In the first part (Part A) of this volume on transport, there was an emphasis on the processes occurring at the membranes bounding the cells. It was convenient to distinguish active and passive processes of transport across the membranes, and to recognize that certain transport processes may be regulated by internal factors in the cells such as cytoplasmic pH, concentrations of ions, of malate or of sugar in the vacuoles, or the hydrostatic pressure. Cells in tissues and organs show the same kinds of properties as individual cells, but in addition there can be cell to cell transport related to the organization of the tissue. Firstly cells within a tissue are separated from the external solutions by a diffusion path comprising parts of the cell walls and intercellular spaces; more generally this extra-cytoplasmic part of the tissue has been called the apoplasm. A similar term is "free space". Secondly, the anatomy of cells in tissues seems to allow some facilitated, local transport between cells in a symplasm. Entry into the symplast and subsequent transport in a symplasmic continuum seems to be privileged, in that ions may not have to mix with the bulk of the cytoplasm and can pass from cell to cell in particular cytoplasmic structures, plasmodesmata. In Chara plants, this kind of transport is found operating across the multi-cellular nodes as the main means of transport between the long internodal cells.

Vascular Transport in Plants provides an up-to-date synthesis of new research on the biology of long distance transport processes in plants. It is a valuable resource and reference for researchers and graduate level students in physiology, molecular biology, physiology, ecology, ecological physiology, development, and all applied disciplines related to agriculture, horticulture, forestry and biotechnology. The book considers long-distance transport from the perspective of molecular level processes to whole plant function, allowing readers to integrate information relating to vascular transport across multiple scales. The book is unique in presenting xylem and phloem transport processes in plants together in a comparative style that emphasizes the important interactions between these two parallel transport systems. Includes 105 exceptional figures Discusses xylem and phloem transport in a single volume, highlighting their interactions Syntheses of structure, function and biology of vascular transport by leading authorities Poses unsolved questions and stimulates future research Provides a new conceptual framework for vascular function in plants

As plant physiology increased steadily in the latter half of the 19th century, problems of absorption and transport of water and of mineral nutrients and problems of the passage of metabolites from one cell to another were investigated, especially in Germany. JUSTUS VON LIEBIG, who was born in Darmstadt in 1803, founded agricultural chemistry and developed the techniques of mineral nutrition in agricul ture during the 70 years of his life. The discovery of plasmolysis by NAGEL! (1851), the investigation of permeability problems of artificial membranes by TRAUBE (1867) and the classical work on osmosis by PFEFFER (1877) laid the foundations for our understanding of soluble substances and osmosis in cell growth and cell mechanisms. Since living membranes were responsible for controlling both water movement and the substances in solution, "permeability" became a major topic for investigation and speculation. The problems then discussed under that heading included passive permeation by diffusion, Donnan equilibrium adjustments, active transport processes and antagonism between ions. In that era, when organelle isolation by differential centrifugation was unknown and the electron microscope had not been invented, the number of cell membranes, their thickness and their composition, were matters for conjecture. The nature of cell surface membranes was deduced with remarkable accuracy from the reactions of cells to substances in solution. In 1895, OVERTON, in U. S. A. , published the hypothesis that membranes were probably lipid in nature because of the greater penetration by substances with higher fat solubility.

As plant physiology increased steadily in the latter half of the 19th century, problems of absorption and transport of water and of mineral nutrients and problems of the passage of metabolites from one cell to another were investigated, especially in Germany. JUSTUS VON LIEBIG, who was born in Darmstadt in 1803, founded agricultural chemistry and developed the techniques of mineral nutrition in agricul ture during the 70 years of his life. The discovery of plasmolysis by NAGEL! (1851), the investigation of permeability problems of artificial membranes by TRAUBE (1867) and the classical work on osmosis by PFEFFER (1877) laid the foundations for our understanding of soluble substances and osmosis in cell growth and cell mechanisms. Since living membranes were responsible for controlling both water movement and the substances in solution, "permeability" became a major topic for investigation and speculation. The problems then discussed under that heading included passive permeation by diffusion, Donnan equilibrium adjustments, active transport processes and antagonism between ions. In that era, when organelle isolation by differential centrifugation was unknown and the electron microscope had not been invented, the number of cell membranes, their thickness and their composition, were matters for conjecture. The nature of cell surface membranes was deduced with remarkable accuracy from the reactions of cells to substances in solution. In 1895, OVERTON, in U. S. A. , published the hypothesis that membranes were probably lipid in nature because of the greater penetration by substances with higher fat solubility.