LABORATORY MANUAL 3:

APICAL MERISTEMS, STEM AND ROOTS

PLANT MORPHOLOGY AND ANATOMY (SBC 3023)

PREPARED BY:
SITI AISYAH BINTI SHA’ARI (D20171078204)
AIN SUFIZA BINTI NORMAN ZAIRI (D20171078202)

LECTURER’S NAME:
PROFESSOR MADYA DR. NOR NAFIZAH BINTI MOHD NOOR

SUBMISSION DATE: 16 OCTOBER 2019

TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENT SIGNATURE

Introduction

Objective

Apparatus

Method

Results

Discussions

Conclusion

References
INTRODUCTION

Meristematic tissues are found in many locations, including near the tips of roots and
stems which called as apical meristems. Apical meristem is a region of actively dividing
cells. Apical meristem causes the plant to grow up and down to get longer. This kind of
growth is called primary growth. When a plant grows 'out' or gets thicker, it's called lateral or
secondary growth. Both directions of primary growth are important, since it stretches the
plant's leaves to light and pushes its roots deep below the ground to seek out water and
anchor the plant.
Stems are the aboveground structures that bear the plant's leaves and flowers. Many
familiar garden plants' stems are soft and green which are called as herbaceous stems. The
stems of trees and shrubs also start out soft and green, but become woody as they mature.
Stems contain vascular tissues which is the "circulatory system" of the plant. The vascular
tissues form network of veins that carry fluids throughout the plant. Xylem form a conduit for
transporting water up from the roots. Phloem primarily transport sugars produced in the
leaves, but are also involved in some water movement. In herbaceous stems, the xylem and
phloem are contained in vascular bundles.
Root is the part of a plant that is usually found underground but can also be above
ground. The root differs from the stem mainly by lacking leaf scars and buds, having a root
cap, and having branches that originate from internal tissue rather than from buds.

OBJECTIVE

To observe the morphological and atanomical of apical meristems, stems and roots.

APPARATUS

1) Compound light microscope

2) Prepared Slide
METHODS

A : APICAL MERISTEM

1. Slide 1 (L.S of Vicia Root Tip)

The Vicia root tip was observed,drawn and labelled . The regions of three primary
meristem such as protoderm,procambium and pround meristem were identified. The
regions of three primary meristem such as protoderm,procambium and pround
meristem were identified.

2. Slide 2

The root cap and root hair were observed and labelled in the slide.

3. Slide 3 (L.S of Coleus Stem)

With tip of apical Meristem : The developing leaves were observed,labelled and
drawn.The three primary meristems such as protoderm,procambium and ground
meristem were identified.

4. Slide 4 (Lateral Root in Vicia root tip)

Stage in the development of lateral roots were briefly explained

B : STEM

1. Slide 5 (T.S of monocot stem and root)

The slide of monocot stem and root were observed,drawn and labelled.

2. Slide 6 (T.S of Helianthus primary )

The slide were observed,drawn and labelled. and secondary stem)

3. Slide 7 (T.S of Herbaceous and woody stem)

Both herbaceous and woody stem were observed and drawn.

4. Slide 8 (T.S of annual and perennial plants)

The portion of each annual and perennial stems were observed and labelled.

5. Slide 9 (T.S of Tilia Stem)

The portion of the Tilia stem were observed,drawn and labelled.

C : Roots

6. Slide 10 (T.S of monocot and dicot roots)

Both roots were observed,drawn and labelled.

7. Slide 11 (T.S of Helianthus primary and secondary root)

The difference both primary root and secondary root were compared.

8. Slide 12 (T.S of orchid aerial root of Dendrobium SP)

The structure of aerial root were observed,drawn and labelled.

DISCUSSIONS

A. Apical meristem

1a) Most merismetic region in root apex? (slide 1)

- The most meristematic region in root apex is above the quiescent center.

b) Function of root cap at the tip of root apex.

-The function of a root cap is to cover and protect the growing tip of the root. They are
important to prevent injury to the plant.

2) Where usually root hairs can be found and what is their main function?

- Root hairs are tiny, hair-like structures that grow on the surface of the plant roots. Their
main function is to increase the area available for water absorption and that of minerals
and other nutrients.

3a) The character of meristem cells of apical shoot is it appears at the topmost aspect of the
stem, while the meristem cells of apical root appears immediately behind the protective
root cap.

