apoplast pathway

• apoplast pathway 


  goes through the non-living parts of cells- the cell walls
• cells walls are very absorbent so water can diffuse through them as well as passing through the spaces between them
• • When water in the apoplast pathway gets to the endodermis cells in the root, its path is blocked by a waxy strip in the cell walls, called the Casparian strip.
  • Now the water has to take the symplast pathway.
  • This is useful, because it means the water has to go through a plasma membrane.
  • Cell membranes are partially permeable and are able to control whether or not substances in the water get through
  • Once past this barrier, the water moves into the xylem.