What is phloem tissue ?
Phloem contains two types of cells joined side by side. Name these two types of cells. State whether these cells are living or dead.
Phloem, also called bast tissues in plants that translocates food that is glucose polymerised into starch made in the leaves to all other parts of the plant. Now Phloem is composed of four specialized cells called sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem fibres, and phloem parenchyma.
In phloem vessels, the food is transported up and down the sieve tubes with the help of adjacent companion cells.
The main function of the sieve tube is transport of carbohydrates, primarily sucrose, in the plant (e.g., from the leaves to the fruits and roots). Unlike the water-conducting xylem vessel elements that are dead when mature, sieve elements are living cells. They are unique in lacking a nucleus at maturity.
Companion cells function with the enucleate sieve-tube elements and die when they break down.