Large numbers of cell organelles are present.
→ Active metabolic state, stored food is absent.
→ Actively dividing cells are present in growing regions of plants,
example: root & shoot tips.

Classification of Meristematic Tissues on the Basis of

Origin
• Primary (Promeristem)
→ Derived directly from the meristems of embryo.
→ They consist of cells derived from primary meristem.
→ They add to primary growth of plants.
• Secondary Meristematic Tissues
→ Formed by permanent tissues.
→ These are having cells derived from primary permanent tissue.

→ They usually add to the diameter of plants.

Classification of Meristematic Tissues on the Basis of

Location

• Apical Meristem
→ It is present at the growing tips of stems and roots.
→ Cell division in this tissue leads to the elongation of stem &
root, thus it is involved in primary growth of the plant.

• Intercalary Meristem
→ It is present behind the apex.
→ It is the part of apical meristem which is left behind during
growth period.
→ These are present at the base of leaf & internode region.
→ These lead to the increase in the length of leaf (Primary),
example: in grass stem, bamboo stem, mint stem etc.

• Lateral Meristem
→ It is also called as secondary meristem.
→ It occurs along the sides of longitudinal axis of the plant.
→ It gives rise to the vascular tissues.
→ Causes growth in girth of stem & root.
→ They are responsible for secondary growth.

Permanent Tissue
→ The permanent tissues are composed of those cells which have
lost their capability to divide.
→ They have definite shape, size and thickness. The permanent
tissue may be dead or living.
→ The division & differentiation of the cells of meristematic
tissues give rise to permanent tissues.
→ In cell differentiation, developing tissue and organs change
from simple to more complex forms to become specialized for
specific functions.
→ The cells of permanent tissue loose the capacity to divide and
attain a permanent shape, size and function.
• Permanent tissues are classified into two types on the basis of
Structure and Composition i.e. Simple Permanent Tissues and
Complex Permanent Tissues.

Simple Permanent Tissues

→ These are made up of same type of cells which are similar
structurally and functionally.
→ They include two types of tissue Protective tissues and
Supporting Tissues.

• Protective Tissues: These tissues are primarily protective in

function.
→ They consist of Epidermis and Cork/Phellem.

(i) Epidermis
→ Epidermis forms one cell thick outermost layer of various body
organs of plants such as leaves, flowers, stems and roots.
→ Epidermis is covered outside by cuticle. Cuticle is a water-proof
layer of waxy substance called as cutin which is secreted by the
epidermal cells.
→ Cuticle is very thick in xerophytes.
→ Cells of epidermis of leaves are not continuous at some places
due to the presence of small pores called as stomata.
→ Each stomata is guarded by a pair of bean-shaped cells called
as guard cells. These are the only epidermal cells which possess
chloroplasts, the rest being colourless.

Functions of Epidermis
→ The main function of epidermis is to protect the plant from
desiccation and infection.
→ Cuticle of epidermis cuts the rate of transpiration and
evaporation of water and prevents wilting.
→ Stomata in epidermis allow gaseous exchange to occur during
photosynthesis respiration.
→ Stomata also helps in transpiration.

(ii) Cork or Phellem

→ In older roots and stems, tissues at the periphery become cork
cells or phellem cells.
→ Cork is made up to dead cells with thick walls and do not have
any intercellular spaces.
→ The cell walls in cork deposit waxy substance called as suberin.
→ The cells of cork become impermeable to water and gases due
to the deposition of suberin.
→ The cork cells are without any protoplasm but are filled with
resins or tannins.

Functions of Cork
→ Cork is protective in function. Cork cells prevent desiccation,
infection and mechanical injury.
→ Imperviousness, lightness, toughness, compressibility and
elasticity make the cork commercially valuable.
→ Cork is used for insulation, as shock absorber in linoleum.
→ Cork is used in the making of a variety of sport goods such as
cricket balls, table tennis, shuttle cocks, wooden paddles etc.

• Supporting Tissues: These are supportive in function.

→ There are three types of Supporting tissues i.e. Parenchyma,
Collenchyma and Sclerenchyma.

(i) Parenchyma

→ It is the fundamental tissue.

→ Tissue first time evolved in bryophyte.
→ Thin walled cells, oval or spherical in structure.

→ Cell wall mainly composed of cellulose & pectin.

→ Large central vacuole for food & water storage.
→ Primary function is food storage.

→ Some parenchyma involved in excretory substance storage are

so called as idioblast, storing such as resin, tannin, gums & oils.
→ In typical parenchyma chlorophyll is absent.
→ Chloroplast containing parenchyma tissue are
chlorenchyma which perform photosynthesis such as mesophyll of
leaves.
→ In hydrophytic plants aerenchyma (a type of parenchyma
containing air spaces) provides buoyancy.
→ Parenchyma provides turgidity to cells.

(ii) Collenchyma

→ It is the living mechanical tissue.

