Series: DPSS/BIO/SM2/24-25 Code: 086

DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL SURAT

BIOLOGY STUDY MATERIAL – 2
Topic: Plant Tissues Class: IX ____
Name: ___________________________ Roll Number: ______

Introduction
 Living organisms in this world comprise of cells.
 There are unicellular as well as multicellular organisms present in this world.

 In unicellular organisms, the only single cell is capable of performing several functions such as
Respiration, Digestion etc. of the cell.
 In multicellular organisms, there is a division of labor. There are different types as well as groups
of cells that perform different functions in a multicellular organism. For example in animals,
muscle cells are responsible for causing movement, nerve cells are responsible for carrying
messages and signals from one part of the body to another and blood is responsible for
transportation of food and oxygen to different parts of the body.
 In plants, there are vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) that are responsible for carrying food
and water to different parts of a plant.

Definition of Tissues
A group of cells that are similar in structure and/or work together to achieve a particular
function forms a tissue. They have the same origin.

For Example- Muscles and Blood.

Importance of tissues:
 Formation of tissues has brought about division of labour in multicellular organisms.
 Tissues become organized to form organs and organs into organ systems.
 Workload of individual cell has decreased due to origin of tissues.
 As a result of improved organization and higher efficiency, multicellular organisms have
higher survival.

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 Classification of tissues:
Tissues are broadly classified as animal tissues and plant tissues.

Difference between Tissues of Plants and Animals

Plant tissues Animal tissues
Plants do not move so their tissues are Animals need more energy as compared to
predominantly the ones that provide plants because they are not stationary.
support to them so that they can stand Their tissues are the ones that can support
erect. movement.

These tissues are made up of dead cells The tissues in case of animals are made up
because dead cells can also provide of living cells so that they can move and
mechanical strength to the plants and do perform several functions.
not require much maintenance.

Only certain regions of the plant can grow. Cells in animals grow uniform early and
The tissues present in such regions divide not only in certain regions of the body.
themselves and form new tissues.
The structure of plant tissues is not very The organs and organ systems in animals
specialized as compared to animals. are highly developed.

Plant Tissues
Plant tissues can be broadly divided into two main types. These are Meristematic tissue and
Permanent tissue.

Meristematic Tissues:
 A meristematic tissue constitutes a group of actively dividing cells present in the growing
region of plant, e.g., the tips of roots and stems.
 These tissues are responsible for increasing the length and girth of the plant.

Characteristics of meristematic tissues:

 The cells of the meristematic tissue are similar in structure and have thin cellulose cell walls.
 The cells may be spherical, oval, polygonal or rectangular in shape.
 The cells of tissue are compactly arranged and do not have intercellular space.The cells
have dense protoplasm with prominent nuclei.
 Vacuoles in these cells are either small or absent.

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Why there are no vacuoles in the meristematic tissue?
 Vacuoles are responsible for storage of food and waste.
 Moreover, vacuoles contain sap which provides rigidity to a cell. This property of vacuoles
may not allow the intercalary tissues to divide and manufacture new cells. Hence vacuoles
are not present in them.

Types of meristematic tissue:

On the basis of their position in the plant body, meristematic tissues are classified into three
types: - Apical, Lateral and Intercalary.

Type of meristem Apical Intercalary Lateral

(Cambium)
Location These are present They are located at These are present
at the tips of roots, the base of leaves along the lateral
shoots, branches or base of side of the stems
and leaves. internodes. and roots.

Function It brings about the It produces an It causes the organ

elongation of the increase of length (stem or root) to
root and stem. It of organ such as increase in
results in increase leaves and diameter and girth.
in the height of internodes. This is called
the plant, which secondary growth.
is called primary
growth.

Location of meristematic tissue in plant body

Permanent Tissue
 The cells that are formed by the meristematic tissues often have to take a certain role in the plant
and thus, they lose their ability to divide and form more cells. They then become the permanent
tissues of the plants.

