Plant Growth

• Plants are eukaryotic organisms that synthesize sugars using sunlight energy in a process called photosynthesis.
• Chloroplasts are endosymbiotic organelles in which photosynthesis occurs, they appear green from chlorophyll.
• Vacuoles are vesicles filled with water, in plants this solution of water, sugar, amino acids, etc is called cell sap.
• Cell walls are rigid structures that provide support and protection.
• Primary cell walls are flexible structures of cellulose that surround the plasma membrane while the cell is growing.
• Secondary cell walls are thick structures made of cellulose, and lignin in vascular cells, formed after the cell has grown.
• Lignin is a polymer found in vascular plants that helps cells maintain rigidity, an important component of wood.
• Plasmodesmata are channels between plant cells for transport of materials between cells and cell signaling.
• Plants require H2O, CO2, and sunlight for photosynthesis.
• Sapwood is a light-colored outer xylem region.
• Primary xylem and phloem develop from the procambium.
• Wood is a porous structural tissue derived from secondary xylem, and only xylem in the outer layers transport water, the inner layers accumulate gums and resins to resist decay.
• Secondary growth is the growth in circumference in woody plants, which occurs in places that no longer grow in length.
• Bark is a protective outer layer made from secondary phloem, cork cambium, and cork cells.
• Cork cells are non-living cells that are highly impermeable to water and gases.
• Lenticels are porous tissue that creates small openings in bark to allow for gas exchange.
• Vascular cambium is a lateral meristem cell located between the secondary xylem and phloem, and its cells produced to the outside become phloem, cells produced to the inside become xylem.
• Heartwood is a dark-colored inner xylem region.
• Secondary xylem and phloem develop from the vascular cambium.
• Lateral meristem is the meristem responsible for secondary growth.
• Cork cambium is a lateral meristem cell located near the outer layer of the root or stem, which produces cork cells.
• Ground tissue are cells that differentiate into specialized cells, like photosynthetic cells.
• Meristem is a group of plant stem cells that can produce daughter cells and differentiate into adult tissues and structures.
• Root apical meristem (RAM) gives rise to roots.
• Plants require N, P, K, Mg to build molecules and maintain their cells, these are usually obtained as ions in soil.
• Following fertilization, the zygote undergoes asymmetric cell divisions.
• Shoot consists of cotyledons and hypocotyl, the photosynthetic and reproductive parts of the plant.
• Epidermis is the outer covering of specialized cells that protect the organism.
• Hypocotyl is an embryonic stem.
• The basal cell forms the suspensor, which contributes to supportive structures to the embryo, like the placenta in mammals.
• Root is the underground portion of the plant that forms from the radicle.
• Vascular tissue are cells that will differentiate into specialized transport cells for food and water.
• The apical cell forms the plant, dividing along the apical-basal and radial axes.
• Only one cell in the suspensor contributes to the plant embryo.
• Shoot apical meristem (SAM) gives rise to organs like flowers and leaves.
• Cotyledons are embryonic leaves.
• Meristems provide lifelong growth in plants at the roots and shoots.
• The root system anchors the plant, absorbs water and ions from soil, stores materials produced in the shoots for later use.
• A taproot is the largest, dominant root of the plant, from which other roots project.
• Lateral roots extend horizontally.