Question

Conduction of water and minerals is the main function of ________

Answer 1

Hint: The word is derived from the Greek word xylose which means wood. It is a complex plant tissue which is made up of long tube-like cells. They are present only in vascular plants with a well-developed vascular conduction system. They are made up of four components namely the tracheids, vessels, fibres and parenchyma. Among these components, parenchyma is the only living tissue. They also supply the plants with mechanical strength and support.

Complete answer:
Xylem is a type of complex tissue in vascular plants that transports water and minerals from roots to the leaves. The transport of water is through passive transport so that it doesn’t need energy. The water moves through simple capillary action in the xylem and is called xylem sap. The components of Xylem are Tracheids, Vessels, Xylem fibre and Xylem parenchyma. Tracheids are long elongated cells which mainly conduct water or xylem sap. They have thick secondary cell walls and are dead upon attaining maturity. Vessels are short tube-like cells and are arranged in end-to-end fashion. They also have a secondary cell wall, lacking protoplast when matured. All vessels have perforated ends which allows easy passage of water and minerals between the cells. Xylem fibres are also dead cells that have a thick secondary cell wall. The main function is to provide internal strength and support to the plants. They are of two types- Fibre tracheids and libriform fibres. Xylem parenchyma are the only living cells of xylem. Their main functions are conduction of water, storage of starch and maintenance of xylem transport capacity.

Hence the correct answer is Xylem

Note:
Vascular tissues are tissues linked to water, minerals and food materials conducted in plants. The vascular tissues in plants are of two types- Xylem and Phloem. Phloem is responsible for transport and storage of food materials. It has four components namely the sieve elements, phloem parenchyma, phloem sclerenchyma and companion cells.