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 Differentiation - The process by which cells of the meristematic tissues convert themselves into a
permanent tissue by taking a fixed shape, size and function is called differentiation.

Types of Permanent Tissues:

o Simple Permanent Tissues
o Complex Permanent Tissues

Simple permanent tissues:

These tissues are composed of only one type of cells, which are structurally and functionally
similar. This tissue is of three types: parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma.

1. Parenchyma Tissue.
 The cells are unspecialized, living and isodiametric, i.e., equally expanded on all sides.
 The cell wall is thin and composed of cellulose.
 The cell wall encloses a dense cytoplasm which contains a small nucleus and a large central
vacuole for food and water storage.
 The intercellular spaces are abundant.
 The parenchyma is present generally in the soft regions of the plant body i.e., roots, stems,
leaves, flowers and fruits.

Parenchyma tissue
Function:
 The main function of parenchymatous tissue is storage of food.
 Parenchyma forms the framework of all the plant organs and tissues.
 Parenchyma serves as packing tissue to fill the spaces between other tissues.
 The intercellular air spaces of parenchyma cells allow gaseous exchange.
 If chloroplast is present, the parenchyma tissue is called chlorenchyma and it performs
photosynthesis.
 In aquatic plants, large air cavities are present in parenchyma to give buoyancy to the plants to
help them float. Such a parenchyma type is called aerenchyma.

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2. Collenchyma Tissue
 The cells of this tissue are living, elongated and irregularly thickened at the corner.
 Cell wall is composed mainly of cellulose and pectin.
 In collenchyma, intercellular spaces are generally absent.

Collenchyma tissue
Functions:
 The flexibility in plants is due to collenchyma.
 It allows bending of various parts of a plant like tendrils and stems of climbers without
breaking.
 It also provides mechanical support.
 It can be found in leaf stalks below the epidermis.

3. Sclerenchyma
 It is the tissue which makes the plant hard and stiff.
 The cells of this tissue are dead. They do not have nucleus.
 They are long and narrow as the walls are thickened due to lignin, such cell walls are called
lignified. Often these walls are so thick that there is no internal space inside the cell.
 The cells of sclerenchyma are closely packed without intercellular spaces.
 This tissue is present in stems, around vascular bundles, in the veins of leaves, in the hard
covering of seeds and nuts and the husk of coconut.

Sclerenchyma tissue
Functions:
 It provides strength/mechanical support to the plant parts.

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 Features Parenchyma Collenchyma Sclerenchyma
Cell Isodiametric cells Circular, oval or Variable in shape.
shape polyhedral

Cell wall Thin cell wall of Uneven thickening Lignified

cellulose on their cell wall. secondary cell wall
Made of cellulose present.
and pectin.
Cytoplasm Abundant Present Absent
Nucleus Present Present Absent
(Living tissue) (Living tissue) (Dead tissue)

Vacuoles Large vacuole Vacuolated Absent

Intercellular Present Absent or very less Absent

spaces
Functions Food storage, Provide flexibility Protection from
photosynthesis. and mechanical stress and strain,
support. mechanical
strength.
Location Soft regions of the Leaf stalks below Stems, around
plant body i.e., roots, the epidermis. vascular bundles,
stems,leaves, flowers Tendrils and stem of in the veins of
climbers. leaves, in the hard
and fruits.
covering of seeds
and nuts and the
husk of coconut.

Protective tissues:
 Protective tissues are a part of plant tissue system and are primarily protective in function.
 Protective tissues include epidermis and cork.

1. Epidermis
 It is the outermost protective layer of plant organs.
 The epidermis is usually made of a single layer of cells.
 Since it has a protective role to play, cells of epidermal tissue form a continuous layer
without intercellular spaces.
 Most epidermal cells are relatively flat.
 Often their outer and side walls are thicker than the inner wall.
 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 since protection against water loss is critical.
 In leaves, epidermis bears small pores called stomata. Each stomata is guarded by a pair of
bean shaped guard cells.