→ Elongated cells with thick corners.
→ Localized cellulose & pectin thickening.
→ Provides flexibility to plant parts & easy bending of various
parts of plant.
→ Present only in herbaceous dicot stem.
→ Present at thin margin of leaves.
→ Few chloroplasts may be present.
→ Gives mechanical strength & elasticity to the growing stems.

(iii) Sclerenchyma (Scleras–hard) Strengthening tissue.

→ Composed of extremely thick walled cells with little or no
protoplasm.
→ Cells are dead & possess very thick lignified walls.
→ Lignin is water-proof material.
→ Intercellular spaces are absent.
• Cells of sclerenchyma are of two types Sclereids and Fibres.
• Sclereids
→ These are also called grit cells or stone cells.
→ These are small cells, where lumen is so small due to higher
thickening of cell wall, as present in drup fruit (mango, coconut,
walnut) in legume seeds (Macrosclereid).

• Fibers
→ They are very long, narrow, thick, lignified cells. Lumen is large
as compared to sclereids.
They are generally 1-3 mm long.
→ In the thick walls of both the fibres and sclereids are present
thin areas called as pits.
→ Sclrenchyma Fibres are used in the manufacture of ropes, mats
& certain textile fibres.
→ Jute and coir are obtained from the thick bundle of fibres.

Difference between Parenchyma, Collenchyma and

Sclerenchyma

Sclerenchym
Features Parenchyma Collenchyma a

Isodiametric cells
which are oval,
spherical or Circular, oval or Variable in shape.
Cell shape polygonal in shape. polyhedral. Fibres and sclereids.

Thin cellulosic cell Uneven thickening on Lignified secondary

Cell wall wall. their cell wall. cell wall present.

Cytoplasm Abundant Present Absent

Present (Living Present (Living

Nucleus tissue) tissue) Absent (Dead tissue)

Vacuoles Large vacuole Vacuolated Absent

Intercellular
spaces Present Absent Absent
 Basically packing Dicot stems, petiole Dicot hypodermis,
tissue, all soft part of and beneath the bundle sheath,
plant-pith, cortex, epidermis. Absent in pericycl, seed, pulp
Occurrence medullary rays. monocot and roots. of fruits.

Provide tensile
strength, mechanical Protection from
Food storage, support, stress and strain,
Functions photosynthesis. photosynthesis. mechanical strength.

Complex Permanent Tissues

→ It consists of more than one type of cells which work together
as a unit.
→ It helps in transportation of organic materials, water & minerals.
→ It is also known as conducting or vascular tissue.
→ Xylem & phloem together form vascular bundles.

Xylem
→ It is also known as wood and is a vascular and mechanical
tissue.
→ Thick walled cells are found in the form of tubular passages.
→ Xylem consists of four types of cells called as elements
Tracheids, Vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem sclerenchyma.

(i) Tracheids
→ They are elongated angular dead cells (primitive elements)
mainly involved in conduction of water and minerals in
gymnosperms.

(ii) Vessles

→ They are advance element (generally found in angiosperms).

→ Vessels are cylindrical tube like structures placed one above
the other end to end which form a continuous channel for efficient
conduction of water.

(iii) Xylem parenchyma

→ They are small & thick walled parenchymatous cells subjected
for storage of starch (food).

(iv) Xylem sclerenchyma

→ Thy are non-living fibres with thick walls and narrow cavities
provide mechanical support.
→ Except xylem parenchyma all other xylem elements are dead.

→ The annual rings present in the trunk of a tree are xylem rings.
→ By counting the number of annual rings, we can determine the
age of
a tree.

Phloem

→ They also consist of both parenchymatous and

schlerenchymatous cells.
→ Phloem consists of four types of element which are Sieve tubes,
Companion cells, Phloem fibre and Phloem parenchyma.
(i) Sieve tubes
→ Sieve tubes are slender tube like structures made up of
elongated, thin walled cells placed end to end.
→ The end walls of sieve tube cells are perforated by numerous
pores, called as sieve plates.

→ Nucleus of sieve cell degenerates at maturity. However,

cytoplasm persists, because of protoplasmic continuation of sieve
tube with companion cell through plasmodesmata.
→ Sieve cells possess slime protein or protein which is concerned
with growth and repair of sieve cells.
(ii) Companion cells
→ Companion cells have dense cytoplasm and prominent nuclei.
→ Sieve cells & companion cells are so called sister cells because
they originate from single mother cell.
(iii) Phloem fibre
→ They give mechanical support to sieve tubes.
(iv) Phloem parenchyma
→They store food and help in radial conduction of food.
(v) Leptome
→ Main part of phloem involved in conduction of food, which is
sieve tube.
→ In xylem, only unidirectional movement is possible while in
phloem bidirectional movement can occur.

→ In phloem, except phloem sclerenchyma all elements are living.

Features Xylem Phloem

Cells:
Living/dead Dead Living

Cell walls: Thickness Thick Thin

Material Lignin Cellulose

Permeability Impermeable Permeable

Cross walls None Sieve plates

Cytoplasm None Yes

Function Carries water and salts Carries sugars

Direction of flow Upwards Down and up

Special features Fibres Companion cells