How Water Enters A Plant: Apoplast And

Symplast Pathways

Water enters plant roots (along

a concentration gradient) through fine root
hairs (see 'Apoplast And Symplast Pathways
In Root A Hair') then makes its way across
the root tissues (cortex, endodermis and
pericycle (see 'Cross Section Of Young Dicot
Root') towards the xylem, that part of the
vascular system which distributes water and
dissolved mineral salts throughout the plant.

THREE ROUTES OF TRAVEL

Water may travel across the root by one of

three pathways:
apoplast - within cell walls only

(unselective)
symplast - in cytoplasm, through

plasmodesmata (selective)cell-to-cell
(transmembrane
pathway) - through vacuoles of each cell
(selective)
 We have seen that
a typical cell comprises an outer cell wall
surrounding a partly permeable plasma
membrane, enclosing cytoplasm and inner
vacuole. We have also seen that the
cytoplasm of adjacent cells is connected
through 'gaps' in the cell wall called
plasmodesmata.

APOPLAST PATHWAY
If once water enters the root hair, it travels
from cell to cell, across the cortex, in the
CELL WALLS ONLY, it is said to take the
'APOPLAST' pathway. Because cellulose is
pervious and non-selective, both water and
ALL dissolved minerals may be carried this
way. Note that the plasma membrane
(separates cell wall from cytoplasm) need
not be crossed, not until the endodermis - a
defensive ring of cells, one cell deep - is
reached. So OSMOSIS need not be involved
up to this point, only diffusion.

At this point, the

impervious Casparian strip blocks progress
and forces both the water and mineral salts
to cross the plasma membrane into the
cytoplasm, where they can continue on the
symplast pathway. However, not all mineral
salts make it - the plasma membrane is
selective and can filter out unwanted
solutes.

SYMPLAST PATHWAY
If water passes from the cell wall through
the plasma membrane to the cytoplasm, it
can then travel from cell to cell through the
plasmodesmata in the cell walls. This is
called the 'SYMPLAST' pathway. Note that
the plasma membrane, because it is partly
permeable, can only be crossed passively by
OSMOSIS. Passage of dissolved nutrients,
because their molecules are too large, are
blocked and cannot pass passively; they
must cross the plasma membrane into the
cytoplasm by active transport, a selective
process; osmosis is not involved.

CELL TO CELL
Water can also enter the vacuoles (which
are within the cytoplasm), then pass from
vacuole to vacuole. This is called the 'CELL
TO CELL' or 'TRANS MEMBRANE' pathway.

POINT OF INTEREST
It is commonly supposed that both water
and minerals enter the plant cytoplasm as
one process. They don't. Each enters
independantly of the other; mineral salts
can enter a plant even when no water is
being absorbed. However, once inside the
cytoplasm, minerals travel in solution.