The Biology of a Plant

Happy New Year!

To celebrate this special occasion, I thought I'd make a little post about the basic biology of a plant... with a bit of hand sketched doodling to add in a little fun! In my opinion, if one is to set up a planted tank, one should know a little about how plants work. With several ecology and biology courses under my belt, plant systems have repeatedly been hammered into my mind, but for those who have not had the honor of taking such courses, I want to share the basic details of a plant. So... here goes!

A plant's basic structure contains the following:
**note there are certainly plenty of variations depending on the plant and I'm also leaving a lot of details out.


A shoot system and a root system.

The shoot system is found above the substrate and is where you typically find, the stem, leaves, and flowers. It has many functions such as plant structure, reproduction, nutrient transportation and photosynthesis.


The root system of a plant is the part of the plant that is typically found below the substrate. This can include things such as taproots, lateral roots, or rhizomes (like those found on Anubias sp.). The main functions of roots are to provide a method for nutrient absorption and to provide support for the plant.


Just for the fun of making this post even longer... let us dig into plant cells!

Plant cells are different to animal cells mainly because plant cells have a cell wall and chloroplasts. There are many parts to a cell but I am going to focus on  the chloroplasts.

Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts. Light energy is captured and used along with water molecules and carbon dioxide to synthesize sugars. A bi-product of oxygen is also created in this process. If the sugar is not used immediately, it is stored as starch. Rhizomes are examples of where starch can be stored in a plant. When the plant needs more energy, it converts the starch back into sugars so that it can go on expending its energy to grow flowers, new leaves, roots, ect.

And ta-da! That's my basic description of plant biology. Any academic would probably shake their finger at me for butchering all the details, but I think I summed it up pretty well!

**note: vocab definitions were taken from http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com

Shoot System Vocabulary
-Lateral Bud:A bud located on the side of the stem, usually in a leaf axil
-Terminal Bud:A small swelling on a branch or stem, containing an undeveloped shoot, leaf, or flower and occurs at the end of a stem, twig, or branch
-Leaf Blade: usually green, flattened, lateral structure attached to a stem and functioning as a principal organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in most plants.
-Node:the place on a plant stem where a leaf is attached
-Stem: the above ground structures that have vascular tissue and that support leaves and flowers

Root System Vocabulary:
-Tap Root:enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows downward. 
-Lateral Root:extend horizontally from the primary root (radicle) and serve to anchor the plant securely into the soil. This branching of roots also contributes to water uptake, and facilitates the extraction of nutrients required for the growth and development of the plant.

Plant Cell Vocabulary:
-Cell Wall: the tough, usually flexible but sometimes fairly rigid layer that surrounds some types of cells
-Golgi Apparatus:packages proteins inside the cell before they are sent to their destination; it is particularly important in the processing of proteins
-Vacuole:enclosed compartments which are filled with water containing inorganic and organic molecules including enzymes in solution, though in certain cases they may contain solids which have been engulfed
-Chloroplast: conducts photosynthesis and carries out almost all fatty acid synthesis in plants, and are involved in a plant's immune response.
-Endoplasmic Reticulum: Rough endoplasmic reticulum are the sites of protein synthesis. The smooth endoplasmic reticulum is concerned with lipid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and detoxification
-Nucleus:the control center of a cell, containing the cell's chromosomal DNA
-Nucleolus: transcribes ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and assembles it within the cell.
-Mitochondria: generates most of the cell's supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and is involved in other tasks such as signaling, cellular differentiation, cell death, as well as the control of the cell cycle and cell growth.