Plant nutrition

In this chapter, you will find out about:

♦ how plants make carbohydrates by photosynthesis

♦ the structure of leaves
♦ how plants use the glucose they produce in photosynthesis
♦ how to carry out investigations into photosynthesis
♦ the factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis
♦ why plants need nitrate and magnesium ions.
Why Photosynthesis Is Important
• It is the number one source of oxygen in the atmosphere.
• It contributes to the carbon cycle between the earth, the oceans, plants and
animals.
• It directly or indirectly affects most life on Earth.
• It serves as the primary energy process for most trees and plants.
• Photosynthesis is the fundamental process by which plants manufacture food molecules
(carbohydrates) from raw materials (CO2 and H2O) using energy from light.

• The raw materials are CO2, H2O and light energy.

• The products are glucose (starch) and O2.

The process of photosynthesis

Green plants take in CO2 through their leaves (by diffusion).

H2O is absorbed through plants’ roots (by osmosis), and transported to the leaf through xylem vessels.

Chlorophyll traps light energy and absorbs it. Light energy is converted to chemical energy for the formation
of glucose and its subsequent storage.

Photosynthesis produces glucose in the green parts of plants, which are often leaves. This is then converted
into sucrose. The sucrose is transported around the plant in phloem vessels. It needs to be able to reach all
cells in the plant so that the sucrose can be converted back into glucose for respiration.
Glucose is usually changed to sucrose for transport around the plant, or to starch for storage.
O2 is released as a waste product, or used by plant for respiration.
 Why is glucose unsuitable for storage in
plants?
Glucose is soluble in water, so if it is stored in plant cells, it can affect the way
water moves into and out of cells.
Starch is insoluble so has no effect on the water balance in plant cells.
Starch is a polysaccharide, made of many glucose molecules joined together.
Being such a large molecule it is not so reactive and not very soluble.
 Chlorophyll is where photosynthesis happens. It transfers light energy into
chemical energy for the synthesis of carbohydrates (i.e. glucose).

 The glucose is then either converted to sucrose for transport around the plant
or starch for storage.
 Glucose is too reactive to be transported around the plant on its own. There it
has to be converted to sucrose first.
 It is the same story with storage. Glucose cannot be stored due to its reactivity,
so therefore it must be converted to starch first.
Leaf structure

 The leaf consist of a broad, flat part called the lamina, which is
joined to the rest of the plant by a leaf stalk or petiole. Running
through the petiole are vascular bundles, which then form
the veins in the leaf.
 Although a leaf looks thin, its is made up of several layers of cells.
You can see these if you look at a transverse section (cross-section)
of a leaf under a microscope.
Adaptation of leaves for photosynthesis
Test yourself
1. Cuticle:
 made of wax – waterproofing the leaf
 secreted by cells of the upper epidermis

2. Upper epidermis
 thin and transparent – allows light to pass through
 no chloroplasts are present
 act as a barrier to disease organisms

3. Palisade mesophyll
 main region for photosynthesis
 cells are columnar (quite long) and packed with chloroplasts to trap light energy
 receive CO2 by diffusion from air spaces in the spongy mesophyll

4. Spongy mesophyll

 cells are more spherical and loosely packed

 contain chloroplasts, but not as many as in palisade cells
 air spaces between cells allow gaseous exchange – CO2 to the cells, O2 from the cells during photosynthesis
5. Vascular bundle

 this is a leaf vein, made up of xylem and phloem

 xylem vessels bring water and minerals to the leaf
 phloem vessels transport sugars and amino acids away (translocation)

6.Lower epidermis
 acts as a protective layer
 stomata are present to regulate the loss of water vapour (transpiration)
 site of gaseous exchange into and out of the leaf

7. Stomata
 each stomata is surrounded by a pair of guard cells
 guard cells – control whether the stoma is open or closed
 water vapour passes out during transpiration
 CO2 diffuses in and O2 diffuses out during photosynthesis
Limiting factor
 If a plant is given unlimited sunlight, carbon dioxide and water and is at a warm
temperature, the limit on the rate (speed) at which it can photosynthesise is its own ability
to absorb these materials and make them react

 However, most often plants do not have unlimited supplies of their raw materials so their
rate of photosynthesis is limited by whatever factor is the lowest at that time

 So a limiting factor can be defined as something present in the environment in such

short supply that it restricts life processes
 Example:
if there was a shortage of carbon dioxide but all other raw materials were in abundance, then
carbon dioxide would be the limiting factor for photosynthesis. If there was a shortage of
chlorophyll, then that would become the limiting factor instead.

