Eli5 how plants can move without muscles.
In: Biology
Plants cant just uproot themselves and move places.
Parts of a plant; shoot(above ground) and root(below ground) move when stimulated by light and gravity respectively. In addition they also move responding to mechanical stimuli.
Shoots grow toward light, this can include a tree growing straight up, which may not seem like moving, or better yet a sunflower turning towards light, which definitely is moving. This is because the shoot is designed to follow sun light, primarily to obtain solar energy for photosynthesis but also because it drives transpiration indirectly as well, which in turn moves water inside the plant.
The root is attracted to gravity, and so moves toward down the earth. This is also known as ‘gravitopism’. This movement, of course, isn’t visible. However it is driven by a component called statoliths that settle st root tips. They can detect gravity, and makes sure the root keeps on growing deeper.
Sunlight can activate hormones in the plants cells, that then cause to either expand of contract. A bunch of cells expand /contracting is what then causes the overall plant to move, this is how many plants follow the sunlight.
So while plants don’t have whole coordinated muscle groups, individual cells are still able to expand or contract, which can gradual alter how the plant it facing.
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