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Functions:
 The function of epidermis is the protection of plant from injury and infection.
 Cuticle of epidermis helps to reduce water loss by evaporation to prevent dessication. It also
aids in protection against mechanical injury and invasion by parasitic fungi.
 Stomata present in the epidermis allow gaseous exchange to occur during photosynthesis and
respiration.
 Stomata also facilitates transpiration. Transpiration is important to create suction pull so that
water can reach great heights in tall trees. Also, transpiration cools the plant.
 Epidermal cells of the roots, whose function is water absorption, commonly bear long hairlike
parts that greatly increase the total absorptive surface area.
 In some plants like desert plants (xerophytes), epidermis has a thick waxy coating of cutin
(chemical substance with waterproof quality) on its outer surface since protection against water
loss is critical.

2. Cork (or phellem)

 Cork cells are dead cells without having intercellular spaces.
 They appear at the periphery of roots and stems when they grow older and increase in girth.
 They also have a chemical called suberin in their walls that makes them impervious to gases and
water.
 Cork cells are without protoplasm but are filled with resins or tannins.
How cork is formed?
As plants grow older, the outer protective tissue undergoes certain changes. A strip of secondary
meristem located in the cortex forms layers of cells which constitute the cork.

Protective tissue: Cork

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Functions:
 The function of cork in plant body is to provide protection. It protects plants from external
injury and infection.
 It also prevents dessication (extreme dryness).
 Since cork does not catch fire easily, it is used for insulation, as shock-absorber.
 It is also used for making sports goods, such as shuttle-cock, table tennis paddles,cricket balls,
etc.

Complex permanent tissue

 The complex tissue consists of more than one type of cell having a common origin. All these
cells coordinate to perform a common function.
 Complex tissues are of two types: Xylem or wood and phloem or bast.
 Xylem and phloem are both conducting tissues and also known as vascular tissues;
together both them constitute vascular bundles.

1. Xylem (Wood)
 Xylem is a vascular and mechanical tissue.
 Xylem is composed of cells of four different types:
1. Tracheids 2. Vessels 3. Xylem parenchyma 4. Xylem fibres
 Except xylem parenchyma, all other elements are dead and bounded by thick lignified wall.
 Tracheids and vessels are tubular structures.

Components of xylem Xylem tissue

Functions:
 The main function of xylem is to carry water and mineral salts upward from the root to
different parts of shoots, hence also called water conducting tissue.
 Since walls of tracheids, vessels and xylem fibres are lignified, they give mechanical strength
to the plant body.
 The parenchyma stores food and helps in the sideway conduction of water.

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2. Phloem (Bast)
 Phloem is a living conducting tissue. It also contains tubes just like xylem but does not perform
mechanical function.
 Phloem is composed of following elements or cells:
Sieve cells making Sieve tubes, Companion cells, Phloem parenchyma and Phloem fibers.
 Sieve tubes are slender, tube like structures with perforated walls.
 Companion cells are living parenchymatous cells lying on the sides of the sieve tubes.
 Sieve tube and companion cells have close cytoplasmic connection with each other through
fine pits.
 Phloem fibres are thick-walled fibres with simple pits.
 Phloem parenchyma are thin walled, living cell of phloem.

Phloem tissue
Function:
 Phloem transports photosynthetically prepared food materials from the leaves to the storage
organs and later from storage organs to the growing regions of the plant body.
Xylem Phloem
It conducts water and minerals from It conducts food prepared in levaes by
roots to leaves. photosynthesis to all the parts of plant
body.
It is mainly composed of dead elements It is mainly composed of living elements
(cells). (cells).
Transport is unidirectional. Transport is bidirectional.
It has four types of cells: Tracheids, It has four types of cells: Sieve tubes,
vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem companion cells, phloem parenchyma
fibres. and phloem fibres.

THE END

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