Question

A botanist discovered a mutant plant that was unable to produce materials that form a casparian strip. This plant would be:

• A. unable to transport water or solutes to the leaves.
• B. unable to use its sugar from the sink.
• C. able to exert greater root pressure than the normal plant.
• D. unable to control the amount of water and solutes it absorbs.

Answer 1

The correct option is D unable to control the amount of water and solutes it absorbs.

A mutant plant discovered by the botanists is incapable of producing material (suberin) for making a casparian strip. The casparian strips allows the plant to regulate the movement of water through apoplast pathway. The absence of casparian strips will allow the free flow of water and solutes across the cells without regulation.

Casparian strips are suberised endodermal cells present in the roots. These strips prevent the free flow of water. The passage cells present in the endodermal cells are opposite to the vesseles which are non-suberised and they allow the free flow of water.