PLANT TISSUES

Histology is the science that studies tissues using special techniques of microscopy ; preserving, staining and sectioning of the studied living material. A plant tissue is a group of cells of similar shape, structure and origin specialized for a particular function. Based on the degree of specialization, plant tissues are grouped into two major categories: meristems and consolidated tissues. MERISTEMATIC TISSUES Plants grow permanently throughout their lives, because they have unspecialized cells at certain places that are able to divide continously. Such cells form a tissue called meristem. Meristematic cells are small, rounded, thin-walled with dense cytoplasm and large nucleus. They lack vacuoles and chloroplasts but have undifferentiated plastids. The cells produced by meristems can specialize into consolidated tissues of different types. Plants grow in length by apical meristems at the tips of stems and roots. Increase in length is also due to intercalacary meristems found in diferent parts of leaves, stems (at internodes) or flowers, important for the final size and shape of plant parts. The tissues produced by apical meristems result in primary growth. CONSOLIDATED TISSUES There are three tissue types in plants that have lost the ability of dividing and have been consolidated for carrying out special functions: dermal tissues, vascular tissues and ground tissues. 1.) Dermal tissues The body of most plants in covered with a continous layer of tightly packed cells, the epidermis. This outer protecting covering is usually one cell thick and the cells are flat, brick-shaped or of an irregular shape without intercellular spaces. Epidermal cells dont contain chloroplasts. In some plants, a lipid-like protecting layer can appear on the surface, the cuticle and in some plants a waxy layer adds to the cuticle. These additional layers are waterproof and resistant to chemicals. The waxy layer can be seen on the surface of the spruce leaves, on plums or apples giving them the downines that repels water. The epidermis has multiple protecting functions: it protects the plan against water loss, against infections by pathogens and against mechanical damages. The epidermis often contains highly specialized cells, unicellular or multicellular plant hairs whit different functions. For example, in alpine edelweiss, hairs protect the plant against cold. In xerophytic plants, hairs of the epidermis trap moisture. In stingting nettles, long, rigid epidermal hairs introduce an irritant poison into the skin o fan animal by its broken tip, if touched, thus hairs are weapons against being eaten. Some plants, such as potatoes and insectivorous plants, have special epidermal hairs for catching insects and diesting them. Thorns of roses are also epidermal structures for protection, but they are more complex. The epidermis, being located on the surface of a plant, is important in maintaining relationship whit the environment. Characeristic epidermal structures on aerial plant parts (stems, leaves) are stomata (sg. stoma), which allow gas exhange and transpiration (water loss by evaporation). Two bean-shaped cells called guard cells surround a gap which is the stomatal pore or simply the stoma. Guard cells contain green chloroplasts that are important in closing and opening the pore. Right below the guard cells, there is a large cavity filled with air, the subtomatal air chamber. The root epidermis lacks the cuticle and the waxy layer, as it does not have to be protected against desiccation. Stomata are also missing from it. In the absorption zone of roots, the epidermis has a huge number of unicellular root hairs for absorption. They highly increase the surface area for taking up water and minerals. In plants that live longer than one year, the epidermis is replaced by the periderm int he second year. This is a thick protective cover made u pof many cell layers that die become impregnated with different chemicals, such as lingin responsible for the formation of wood or suberin, a fatty substance responsible for forming cork (para) in the outer part of a tree bark. 2.) Vascular (conducting) tissues There are two kinds of vascular tissues, the xylem and the phloem. Both contain elongated, specialized conducting cells in bundles together with other cells. Xylem conducts soil water and dissolved minerals from the root upward to the leaves where these nutrients will be used up. Typical xylem cells are dead (without cytoplasm), elongated, hollow structures with lignified cell walls. Lingin makes xylem hard and rigid, therefore, important in

