Genbio nutrients

• Plant Nutrition


  What is needed by plants to produce glucose and oxygen?
• Glucose as product of photosynthesis


  Composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
• Plant Nutrient Requirement


  Refers to any substance required for the growth and maintenance of an organism
• Types of organisms based on mode of nutrition

  • Autotrophs
  • Heterotrophs
• Autotrophs


  Organisms that obtain energy from sunlight and chemicals to produce their own food. Example: plants
• Heterotrophs


  Organisms that cannot make their own food and obtain their energy from other organism. Example: fungi
• Macronutrients


  • Nitrogen
  • Potassium
  • Phosphorus
  • Sulfur
  • Calcium
  • Magnesium
• Nitrogen


  Needed for proper leaf growth and development. A deficiency may produce yellowing of older leaves or a general lightening of all the green parts of the plant, combined with a stunting of growth. An excess produces hypertrophy of foliage and suppresses fruit production.
• Potassium


  Traditionally added to the soil in the form of wood ash. The main intracellular cation, potassium, is probably most important for maintaining the membrane potential of pant cells, and perhaps their turgidity as well (especially in the guard cells of the stomata). Deficiency produces general symptoms of poor health, which can include localized chlorosis (low chlorophyll content), or mottling of leaves with small spots of dead tissue at the tips and between the veins of lower leaves.
• Phosphorus


  Essential for the production of such vital compounds as the nucleic acids and ATP. It is needed for flowering, fruiting, and root development. Deficiency results in small dark green leaves over the entire plant and the abnormal presence of red and purple colors in the leaves and stalks.
• Sulfur


  An essential component of protein because of its occurrence in the amino acids cysteine and methionine. Deficiency produces chlorosis in new leaves and buds, usually without spotting, and poor root development.
• Calcium


  Deficiency results in abnormal growth and cell division, since calcium is an important component of the middle lamella of cell walls (along with pectin). Typically, the terminal bud dies, following a period of in which small leaves with dried-up tips are produced. Calcium has a multitude of cellular functions in the plant body.
• Magnesium


  Required for the action of many enzymes and is needed also in the synthesis of chlorophyll, which contains it. Deficiency, therefore, produces mottled chlorosis.
• Micronutrients


  • Iron
  • Boron
  • Zinc
  • Manganese
  • Chlorine
  • Molybdenum
  • Copper
• Iron


  Needed in several of the electron transport substances of the cell (ferredoxin, cytochromes), and in some other materials (e.g., phytochrome). It is also required for chlorophyll synthesis. Deficiency in iron absorption can occur in soils with high or low pH. If there is a deficiency, it results to interveinal chlorosis characterized by yellowing of the leaf along the veins, that is confined to the youngest leaves.
• Boron


  The function of Boron is unknown. Deficiency results in abnormally dark foliage, growth abnormalities, and malformations. Root tip elongation also shows.
• Zinc


  Required for the production of amino acid tryptophan. Since auxins are derived from tryptophan, zinc is indirectly required for the production of auxins as well; it is also required as a cofactor for some of the DNA polymerase enzymes. Deficiency produces small leaves and stunted stems owing to short internodes. In excess, zinc is poisonous to plants.
• Manganese


  Required as a cofactor for enzymes in oxidative metabolism and in photosynthetic oxygen production. Its deficiency produces a mottled, characteristic form of chlorotic leaf yellowing.
• Chlorine


  Probably required for ionic balance and maintenance of cellular membrane potentials, chlorine (in the form of chloride) is apparently also needed for oxygen production in photosynthesis. Its deficiency results in very small leaves and slow growth. Leaves become wilted, chlorotic, or even necrotic and may eventually become bronze-colored.
• Molybdenum


  Needed as part of the denitrifying and nitrogen-fixing enzymes of microorganisms. Molybdenum is also needed by the nitrate reductase enzyme present in most plant roots. Plants must utilize this enzyme if they are to employ nitrate as a nitrogen source. However, plants that absorb ammonia as a nitrogen source do not need molybdenum. Low productivity was related to molybdenum deficiency.
• Copper


  A component of some enzymes and cytochromes. Its deficiency results in a lowered rate of protein synthesis and sometimes in chlorosis. Young leaves may be dark green and twisted, with dead spots.
• Special Absorptive Structures