 There are three main factors which limit the rate of photosynthesis:
Temperature
Light intensity
Carbon dioxide concentration
• Graph 1: Rate of photosynthesis increases with light intensity until it plateaus.
The graph plateaus because something else becomes the limiting factor (i.e.
carbon dioxide). This means that even with a stronger light intensity, there may
not be enough carbon dioxide to make the rate of photosynthesis even faster.
• Graph 2: Rate of photosynthesis increases with increasing carbon dioxide
concentration. Again, at a certain point the graph will plateau. In this case, the
light may become the limiting factor.
• Graph 3: The rate of photosynthesis increases with temperature until the graph
reverses and eventually drops down to zero. This is because high temperatures
will denature enzymes that are required for photosynthesis.
 Carbon dioxide

 Carbon dioxide is one of the raw materials required for photosynthesis

 This means the more carbon dioxide that is present, the faster the reaction can
occur
 This trend will continue until some other factor required for photosynthesis prevents
the rate from increasing further because it is now in short supply

The factors which could be limiting the rate when the line
on the graph is horizontal include temperature not being
high enough or not enough light
 Sunlight
 Light energy is vital to the process of photosynthesis. It is severely
limiting at times of partial light conditions, e.g. dawn or dusk.

 As light intensity increases, the rate of photosynthesis will increase,

until the plant is photosynthesising as fast as it can. At this point,
even if light becomes brighter, the plant cannot photosynthesise any
faster.

 Over the first part of the curve (between A and B), light is a limiting
factor. The plant is limited in how fast it can photosynthesise because
it does not have enough light.

 Between B and C, light is not a limiting factor. Even if more light is

shone on the plant, it still cannot photosynthesise any faster.
 At low light intensities, increasing the intensity will initially increase the rate of
photosynthesis. At a certain point, increasing the light intensity stops increasing
the rate. The rate becomes constant regardless of how much light intensity
increases as something else is limiting the rate.
 The factors which could be limiting the rate when the line on the graph is
horizontal include temperature not being high enough or not enough
carbon dioxide.
 Temperature
 As temperature increases the rate of photosynthesis increases as the reaction
is controlled by enzymes. There is an optimum temperature at which the rate of
photosynthesis is maximum. Beyond this temperature, the reaction quickly comes to a halt.
 As the reaction is controlled by enzymes, this trend only continues up to a certain
temperature beyond which the enzymes begin to denature and the rate of
reaction decreases
Why do we need to destarch a plant?

It is important to destarch a plant before performing any experiment on

photosynthesis so that it can be established whether or not a particular
factor (carbon dioxide/ light/ water) is important for the photosynthetic
reaction.
Testing the leaf for starch
 Starch testing

 Iodine solution is used to test leaves for the presence of starch. You need to:
1. heat a plant leaf in boiling water for 30 seconds (this stops its chemical reactions)
This disrupts the cell membranes and softens the cuticle and cell walls. This
makes it possible to extract the chlorophyll with hot ethanol and also allows the
iodine solution to penetrate the cells and react with any starch present.
2. heat it in boiling ethanol for a few minutes (this removes most of its colour)
3. wash with water and spread onto a white tile
4. add iodine solution from a dropping pipette
 After a few minutes, the parts of the leaf that contain starch turn blue-black.
 Note that ethanol is heated using a hot water bath. Ethanol boils at 78°C, so a
tube of it boils when placed in a beaker of hot water. This is safer than using a
Bunsen burner because ethanol is flammable.
To investigate the effect of light on photosynthesis, a plant can be ‘de-starched’ by leaving it in
the dark for a few hours. Parts of its leaves are covered with dark paper, and the plant is left in
the light for a few hours. The covered areas will be deprived of light whereas the rest will be
exposed. A starch test is then carried out after a few hours. The results should show that the
covered areas have a negative starch test (i.e. no photosynthesis) whereas the exposed areas
have a positive starch test. Only the uncovered parts become blue-black with iodine solution,
showing the importance of light in photosynthesis.
 The Need for Carbon Dioxide in Photosynthesis
 Destarch a plant
 Tie a clear bag containing sodium hydroxide, which will absorb carbon dioxide
from the surrounding air, around one leaf
 Tie a clear bag containing water (control experiment), which will not absorb
carbon dioxide from the surrounding air, around another leaf
 Place the plant in bright light for several hours.
 Test both leaves for starch using iodine
 The leaf from the bag containing sodium hydroxide will remain orange-brown
as it could not photosynthesise due to lack of carbon dioxide
 The leaf from the control bag containing water should turn blue-black as it
had all necessary requirements for photosynthesis
Effect of Carbon Dioxide on the Rate of Photosynthesis

When the concentration of CO2 is low the rate of photosynthesis is also low.
Increasing the concentration of CO2 increases the rate of photosynthesis.

