Which plant tissue conducts sugars and nutrients throughout the plant?

Which plant tissue conducts sugars and nutrients throughout the plant?

• A. Xylem
• B. Cortex
• C. Phloem
• D. Epidermis

Answer: (C)

Moving nutrients around a plant is the job of phloem, a vascular tissue that carries sugars produced in leaves to other parts of the plant as needed. The main product is sucrose, though other organic compounds can travel with it. This source-to-sink flow is driven by pressure differences: sugars are loaded into the phloem at a source, water follows by osmosis, creating pressure that pushes the sap toward sinks where sugars are unloaded and used or stored. Phloem is made up of sieve tube elements and companion cells that work together to transport the sap. By contrast, xylem moves water and minerals from roots to shoots; cortex is mainly storage and support tissue outside the vascular bundle; epidermis is the outer protective layer. So the tissue that conducts sugars and nutrients throughout the plant is phloem.

Moving nutrients around a plant is the job of phloem, a vascular tissue that carries sugars produced in leaves to other parts of the plant as needed. The main product is sucrose, though other organic compounds can travel with it. This source-to-sink flow is driven by pressure differences: sugars are loaded into the phloem at a source, water follows by osmosis, creating pressure that pushes the sap toward sinks where sugars are unloaded and used or stored. Phloem is made up of sieve tube elements and companion cells that work together to transport the sap. By contrast, xylem moves water and minerals from roots to shoots; cortex is mainly storage and support tissue outside the vascular bundle; epidermis is the outer protective layer. So the tissue that conducts sugars and nutrients throughout the plant is phloem.