  • Root hairs
  • Root nodules
  • Mycorrhizae
• Root hairs


  Slender extensions of specialized epidermal cells that greatly increase the surface area available for absorption.
• Root nodules


  Localized swellings in roots of certain plants where bacterial cells exist symbiotically with the plant. The bacteria help the plant fix nitrogen and in turn, the bacteria are able to utilize some organic compounds provided by the plant.
• Mycorrhizae


  A symbiotic interaction between a young root and a fungus. The fungus obtains sugars and nitrogen-containing compounds from root cells while the plant is able to get some scarce minerals that the fungus is better able to absorb from the soil.
• Routes for the Absorption of Water and Minerals Across Plant Roots

  • Symplast route - through plasmodesmata
  • Apoplast route - along cell walls
• Nitrogen Fixation: Root and Bacteria Interactions

  1. Atmospheric nitrogen (N2) is converted to ammonia (NH3) through biological, physical, or chemical processes

  2. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is exclusively carried out by prokaryotes, such as soil bacteria or cyanobacteria

  3. The most important source of BNF is the symbiotic interaction between soil bacteria and legume plants

  4. The NH3 resulting from fixation can be transported into plant tissue and incorporated into amino acids, which are then made into plant proteins
• Some legume seeds, such as soybeans and peanuts, contain high levels of protein and are among the most important agricultural sources of protein in the world.
• Mycorrhizae: The Symbiotic Relationship between Fungi and Roots


  1. A nutrient depletion zone can develop when there is rapid soil solution uptake, low nutrient concentration, low diffusion rate, or low soil moisture

  2. These conditions are very common; therefore, most plants rely on fungi to facilitate the uptake of minerals from the soil

  3. In these associations, the fungi are actually integrated into the physical structure of the root. The fungi colonize the living root tissue during active plant growth

  4. Through mycorrhization, the plant obtains phosphate and other minerals, such as zinc and copper, from the soil

  5. The fungus obtains nutrients, such as sugars, from the plant root

  6. Mycorrhizae help increase the surface area of the plant root system because hyphae, which are narrow, can spread beyond the nutrient depletion zone

  7. Mycorrhizae function as a physical barrier to pathogens. They also provides an induction of generalized host defense mechanisms, which sometimes involves the production of antibiotic compounds by the fungi
• Nutritional Requirement of Animals

  • Carbohydrates
  • Proteins
  • Fats
• Carbohydrates


  Serve as a major energy source for the cells in the body. These are usually obtained from grains, cereals, breads, fruits and vegetables. On average, carbohydrates contain 4 Calories per gram.
• Proteins


  Can also be used as an energy source but the body mainly uses these as building materials for cell structures and as enzymes, hormones, parts of muscles, and bones. Proteins come from dairy products, poultry, fish, meat, and grains. Like carbohydrates, proteins also contain 4 Calories per gram.
• Fats


  Are used to build cell membranes, steroid hormones, and other cellular structures; also used to insulate nervous tissue, and also serve as an energy source. Fats also contain certain fat-soluble vitamins that are important for good health. Fats are obtained from oils, margarine, butter, fried foods, meat, and processed snack foods. They contain a higher amount of energy per gram than carbohydrates and proteins, about 9 Calories per gram.
• Essential Nutrients


  • Essential amino acids
  • Essential fatty acids
  • Vitamins
  • Trace elements or minerals
• Food Uptake in Cells via the Three Types of Endocytosis

  • Phagocytosis
  • Pinocytosis
  • Receptor-mediated endocytosis
• Types of animals based on feeding mechanisms

  • Substrate-feeders
  • Filter-feeders
  • Fluid-feeders
  • Bulk-feeders
• Substrate-feeders


  Animals that live in or on their food source. Examples: earthworms that feed through the soil where they live in; caterpillars that eat through the leaves where they live on
• Filter-feeders


  Include many aquatic animals which draw in water and strain small organisms and food particles present in the medium. Examples: whales and coelenterates
• Fluid-feeders


  Suck fluids containing nutrients from a living host. Examples: mosquitoes, leeches, head lice, aphids
• Bulk-feeders


  Eat relatively large chunks of food and have adaptations like jaws, teeth, tentacles, claws, pincers, etc. that help in securing the food and tearing it to pieces.