TRANSPORT AND

TRANSLOCATION OF WATER
AND SOLUTES

Armin S. Coronado, PhD

Depar tment of Biology, College of Science
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Water conduction
• absorption and transport of water in various plant
parts
• water molecules are in continuous motion
• Solutes dissolved in water diffuse from a region of high
concentration to a region of low concentration
Water conduction
• Extrafascicular
• short distance
• in the cell itself (cellular transport)
• from cells into neighboring cells (radial transport)
• Symplast
• interconnection of all cells or protoplasm through
plasmodesmata
• Apoplast
• interconnection of cell wall and intercellular spaces
• Fascicular
• long distance
• vertical water conduction
• only occurs at longitudinal axis via vascular bundles
• has a fast diffusion rate over short distances but an
extremely slow rate, by bulk flow, over long distances
TRANSPORT IN PLANTS
Water and mineral nutrients must
be absorbed by the roots and
transported throughout the
plant

Sugars must be transported from

site of production, throughout
the plant, and stored
 Water Potential
• free energy needed for transport of water molecule in
a system
• represented by psi, Ψ
• relative to the Ψ of pure water at atmospheric
pressure and temperature
• useful parameter in evaluating the water status of
plants
• expressed in units of pressure, megapascal (MPa)
• 10 Mpa = 1 bar = 1 atm

Water potential is zero in chemically pure water. It is the

maximum value of water potential and it decreases in aqueous
solutions where water is physically or chemically bound.
Osmosis
• energetically spontaneous process
• movement from a region of high Ψ to a
region of low Ψ
• involves no work
• free energy is released

Osmotic pressure
= when the membrane obstructs the passage
of solute molecules
Turgor pressure (P)
• pressure potential (ΨP)
• pressure exerted by the protoplast
equally opposite to the pressure
exerted by the cell wall

Cell wall restricts swelling of the

protoplast as water enters by osmosis
WATER MOVEMENT FROM SOIL TO ROOT XYLEM
Water is absorbed from the soil to the root system along
a Ψ gradient that exists between the absorptive
surface of the root hairs (rhizines) and the thin layer of
soil surrounding them

Ψcell
is never
higher
the
Ψsoil
 RATE OF WATER UPTAKE BY THE ROOT SYSTEM
DEPENDS ON:
• development of total absorptive surface of rhizines
• rate of respiration of rhizines such that increased rate lowers
solute concentration thereby negatively affecting water uptake
• osmotic potential of root hairs; it should never be higher than
Ψ of soil;
• temperature such that 0 – 10 oC usually slows down uptake;
• lack of oxygen which can stop absorption as well as growth of
whole plant (optimum content of O2 is 10-12%)
• CO2 content such that too low or too high inhibits or even stop
water uptake (CO2 content of soil usually ranges from 5-15%);
• vegetative profile like the rooting layer
WATER MOVEMENT FROM ROOT XYLEM TO LEAF XYLEM
TRANSPIRATION-COHESION-ADHESION THEORY
 TRANSPIRATION-COHESION-ADHESION THEORY
• Evaporation of water from cell walls into air spaces of a leaf
and from into the atmosphere (transpiration) sets up a
gradient of Ψ not only between living cells but also along cell
walls
• The high surface tension of water means that the walls do
not dry out but remain permanently wetted so that due to
cohesion (mutual attraction between water molecules) and
adhesion (attraction of water to a solid phase such as cell
wall), water flows ultimately from root xylem into leaf veins
(vascular bundle) to replace that is lost
• Water removal from leaf xylem creates negative pressure – a
pulling force that drives the transpiration stream. This
tension is relayed to root cells (and soil) resulting to water
uptake.
 higher ψ higher ψ
lower ψ

ψ
lower ψ
higher
Transpiration
creates tension
low ψ

cohesion

lower ψ higher ψ highest ψ

• Despite cohesive forces, water column under
tension in the xylem can be unstable such that if
the pressure falls too low as when sudden
jarring occurs, water will vaporize locally.
• Cavitation
•resulting in xylem conduits filled with water
vapor
• Embolism
•air bubbles that blocks water movement
CAVITATION AND EMBOLISM MAY CAUSED BY:

• Water stress associated with high rates of

transpiration and low xylem pressure
particularly in leaves and small branches
• Freezing of xylem leading to extensive
formation of air bubble when thawing occurs
• Pathogens may release compounds such as
oxalic acid that lower surface tension
facilitating air seeding to pit membranes
 WATER MOVEMENT FROM LEAF TO AIR
Heat tends to increase Ψ (becomes less
negative), making ΔΨ between leaf and
atmosphere more steep

ΔRH is the primary factor that

determines the magnitude of water
vapor gradient
TRANSPIRATION
• Water evaporation of plants through leaves
• Provides most of the energy for water movement
among terrestrial plants
• Stomatal transpiration
• Water is released via stomata on leaf epidermis
• Cuticular transpiration
• Water is released through cutinized plant surfaces
• Lenticular transpiration
• Water is released through openings in the periderm
Transpiration is important to plant life because:
• It ensures continuous supply and movement of water,
thus maintaining turgor and nutrient flow

• It controls the degree of saturation of cells with water

• It cools the leaf, as the high heat of vaporization of

water utilizes 70% of the absorbed energy of leaves
Stomata
• Stomatal control serves to
maximize photosynthesis while
minimizing transpiration

• Transpiration ratio
• measure of the effectiveness
of stomata in minimizing
water loss
• moles of water transpired
over moles of CO2 fixed
Some ecological factors simultaneously affecting not
only movement of stomata but also transpiration:
• Light
• Stomates close faster when exposed to darkness
• Temperature
• Transpiration does not usually change if there is constant RH
and radiant flux
• Air humidity
• The effect of air humidity on stomata is higher at low than at
high photosynthetic photon flux
• Wind
• Increasing wind speed cause the closure of stomata resulting in
decrease in conductivity and water loss
• Gentle breezes through removal of the boundary layer can
partially open stomata
• Strong wind can close stomata as a result of epidermal cell
desiccation
Some ecological factors simultaneously affecting not
only movement of stomata but also transpiration:
• Oxygen
• Lack of oxygen causes stomatal closure
• Carbon dioxide
• Decrase in CO2 causes stomatal opening but this can be
override by water stress
• Mineral nutrients
• Presence of K, N and P stimulates the opening of stomata,
which affects osmotic/solute potential thus affecting the
turgor of guard cells
• Hormones
• Abscissic acid closes guard cells
• Gibberellic acid and cytokinin open guard cells
• Shape of tree crown
• Under calm weather, tall and pyramidal crowns have higher
transpiration rates than spherical crowns
Phloem Translocation
• Movement of products of
photosynthesis from mature leaves to
areas of growth and storage
• Occurs from areas of supply or
production (sources) to areas of
metabolism or storage (sinks)
• Phloem is the tissue concern for this
process
• Sieve tube elements
• living cells for translocation
• Companion cells
• most active in solute loading
and specialized to form transfer
cell
• Phloem parenchyma
• Phloem fibers
PHLOEM FLOW HYPOTHESIS : MECHANISM 1M

10-50mM