Experiment
 Place a pond weed Elodea upside in a test tube containing water at 25°C.
 Place the tube in a beaker of fresh water.
 Place excess sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) in the water to give a constant
saturated solution of CO2.
 Place the lamp (the only light source) at a fixed distance from the plant.
 Maintain the room temperature at 20°C.
•Count the number of oxygen bubbles given off by the plant in a one -minute
period. This is the rate of photosynthesis at that particular concentration of CO2.
•The gas should be checked to prove that it is indeed oxygen - relights a glowing
splint.
•Repeat at different lower CO2 concentrations by using different dilutions of a
saturated solution.
•Graph the results placing CO2 concentration on the x-axis.

Explanation

The rate of photosynthesis increases linearly with

increasing CO2 concentration (from point A to B ).

•The rate falls gradually, and at a certain CO2 concentration

it stays constant (from point B to C). Here a rise
in CO2 levels has no effect as the other factors such as
light intensity become limiting.
Investigating the effect of changing carbon dioxide concentration, by dissolving different
amounts of sodium hydrogen carbonate in the water in the beaker.
Effect of Temperature on the Rate of
Photosynthesis •Count the number of oxygen bubbles given off
by the plant in a one -minute period. This is the
rate of photosynthesis at that particular
Experiment
temperature.
•The gas should be checked to prove that it is
Place a pond weed Elodea upside in a test tube indeed oxygen - relights a glowing splint.
containing water at 25°C. •Repeat at different temperatures: 0°C -
•Place the tube in a beaker of fresh water. surround the beaker with an ice jacket; greater
•Place excess sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) in the than room temperature (25°C, 30°C, 35°C,
water to give a constant saturated solution of CO2. 40°C, 45°C, etc.,) by using a hot plate.
•Place the lamp (the only light source) at a •Graph the results placing temperature on the
fixed distance from the plant. x-axis.
• Maintain the room temperature at 20°C.
Explanation
At low temperature, the enzyme does not have
enough energy to meet many substrate
molecules, so the reaction is slowed.

•When the temperature rises, the particles in

the reaction move quicker and collide more,
so the rate of photosynthesis rises also.
Investigating the effect of changing temperature, by
changing the temperature of the water in the beaker
Note:
• Care must be taken when investigating a condition to keep
all other variables constant in order to ensure a fair test.

• For example, when investigating changing light intensity,

a glass tank should be placed in between the lamp and the
beaker to absorb heat from the lamp and so avoid changing
the temperature of the water as well as the light intensity.
Investigating the Rate of Photosynthesis

 The plants usually used are Elodea or Camboba – types of pondweed

 As photosynthesis occurs, oxygen gas produced is released
 As the plant is in water, the oxygen released can be seen as bubbles leaving the cut
end of the pondweed
 The number of bubbles produced over a minute can be counted to record the rate
 The more bubbles produced per minute, the faster the rate of photosynthesis
 A more accurate version of this experiment is to collect the oxygen released in a test
tube inverted over the top of the pondweed over a longer period of time and then
measure the volume of oxygen collected
To investigate the effect of chlorophyll
on photosynthesis
 Variegated leaves are used. This means some parts of the leaf have
chlorophyll whereas other parts do not (and are whiter).

 After several hours, a starch test is carried out. The results should show that
parts of the leaf without chlorophyll will show negative results whereas the
parts that do have chlorophyll will show a positive result.
 Firstly, nitrate ions are important for plants as they are used
in building amino acids (which eventually become proteins).
A nitrate ion deficiency would slow down the growth of the
plant, the stem would weaken. Lower leaves will turn
yellowish and the upper leaves will become pale green as
they die off.

 Secondly, magnesium ions are required to make

chlorophyll. If a plant has a magnesium ion deficiency then
they will lack chlorophyll. Leaves turn yellow from the
bottom of the stem upwards and plant growth will slow
down due to reduced photosynthesis.
a. Nitrates

plants absorb nitrate ions from the soil, through their root hairs
• nitrate ions combine with glucose -----> amino acids
• amino acids bond together -----> protein
• deficiency causes poor growth, especially of leaves. The stem becomes weak, lower leaves
become yellow and die, while upper leaves turn pale green

b. Magnesium

plants absorb magnesium ions from the soil solution

• used for the manufacture of chlorophyll
• each chlorophyll contains one magnesium atom
• deficiency makes leaves turn yellow from the bottom of the stem upwards and eventually stops
photosynthesis