Survival
The photosynthetic process that occurs in this species roots has the potential to supply oxygen to the rest of the plant while facing a flooded habitat. The cortical cells of the aquatic and semi aquatic roots contain photosynthetic chloroplasts. These chloroplasts produce specific responses to variation in carbon dioxide and light availability under water. They also contain proteins involved in the photosynthetic production of oxygen and carbon fixation. Unlike the sedimentary roots in this species, the aquatic roots get access to oxygen from the water column and can produce it internally. When both the semi aquatic and aquatic roots are submerged in water, photosynthesis occurs supplying oxygen for the plant.
Read more about this topic: Tecticornia Pergranulata
Famous quotes containing the word survival:
“The planet’s survival has become so uncertain that any effort, any thought that presupposes an assured future amounts to a mad gamble.”
—Elias Canetti (b. 1905)
“... survival is the least of my desires.”
—Dorothy Allison (b. 1949)
“We hold on to hopes for next year every year in western Dakota: hoping that droughts will end; hoping that our crops won’t be hailed out in the few rainstorms that come; hoping that it won’t be too windy on the day we harvest, blowing away five bushels an acre; hoping ... that if we get a fair crop, we’ll be able to get a fair price for it. Sometimes survival is the only blessing that the terrifying angel of the Plains bestows.”
—Kathleen Norris (b. 1947)