The Xylem in plants is responsible for transporting:

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Correct — C, Water. Xylem is the vascular tissue that conducts water and dissolved mineral salts from the roots upward to the stem and leaves. It is made largely of dead, thick-walled (lignified) cells — tracheids and vessels — that form continuous hollow tubes, and the water column is pulled up mainly by transpiration pull. Xylem transport is essentially one-way (upward).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Plants exchange gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide by diffusion through stomata and lenticels, not through the xylem's water-conducting channels.  (b) Amino acids are organic (nitrogenous) solutes that move with the food stream in the phloem, not in the xylem.  (d) Food (sugars/sucrose made in the leaves) is transported by the phloem, in the process called translocation — this is the phloem's job, not the xylem's.

Concept: Plants have two conducting (vascular) tissues. Xylem carries water and minerals from roots to the rest of the plant; phloem carries food (sugars) from the leaves to wherever it is needed. A simple way to remember: xylem = water 'up', phloem = food 'around'. Xylem's driving force is transpiration pull; phloem transport (translocation) needs living cells and energy.

State PCS 2023 Q43 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q43 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer