The translocation of sugars through the phloem is best explained by which hypothesis?
- A.Cohesion tension hypothesis
- B.Pressure flow hypothesis of Munch
- C.Root pressure theory
- D.Imbibition theory
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, the pressure flow hypothesis of Munch, also called the mass flow hypothesis. Sugar is actively loaded into the sieve tubes at the source, water follows from the xylem by osmosis and raises the pressure there, and the resulting gradient pushes the whole solution to the sink, where sugar is unloaded and water returns to the xylem. Option A is wrong because the cohesion tension hypothesis explains the upward movement of water in the xylem, not of food. Option C is wrong because root pressure is a minor force in water absorption and has nothing to do with the phloem. Option D is wrong because imbibition is the swelling of a dry colloid such as a seed when it absorbs water. The direction of phloem transport can reverse with the season, since any organ may be source or sink.
Read the full article: Plant Physiology: Transpiration, Transport and Respiration
Practice Questions
View allThe ascent of sap to the top of a tall tree is explained mainly by which force?
- A.Root pressure
- B.Capillarity alone
- C.Transpiration pull under the cohesion tension theory
- D.Active transport by xylem vessels
Show answer
Dixon and Joly explained that water molecules cling to one another by cohesion and to the xylem walls by adhesion, forming an unbroken column; evaporation from the leaf surface creates a suction at the top that pulls this column upward.
Read the full explanation →The loss of water in liquid form from the margins of leaves through special pores is called
- A.transpiration
- B.guttation
- C.bleeding
- D.imbibition
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It occurs through pores called hydathodes at the leaf margin or tip, usually in the early morning when the soil is moist, the air is humid and transpiration is low, so root pressure forces out drops of water with dissolved salts; Colocasia, grasses and tomato show it well.
Read the full explanation →Which tissue is responsible for the transport of prepared food in a plant?
- A.Xylem
- B.Phloem
- C.Parenchyma
- D.Sclerenchyma
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Its sieve tubes, helped by companion cells, carry sucrose and other soluble food from a source such as a mature leaf to a sink such as a root, fruit or bud, and the movement can be upward or downward.
Read the full explanation →The opening of stomata is brought about by the movement of which ion into the guard cells?
- A.Sodium
- B.Calcium
- C.Potassium
- D.Magnesium
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In light, potassium ions are actively pumped into the guard cells, their solute concentration rises, water enters by osmosis, the cells swell and because their inner walls are thicker they bend apart, opening the pore; when potassium leaves, the cells lose water and the pore closes.
Read the full explanation →Which instrument is used to measure the rate of transpiration in a cut shoot?
- A.Potometer
- B.Auxanometer
- C.Clinostat
- D.Respirometer
Show answer
Ganong's potometer and the simpler bubble potometer measure the water absorbed by a cut shoot in a given time, and since almost all of that water is lost as vapour, the reading is taken as the rate of transpiration.
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