Question

Give the equivalent terms for the following:

(a) Pressure exerted by the cell contents on the cell wall

(b) The condition in which the cell contents are shrunken.

(c) Loss of water through a cut stem.

Answer 1

(a) Turgor pressure. Plant cells are very much like your own cells, except they are surrounded by a cell wall. This cell wall is part of what gives plants such a rigid and sturdy structure. Plant cells need a certain amount of pressure to make sure that the cell wall stays rigid. Pressure from the fluid within the cell pushing against the cell wall is called turgor pressure.

(b) Flaccid. Flaccid corresponds to a cell lacking turgidity. They are not plump and swollen but floppy or loose, and cells have drawn in and pulled away from the cell wall.

(c) Bleeding. The phenomenon of loss of water through a cut stem of the injured part of the plant is called Bleeding. Bleeding is the process by which a plant loses its substances from the wound. Latex and other exudates are collected from the wound caused in the plant body.