Plant Nutrition

metabolites

small molecules produced during photosynthesis that fuel the biosphere

saphrophytic

fungi that break down material as they have specific enzymes that break down cellulose and lignin

parasitic

fungi that leach of a host organism

mutualistic

fungi that have a relationship with an organism

carnivorous plants

plants that grow in wet areas with nutrient deficits and digest animals for nitrogen

primary metabolites

metabolites made by all plants (such as fixed carbon) required for growth and development

secondary metabolites

metabolites not required but usde for defense such as lignin, rubber, and caffeine

essential nutrients

nutrients required for life (C H O)

macronutrients

nutrients needed in large quantities from macromolecules (N, K, Ca, Mg, P, S) from soil

micronutrients

nutrients needed in smaller quanitites (Cl, Fe, Mn, Zn, B, Cu, Ni, Mo)

deficiency ymptoms

symptoms when plant is deficient in a nutrient that indicate nutrient mobility based on symptoms on older or younger leaves

nutrient mobility

the ability for nutrients to move from older tissues to new tissues

soil

unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants formed from the break down of gravel, sand, silt, and clay

loam

a type of topsoil that is a mix of sand, silt, and clay plus organic matter that is not a particle and is ideal

clay

particles of broken down silt that are flat and have negatively charged surfaces that form ionic bonds with positively charged mineral nutrients

cation exchange

the process in root hairs in which carbon dioxide from cellular respiration combines with water to form carbonic acid that dissassociates into protons used to form an electrical gradient that are exchanged with cations bonded with clay particles through channels

anions

ions that are dissolved in soil water and enter roots via transporters such as H+ NO3- cotransporters against the electrical and chemical gradient

endodermis

forms a waxy layer around phloem and xylem to protect vascular tissue from pathogens that could spread throughout the plant

symplast

route of transport directly from cell to cell through plasmodesmata to the xylem

apoplast

route of transport within the porous cell wall to the xylem that doesnt go through the plasmodesmata and eventually reaches specific transporters on root hairs and endodermal cells

transmembrane

route of transport via water channels

casparian strip

hydrophobic barrier that blocks apoplasmic route as cells are impregnated in wax