How do Sieve Elements Transport Assimilates from Photosynthetic Organs to the Remainder of the Living Tissue
You may have often wondered how photosynthetic assimilates are trasported from the leaf to the remainder of the living tissue via sieve elements when the latter contain cytoplasm, plasma membrane and plastids. Two more questions may also trouble your minds: why the cytosolic organelles are not dragged with the assimilates through the sieve pores and what role the companion cells play in the transport of the solutes. Advances in technology such as the use of non-invasive methods, and use of Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM), aided by the use of fluorochromes, provide unmistakable evidence that mass flow occurs through sieve pores without displacement of organelles including endoplasm reticulum on the sieve plates.
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