supporting the plant. In trees and bushes, extensive sencodary xylem forms wood. There are several different cell types in xylem. A tracheid is a dead, elongated cell with closed, tapered ends. Adjacent cells overlap and have less lignified areas, so called pits through which water passes when it is moving upwards from one tracheid to the next. Ferns and gymnosperms have only tracheids, this simple and less efficient type of transporting cells. Angiosperms have some more specialized conducting cells, called xylem vessels. They are also elongated, non-living and lignified cells, which are arranged end to end, whit the adjoining walls dissolved completely when mature. Thus, many vessel members form a long, hollow tube with thick lignin wall, in which water is transported more efficiently than in tracheids, as there are no barriers to water movement. The wall of the vessels can be thickened by lignin in different ways demonstrated in figure. Lignification is important for giving vessels support. Xylem, in addition to the two conducting cell types, can contain parenchyma cells, which are simple, alive, thin-walled cells and fibers, which are completely lignified dead cells (so are not hollow) for strength. Phloem transports food (organic substances) from leaves, where it is produced by photosynthesis, to the rest of the plant. Phloem consists of elongated living cells with cytoplasm. The most specialized structures, in which sugars and other solutes are rapidly transported, are sieve tubes. A sieve tube is formed by the fusion of more thin-walled, elongated conductive cells whit sieve plates, perforated end walls, through which strands of cytoplam pass to connect the neighbouring cells. These cytoplasm strands are important in tranportation. Sieve tube members are functionally linked with companion cells, which are adjacent to them in the phloem. Each sieve cell has a companion cell with dense cytoplasm and a large nucleus, which may direct activities of both cells. Phloem also contains phloem parenchyma cells in between the sieve tubes and their companion cells. Vascular tissue elements form vascular bundles in plants. A bundle can containonly xylem, only phloem or both xylem and phloem. In this latter case vascular cambium (a type of meristem) can appear between xylem and phloem. Such mixed vascular bundles can be seen in figure, which shows the cross section of a dicot stem. Both xylem and phloem can be increased by secondary growth due to the functioning of the vascular cambium, which produces new xylem cells that are pushed inwards and phloem cells that are pushed outwards, thus making the stem or root thicker. The arrangement of mixed vascular bundles is typical of dicots and monocots; in a dicot stem they form a ring, but are scattered in a monocot stem. 3.) Ground (fundamental) tissues

This tissue type is the most common. Ground tissues form the bulk of the plant body the dermal tissue covers them, vascular tissues are embedded in them. Parenchyma is a living tissue composed of large, loosely packed, roughly rounded or cube shaped cells with thin cell walls, lange sap vacuoles and large intercellular spaces. In its unspecialized form called packing tissue, parenchyma fills in spaces between other tissues.When turgid (filled with water), maintains the shape and firmness of the plant.When these cells lose too much water,the leaves drop and the plant wilts.Packing tissue is important in healing wounds and in regenerating plant perts. Other parenchyma types are specialized for different functions. Chlorenehyma or photosynthetic tissue, which makes up the middle part of leaves and appears in green stems, has cells with many chloroplasts and carries out photosynthesis. Another ground tissue type is the storage parenchyma present in storage organs, such as potato tubers,seeds,roots,etc. Its cells store oils, proteins and starch in form of grains. Mechanical (supporting) parenchyma is specialized for supporting plant structures. One type of supporting tissue is collechyma, which has elongated cells that are alive, so it permits the growing of young,herbaceous plant parts.Sclerenchyma, another mechanical tissue,which al maturity is made up of the walls of dead cells,supports and strengthens completely developed mature plant parts. Some long, thin and completely lignifiled schlerenchyma cells are called fibres. The fibres of hemp and flax are used to produce paper, textiles, thread and rope. Parenchyma tissues can be specialized for many other functions, such as retaining water (in cecti), trapping air (in aquatic plants), storing and secreting different chemicals, such as alkaloids (poisonous substances, as nicotine or cocaine) or volatile oils of plant parfumes.

Sometimes cells dont eliminate the unwanted substances, but isolate and store them as inclusions. Calcium-carbonate or calcium-oxalate crystals are the most common inclusions.