3b) The ‘tunica corpus’ organization is a concept of the organization and development of
the apical meristem , in which the meristematic region is differentiated into an outer
peripheral layer or layers, termed the tunica, and an inner mass of cells, termed the
corpus. The tunica is characterized by chiefly anticlinal divisions and the corpus mainly
by periclinal divisions. The corpus gives rise to the interior part of the plant body and the
tunica differentiates the outer layers including the epidermis. This concept of
organization used to describe apical structure of vegetative and floral part.
4.Stages in the development of lateral roots :

The process of lateral root development takes place in three steps. These steps are
initiation, organization and emergence. Often it is very hard to differentiate these steps.
The formation of lateral roots are stimulated by auxin and other growth regulators.
Lateral root primordia originate from the mature pericycle of the parent root. Lateral root
primordia develop through a characteristic program of cell divisions and expansions to
create a fully patterned structure that resembles the primary root tip. After the lateral root
primordium is formed, it becomes a mature lateral root by a two stage process. First, the
primordium emerges through the overlaying tissues by cell expansion. The increase in
cell size is particularly apparent in cells near the base of the primordium, while cell
number remains relatively unchanged. Second, the new lateral root begins to elongate,
and cell numbers increase at the root tip. This is characteristic of mature root elongation
via division of cells in the root apical meristem.

The lateral roots originate from meristematic tissue in the pericycle, which is the
outermost cell layer in the vascular cylinder in the center of the root.

4a) The functions of roots in plant are :

- Anchors the plant body to the soil and provides physical support.

- Absorbs water and nutrients from the soil in mineral solution, mainly through the root
hairs. They are capable of absorbing inorganic nutrients in solution even against
concentration gradient.

- Aeration. Plants that grow in stagnant water or other watery places have modified
roots called pneumatophores to which oxygen from the air diffuses.

- Photosynthesis. Some roots are capable of performing photosynthesis, as in the

epiphytic orchids and aerial roots of mangrove trees.
B. Stem

1) List down differences between anatomical characters in root and stem of monocot

Characters Monocot stem Monocot Root

1.Epidermis
a.Nature of the
Thick walled Thin walled
cells
b.Epidermal
Absent Present, unicellular root hairs
hairs
c.Stomata Present Absent
2. Hypodermis Present, made up of sclerenchyma Absent
3.Ground
Undifferentiated Differentiated
tissue
4. Vascular bundles
a. Nature Conjoint, collateral closed Radial
Eight each of xylem and phloem
b. Number Indefinite
Radial
c. Xylem Endarch Exarch
Only two protoxylem vessels and two
d.Xylem More than two protoxylem and two
metaxylem vessels in each bundle
vessels metaxylem vessels in each bundle
Present
e. Lysigenous
Present Absent
cavity
f.Phloem
Present Present
parenchyma

2. Primary growth of a plant consists of the increase in overall height of the plant. Secondary
growth is responsible for the increase in the girth of plant components such as the stem
and roots.

a) The process of primary growth results in the formation of primary permanent tissues such
as primary xylem, primary phloem and primary cortex. However in the dicot plants, there
is a process of growth that begins after a known period of primary growth. Such a growth
is known as secondary growth. It is the result of the activity of secondary meristem. It
results in the formation of secondary permanent tissues such as secondary xylem,
secondary phloem and secondary cortex. As a result, secondary growth brings about an
increase in the girth of the plant body. Secondary growth occurs both in the stele and
 cortex. The process occurs simultaneously but is caused by separate strips of secondary
meristem. In the stele, secondary growth is initiated by vascular cambium, while in the
cortex, it is initiated by cork cambium. The role of vascular cambium here is divides and
then produces secondary phloem to outside of the dicot stem and secondary xylem inside,

3a) Anatomical characters of herbaceous and woody stem:-

Woody plants refer to a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue whereas
herbaceous plants refer to plants that have no persistent woody stem above ground. Also,
woody plants have a strong stem while herbaceous plants have a flexible stem.
Furthermore, the stem of the woody plants is covered with a bark while the stem of
herbaceous plants stays green. Woody plants are the tallest and largest plants on earth
while herbaceous plants are short and small when compared to herbaceous plants.
Moreover, the woody plants are mainly perennials while the herbaceous plants can be
annuals, biennials or perennials. Therefore, woody plants grow in size in every season
while herbaceous plants may die back every growth season. As conclusion, the woody
plants have a strong stem made up of wood while the stem of herbaceous plants is flexible.
Woody plants are perennials that grow in every growing season. On the other hand,
herbaceous plants can be perennial, annuals or biennials. The main difference between
woody and herbaceous plants is the features of the stem.

b) Based on the observation, annual rings can be found in woody stem. Yes, we manage to
estimate the age of the stem with annual rings.

c) Vascular bundles seen in herbaceous are scattered while vascular bundles seen in woody
stem are arranged.

4a)

- Annual plants are plants that perform their entire life cycle from seed to flower to
seed within a single growing season. All roots, stems and leaves of the plant die annually.
Only the dormant seed bridges the gap between one generation and the next.

