Plant Cell Organisation

• Plant Cell Organisation


  How plants keep their specialised cells neat and tidy
• Plant Cells Are Organised Into Tissues And Organs


  1. Plant organs work together to make organ systems

  2. Organ systems perform various tasks a plant needs to survive and grow, e.g. transporting substances around the plant
• Examples of plant tissues

  • Epidermal tissue
  • Palisade mesophyll tissue
  • Spongy mesophyll tissue
  • Xylem and phloem
  • Meristem tissue
• Epidermal tissue


  • Covers the whole plant
• Palisade mesophyll tissue


  • Part of the leaf where most photosynthesis happens
• Spongy mesophyll tissue


  • Also in the leaf, contains big air spaces to allow gases to diffuse in and out of cells
• Xylem and phloem


  • Transport water, mineral ions and food around the plant (through the roots, stems and leaves)
• Meristem tissue


  • Found at the growing tips of shoots and roots, able to differentiate into lots of different types of plant cell, allowing the plant to grow
• The Leaf is an Organ Made Up of Several Types of Tissue
• Tissues found in leaves


  • Epidermal tissue
  • Mesophyll tissue
  • Xylem
  • Phloem
• Epidermal tissue


  • Covered with a waxy cuticle, helps reduce water loss by evaporation
  • Upper epidermis is transparent so light can pass through to the palisade layer
• Palisade layer


  • Has lots of chloroplasts, near the top of the leaf where they can get the most light
• Xylem and phloem


  • Form a network of vascular bundles, deliver water and nutrients to the entire leaf and take away the glucose produced by photosynthesis
  • Help support the structure of the leaf
• Leaf tissues


  • Adapted for efficient gas exchange, e.g. lower epidermis has stomata that let CO2 diffuse directly into the leaf
  • Opening and closing of stomata controlled by guard cells in response to environmental conditions
  • Air spaces in spongy mesophyll tissue increase the rate of diffusion of gases