BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

Science
Photosynthesis
Leaves enable photosynthesis to occur. Photosynthesis is the process by which leaves absorb light and carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrate (food) for plants to grow. Leaves are adapted to perform their function, eg they have a large surface area to absorb sunlight. Plants have two different types of 'transport' tissue, xylem and phloem, that move substances in and around the plant. When water evaporates from the leaves, resulting in more water being drawn up from the roots, it is called transpiration.

Structure of a leaf
Functions of leaves
The function of a leaf is photosynthesis to absorb light and carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates. The equation for photosynthesis is: Carbon dioxide and water glucose and oxygen Did you know:

Leaves are the source of all of food on the planet Leaves recycle all of the world's carbon dioxide in the air Leaves contain the world's most abundant enzyme

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

Leaves are adapted in several ways to help them perform their function.

Features of leaves Adaption Purpose

Large surface To absorb more light area Thin Chlorophyll Network of veins Stomata Inside the leaf Short distance for carbon dioxide to diffuse into leaf cells Absorbs sunlight to transfer energy into chemicals To support the leaf and transport water and carbohydrates Allow carbon dioxide to diffuse into the leaf

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

The internal structure of the leaf is also adapted to promote efficient photosynthesis:

Structure of leaves Adaption Epidermis is thin and transparent Thin cuticle made of wax Palisade cell layer at top of leaf Spongy layer Purpose To allow more light to reach the palisade cells To protect the leaf without blocking out light To absorb more light

Air spaces allow carbon dioxide to diffuse through the leaf, and increase the surface area To absorb all the available light

Palisade cells contain many chloroplasts

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

Factors affecting photosynthesis

Three factors can limit the speed of photosynthesis: light intensity , carbon dioxide concentration and temperature. Without enough light, a plant cannot photosynthesise very quickly, even if there is plenty of water and carbon dioxide. Increasing the light intensity will boost the speed of photosynthesis.

Light intensity

Sometimes photosynthesis is limited by the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air. Even if there is plenty of light, a plant cannot photosynthesise if there is insufficient carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide concentration

If it gets too cold, the rate of photosynthesis will decrease. Plants cannot photosynthesise if it gets too hot. If you plot the rate of photosynthesis against the levels of these three limiting factors, you get graphs like the ones above.

Temperature

In practice, any one of these factors could limit the rate of photosynthesis.

Maximising growth

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

Farmers can use their knowledge of these limiting factors to increase crop growth in greenhouses. They may use artificial light so that photosynthesis can continue beyond daylight hours, or in a higher-than-normal light intensity. The use of paraffin lamps inside a greenhouse increases the rate of photosynthesis because the burning paraffin produces carbon dioxide, and heat too.

Transpiration
Transpiration explains how water moves up the plant against gravity in tubes made of dead xylem cells without the use of a pump. Water on the surface of spongy and palisade cells (inside the leaf) evaporates and then diffuses out of the leaf. This is called transpiration . More water is drawn out of the xylem cells inside the leaf to replace what's lost. As the xylem cells make a continuous tube from the leaf, down the stem to the roots, this acts like a drinking straw, producing a flow of water and dissolved minerals from roots to leaves. Factors that speed up transpiration will also increase the rate of water uptake from the soil. When water is scarce, or the roots are damaged, it increases a plant's chance of survival if the transpiration rate can be slowed down. Plants can do this themselves by wilting , or it can be done artificially, like removing some of the leaves from cuttings before they have chance to grow new roots.

Factors that affect transpiration rate Factor Light Description Explanation

In bright light The stomata (openings in the transpiration leaf) open wider to allow increases more carbon dioxide into the leaf for photosynthesis

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

Temperature Transpiration Evaporation and diffusion are is faster in faster at higher temperatures higher temperatures Wind Transpiration is faster in windy conditions Transpiration is slower in humid conditions Water vapour is removed quickly by air movement, speeding up diffusion of more water vapour out of the leaf Diffusion of water vapour out of the leaf slows down if the leaf is already surrounded by moist air

Humidity

Plant transport
No heart, no blood and no circulation, but plants do need a transport system to move food, water and minerals around. They use two different systems xylem moves water and solutes from the roots to the leaves phloem moves food substances from leaves to the rest of the plant. Both of these systems are rows of cells that make continuous tubes running the full length of the plant.

Xylem
Xylem cells have extra reinforcement in their cell walls , and this helps to support the weight of the plant. For this reason, the transport systems are arranged differently in root and stem in the root it has to resist forces that could pull the plant out of the ground. In the stem it has to resist compression and bending forces caused by the weight of the plant and the wind.

Plant stem

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

Stem the xylem and phloem are arranged in bundles near the edge of the stem to resist compression and bending forces.

Plant root

Root - xylem and phloem in the centre of the root to withstand stretching forces.

Comparison of xylem and phloem

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

Tissue Process Xylem

What is moved

Structure Columns of hollow, dead reinforced cells Columns of living cells

Transpiration Moves water and minerals from roots to leaves

Phloem Translocation Moves food substances from leaves to rest of plant

Root hair cells and osmosis

Roots
Plants absorb water from the soil by osmosis. Root hair cells are adapted for this by having a large surface area to speed up osmosis. The absorbed water is transported through the roots to the rest of the plant where it is used for different purposes:

It It It It

is a reactant used in photosynthesis supports leaves and shoots by keeping the cells rigid cools the leaves by evaporation transports dissolved minerals around the plant

Leaves
Leaves are adapted for photosynthesis by having a large surface area, and contain openings, called stomata to allow carbon dioxide into the leaf. Although these design features are good for photosynthesis, they can result in the leaf losing a lot of water. The cells inside the leaf have water on their surface. Some of this water evaporates, and the water vapour can then escape from inside the leaf by diffusion . To reduce loss the leaf is coated in a wax cuticle to stop the

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

water vapour escaping through the epidermis. Leaves usually have fewer stomata on their top surface to reduce this water loss.

Reducing water loss Stomata

Plants growing in drier conditions tend to have small numbers of tiny stomata and only on their lower leaf surface, to save water loss. Most plants regulate the size of stomata with guard cells . Each stoma is surrounded by a pair of sausage-shaped guard cells. In low light the guard cells lose water and become flaccid, causing the stomata to close. They would normally only close in the dark when no carbon dioxide is needed for photosynthesis.

Turgidity
Most plant cells are turgid at all times. This supports the weight of the plant, which is especially important where there is no woody tissue, such as leaves, shoot and root tip. If the plant loses water faster than it can be absorbed the cells lose turgor pressure and become flaccid. This causes the plant to wilt.

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Photosynthesis

You should be able to explain why most plants will wilt if they get flooded by sea water. (Hint: sea water contains many chemicals in solution, such as salt. Osmosis will move water across the plant cell membrane, from the weaker to the stronger solution.)

Osmosis
Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from an area of high concentration of water to an area of lower concentration of water through a partially permeable membrane. This can be the cell membrane. An example is the flooding of plants by sea water. Sea water contains many chemicals in solution, such as salt. Osmosis will move water across the plant cell membrane, from the weaker to the stronger solution. Now try a Test Bite. Back to Revision Bite

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