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Plants & Mineral Ions (Edexcel IGCSE Biology)
Revision Note
Mineral Ions
- Photosynthesis provides a source of carbohydrates, but plants contain and require many other types of biological molecule; such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids (DNA)
- As plants do not eat, they need to make these substances themselves
- Carbohydrates contain the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but proteins, for example, contain nitrogen as well (and certain amino acids contain other elements too)
- Two fundamental mineral ions required by plants are nitrogen and magnesium, without a source of these elements, plants cannot photosynthesise or grow properly
- Plants obtain these elements in the form of mineral ions actively absorbed from the soil by root hair cells
- ‘Mineral’ is a term used to describe any naturally occurring inorganic substance
Mineral ion function and deficiencies in plants table
The effect of mineral deficiencies on plants
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