Tissues
From the last chapter, we recall that all living organisms are made of cells. In unicellular organisms, a single cell performs all basic functions. For example, in Amoeba, a single cell carries out movement, intake of food, gaseous exchange and excretion. But in multicellular organisms there are millions of cells. Most of these cells are specialised to carry out specific functions. Each specialised function is taken up by a different group of cells. Since these cells carry out only a particular function, they do it very efficiently. In human beings, muscle cells contract and relax to cause movement, nerve cells carry messages, blood flows to transport oxygen, food, hormones and waste material and so on. In plants, vascular tissues conduct food and water from one part of the plant to other parts. So, multi-cellular organisms show division of labour. Cells specialising in one function are often grouped together in the body. This means that a particular function is carried out by a cluster of cells at a definite place in the body. This cluster of cells, called a tissue, is arranged and designed so as to give the highest possible efficiency of function. Blood, phloem and muscle are all examples of tissues.
A group of cells that are similar in structure and/or work together to achieve a particular function forms a tissue.
Let us compare their structure and functions. Do plants and animals have the same structure? Do they both perform similar functions?
There are noticeable differences between the two. Plants are stationary or fixed - they don't move. Since they have to be upright, they have a large quantity of supportive tissue. The supportive tissue generally has dead cells.
Animals on the other hand move around in search of food, mates and shelter. They consume more energy as compared to plants. Most of the tissues they contain are living.
Another difference between animals and plants is in the pattern of growth. The growth in plants is limited to certain regions, while this is not so in animals. There are some tissues in plants that divide throughout their life. These tissues are localised in certain regions. Based on the dividing capacity of the tissues, various plant tissues can be classified as growing or meristematic tissue and permanent tissue. Cell growth in animals is more uniform. So, there is no such demarcation of dividing and nondividing regions in animals.
The structural organisation of organs and organ systems is far more specialised and localised in complex animals than even in very complex plants. This fundamental difference reflects the different modes of life pursued by these two major groups of organisms, particularly in their different feeding methods. Also, they are differently adapted for a sedentary existence on one hand (plants) and active locomotion on the other (animals), contributing to this difference in organ system design.
It is with reference to these complex animal and plant bodies that we will now talk about the concept of tissues in some detail.
Plant tissues are mainly of two types:
The growth of plants occurs only in certain specific regions. This is because the dividing tissue, also known as meristematic tissue, is located only at these points. Depending on the region where they are present, meristematic tissues are classified as apical, lateral and intercalary. New cells produced by meristem are initially like those of meristem itself, but as they grow and mature, their characteristics slowly change and they become differentiated as components of other tissues.
Types of meristematic tissues:
Cells of meristematic tissue are very active, they have dense cytoplasm, thin cellulose walls and prominent nuclei. They lack vacuoles.
This activity demonstrates that growth in plants is localised to the tips of the roots. When the tips are removed, the growth stops in that region. This is because the meristematic tissue responsible for growth is located at the tips.
What happens to the cells formed by meristematic tissue? They take up a specific role and lose the ability to divide. As a result, they form a permanent tissue. This process of taking up a permanent shape, size, and a function is called differentiation. Differentiation leads to the development of various types of permanent tissues.
Permanent tissues are broadly classified into two types:
A few layers of cells beneath the epidermis are generally simple permanent tissue. Parenchyma is the most common simple permanent tissue. It consists of relatively unspecialised cells with thin cell walls. They are living cells. They are usually loosely arranged, thus large spaces between cells (intercellular spaces) are found in this tissue. This tissue generally stores food.
Types of parenchyma:
The flexibility in plants is due to another permanent tissue, collenchyma. It allows bending of various parts of a plant like tendrils and stems of climbers without breaking. It also provides mechanical support. We can find this tissue in leaf stalks below the epidermis. The cells of this tissue are living, elongated and irregularly thickened at the corners. There is very little intercellular space.
Yet another type of permanent tissue is sclerenchyma. It is the tissue which makes the plant hard and stiff. We have seen the husk of a coconut. It is made of sclerenchymatous tissue. The cells of this tissue are dead. They are long and narrow as the walls are thickened due to lignin. Often these walls are so thick that there is no internal space inside the cell. This tissue is present in stems, around vascular bundles, in the veins of leaves and in the hard covering of seeds and nuts. It provides strength to the plant parts.
The outermost layer of cells is called epidermis. The epidermis is usually made of a single layer of cells. In some plants living in very dry habitats, the epidermis may be thicker since protection against water loss is critical. The entire surface of a plant has an outer covering epidermis. It protects all the parts of the plant. Epidermal cells on the aerial parts of the plant often secrete a waxy, water-resistant layer on their outer surface. This aids in protection against loss of water, mechanical injury and invasion by parasitic fungi. Since it has a protective role to play, cells of epidermal tissue form a continuous layer without intercellular spaces. Most epidermal cells are relatively flat. Often their outer and side walls are thicker than the inner wall.
