Plant physiology
Plant physiology studies how plants function, including their growth, metabolism, development, and responses to environmental conditions.
Photosynthesis: The process by which plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen. It supplies the chemical energy and carbon compounds that fuel much plant growth.
Plant cell: A eukaryotic cell with features such as a cellulose wall, plastids, and a large central vacuole. Plant processes ultimately arise from specialized cells and their distinctive structures.
Crop yield: The quantity of harvested crop produced per unit of land or other specified input. Physiological limits on photosynthesis, growth, and resource use shape harvestable production.
Plant water stress: The impairment of plant function when water supply is insufficient or water loss is excessive. Water limitation alters growth, gas exchange, and survival across many environments.
Plant respiration: The cellular process that releases usable energy from organic molecules, usually by oxidizing sugars. It provides energy for plant cells when photosynthesis is not supplying it directly.
Plant hormones: Signaling molecules that regulate plant growth, development, and responses to environmental conditions. They coordinate processes across tissues, often at very low concentrations.
Plant breeding: The development of plant varieties with inherited traits suited to human purposes. Breeders use physiological traits such as stress tolerance and nutrient-use efficiency as targets.
Plant adaptation: An inherited feature that improves an organism's survival or reproduction in a particular environment. Physiological traits can enable plants to function under local environmental pressures.
Transpiration: The loss of water vapor from a plant, especially through pores in its leaves. Water loss through leaves helps drive the movement of water from roots to shoots.
Mineral nutrition: The uptake and use of inorganic elements required for plant growth and metabolism. Plant function depends on obtaining essential elements from soil or other growing media.