- Perennial plants are plants that persist for many growing seasons. Generally the top
portion of the plant dies back each winter and regrows the following spring from the same
root system.

4b) Differences between annual and perennial plant stems :

Annual plant complete their life cycle within a year, while perennials live for over two
years

5b) ‘Early wood’ is the part of the wood in a growth ring of a tree that is produced earlier in
the growing season. The cells of early wood are larger and have thinner walls than those
produced later in the growing season.
 ‘Late wood’ is the part of the wood in a growth ring of a tree that is produced later in the
growing season. The cells of late wood are smaller and have thicker cell walls than those
produced earlier in the season. Within a growth ring, the change of early wood to late
wood is gradual, but each layer of early wood from the next growing season makes an
abrupt contrast with the late wood before it, thus leading to the perception of rings

5c) Main difference between dicot wood and pine (gymnosperms) wood :

Dicot wood Pine (gymnosperms) wood

Tissue Triploid (endosperm produced Haploid (endosperm produced

during triple fusion) before fertilization)
Leaves Flat scalelike , needle-like
Cotyledons Present; single (monocots) or in a Absent
pair (dicots)
Wood Hardwood Softwood
Periniality Non-perinnial Perinnial

C. Roots

6a) Differences between monocot and dicot roots:-

Monocot root

 Pericycle has lateral roots.

 Number of xylem phloem elements are 8 to many.
 Xylem vessels are oval or rounded.
 Conjunctive tissue are mostly sclerenchymatous.
 Pith is large and well developed.
 No secondary growth.
 Conjunctive tissue is sclerenchymatous so it cannot produce vascular cambium.

Dicot root

 Pericycle gives rise to lateral roots, cork cambium and part of vascular cambium.
 Number of xylem and phloem are 2 to 6.
 Xylem vessels are polygonal or angular in shape.
 Conjunctive tissue is parenchymatous.
 Pith is absent or insignificant.
 Secondary growth occurs.
 Conjunctive tissue forms vascular cambium.
b) Vascular tissues arrangement and type of arrangement:-

Monocot stems have scattered vascular bundles. Dicot stems have their vascular bundles
in a ring arrangement. Monocot stems have most of their vascular bundles near the outside
edge of the stem. The bundles are surrounded by large parenchyma in the cortex region.
There is no pith region in monocots. Dicot stems have bundles in a ring surrounding
parenchyma cells in a pith region. Between the bundles and the epidermis are smaller (as
compared to the pith) parenchyma cells making up the cortex region.

7a) The differences between primary and secondary growth in roots :

Primary growth Secondary growth

Results in growth in longitudinal axis Results in radial growth.

mainly
Takes place by the activities of primary Takes place by the activities of
meristematic tissues such as apical cell, secondary meristematic tissues and
apical meristems, etc. sometimes by the joint activity of both
primary and secondary meristematic
tissues.
It is the first growth of the plant and its It is the first growth of the plant and its
parts parts.
Tissue formed by this growth are various Tissues formed due to this growth are
types and called primary tissues. mainly secondary xylem and secondary
phloem and are called secondary tissues
Periderm and barks are not formed. It results in the formation of bark
periderm, lenticel, etc.

7b) - ‘Casparian strips’ can be found in the endodermal cell walls of plant root
- The role of ‘casparian strips’:
The movement of water through the apoplast pathway is diverted from the cell
wall to the cytoplasm, where it then follows the symplast pathway. The
endodermal cells actively secrete salts into the vascular tissue. This results in a
low (more negative) water potential, allowing water to move down a water
potential gradient from the endodermis into the vascular tissue. The Casparian
strip prevents water from returning to the cortex; consequently a positive
hydrostatic pressure is established in the vascular tissue which is the phenomenon
of root pressure.
8) Differences between aerial root and normal monocot root :
Tap root systems have a main root that grows down vertically, and from which many
smaller lateral roots arise. Tap roots penetrate deep into the soil and are advantageous
for plants growing in dry soils. Tap roots are typical of dicots such as dandelions.
Aerial roots are roots that provide additional support to anchor the plant.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the experiment succeeded in showing the type of apical meristems,stem and roots
and its function as well as their structure.

REFERENCES

1) Lower plants anatomy and activities of non-flowering plants and their allies / / C. J.
Clegg ‘QK45.2.C54 1984’
2) Plant anatomy / / James D. Mauseth ‘QK641.M38 1988’
3) Plant anatomy an applied approach / D.F. Cutler, C.E.J. Botha, D.W. Stevenson
‘QK641. C867 2008’
4) http://www.acmediy.com/garden/flora/annuals-vs-perennials.php
5) http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/info/1.2.html