We can observe small pores here and there in the epidermis of the leaf. These pores are called stomata. Stomata are enclosed by two kidney-shaped cells called guard cells. They are necessary for exchanging gases with the atmosphere. Transpiration (loss of water in the form of water vapour) also takes place through stomata.
Epidermal cells of the roots, whose function is water absorption, commonly bear long hairlike parts that greatly increase the total absorptive surface area.
In some plants like desert plants, epidermis has a thick waxy coating of cutin (chemical substance with waterproof quality) on its outer surface. This helps prevent water loss in the dry desert environment.
As plants grow older, the outer protective tissue undergoes certain changes. A strip of secondary meristem located in the cortex forms layers of cells which constitute the cork. Cells of cork are dead and compactly arranged without intercellular spaces. They also have a substance called suberin in their walls that makes them impervious to gases and water.
The different types of tissues we have discussed until now are all made of one type of cells, which look like each other. Such tissues are called simple permanent tissue. Yet another type of permanent tissue is complex tissue. Complex tissues are made of more than one type of cells. All these cells coordinate to perform a common function. Xylem and phloem are examples of such complex tissues. They are both conducting tissues and constitute a vascular bundle. Vascular tissue is a distinctive feature of the complex plants, one that has made possible their survival in the terrestrial environment.
Xylem consists of tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibres. Tracheids and vessels have thick walls, and many are dead cells when mature. Tracheids and vessels are tubular structures. This allows them to transport water and minerals vertically. The parenchyma stores food. Xylem fibres are mainly supportive in function.
Phloem is made up of five types of cells: sieve cells, sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem fibres and the phloem parenchyma. Sieve tubes are tubular cells with perforated walls. Phloem transports food from leaves to other parts of the plant. Except phloem fibres, other phloem cells are living cells.
When we breathe we can actually feel the movement of our chest. How do these body parts move? For this we have specialised cells called muscle cells. The contraction and relaxation of these cells result in movement.
During breathing we inhale oxygen. Where does this oxygen go? It is absorbed in the lungs and then is transported to all the body cells through blood. Why would cells need oxygen? The functions of mitochondria we studied earlier provide a clue to this question. Blood flows and carries various substances from one part of the body to the other. For example, it carries oxygen and food to all cells. It also collects wastes from all parts of the body and carries them to the liver and kidney for disposal.
Blood and muscles are both examples of tissues found in our body. On the basis of the functions they perform we can think of different types of animal tissues, such as epithelial tissue, connective tissue, muscular tissue and nervous tissue. Blood is a type of connective tissue, and muscle forms muscular tissue.
The covering or protective tissues in the animal body are epithelial tissues. Epithelium covers most organs and cavities within the body. It also forms a barrier to keep different body systems separate. The skin, the lining of the mouth, the lining of blood vessels, lung alveoli and kidney tubules are all made of epithelial tissue. Epithelial tissue cells are tightly packed and form a continuous sheet. They have only a small amount of cementing material between them and almost no intercellular spaces. Obviously, anything entering or leaving the body must cross at least one layer of epithelium. As a result, the permeability of the cells of various epithelia play an important role in regulating the exchange of materials between the body and the external environment and also between different parts of the body. Regardless of the type, all epithelium is usually separated from the underlying tissue by an extracellular fibrous basement membrane.
Different types of Epithelial tissues:
Blood is a type of connective tissue. The cells of connective tissue are loosely spaced and embedded in an intercellular matrix. The matrix may be jelly like, fluid, dense or rigid. The nature of matrix differs in concordance with the function of the particular connective tissue.
Types of connective tissues:
Muscular tissue consists of elongated cells, also called muscle fibres. This tissue is responsible for movement in our body.
Muscles contain special proteins called contractile proteins, which contract and relax to cause movement.
Types of muscular tissues:
All cells possess the ability to respond to stimuli. However, cells of the nervous tissue are highly specialised for being stimulated and then transmitting the stimulus very rapidly from one place to another within the body. The brain, spinal cord and nerves are all composed of the nervous tissue. The cells of this tissue are called nerve cells or neurons. A neuron consists of a cell body with a nucleus and cytoplasm, from which long thin hair-like parts arise. Usually each neuron has a single long part (process) in the form of a fibre, called the axon, and many short, branched parts (processes) called dendrites. An individual nerve cell may be up to a metre long. Many nerve fibres bound together by connective tissue make up a nerve.
The signal that passes along the nerve fibre is called a nerve impulse. The nerve impulse from the nerve endings in transmitted to the dendrites of the next nerve cell. Nerve impulses allow us to move our muscles when we want to. The functional combination of nerve and muscle tissue is fundamental to most animals. This combination enables animals to move rapidly in response to stimuli.
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