Plant Physiology and Development

Citation

Taiz, L., Møller, I. M., Murphy, A., & Zeiger, E. (Eds.). (2023). Plant Physiology and Development (7th ed.). Sinauer Associates; Oxford University Press.

Chapter Summary

The seventh edition has 24 chapters and about 860 pages. The publisher describes an upper-division plant biology text with improved integration of developmental material throughout, revised and simplified figures, and a new series of feature boxes on climate change. Stomatal function, which had its own chapter (Chapter 10) in the previous edition, has been reassigned to other chapters. The chapter titles are below; where a chapter's online "Web Topics" are cited, they come from the online student resources, not from the printed text.

Chapters 1–4: Plant and Cell Architecture; Cell Walls: Structure, Formation, and Expansion; Genome Structure and Gene Expression; Signals and Signal Transduction

The opening chapters set up the plant cell and its genetic and signalling machinery: the cell and its organelles, the wall that gives plant cells their characteristic growth, genome structure and gene expression, and signal transduction. Online topics for Chapter 1 include model organisms, nuclear import and export, and vesicle formation, fission and fusion, and for Chapter 3 transposon tagging, the transcriptome and Agrobacterium transformation.

Chapters 5–8: Water and Plant Cells; Water Balance of Plants; Mineral Nutrition; Solute Transport

Water and mineral relations: water potential and the movement of water into cells, the water balance of the whole plant, mineral nutrition and the transport of solutes across membranes. Online topics include calculating capillary rise and half-times of diffusion (Chapter 5), irrigation and the physical properties of soils (Chapter 6), and the Goldman equation and patch-clamp studies in plant cells (Chapter 8).

Chapters 9–11: Photosynthesis: The Light Reactions; Photosynthesis: The Carbon Reactions; Photosynthesis: Physiological and Ecological Considerations

Photosynthesis has three chapters, moving from the light reactions through the carbon reactions to the leaf and whole plant in their environment. Online topics include principles of spectrophotometry and quantum yield (Chapter 9) and Rubisco and the photorespiratory pathway (Chapter 10).

Chapters 12–14: Translocation in the Phloem; Respiration and Lipid Metabolism; Assimilation of Inorganic Nutrients

Transport of sugars in the phloem, respiration and lipid metabolism, and the assimilation of inorganic nutrients. Online topics for Chapter 14 include the development of a root nodule and the measurement of nitrogen fixation.

Chapters 15–16: Abiotic Stress; Signals from Sunlight

How plants respond to environmental stress and to light signals. An online topic on ABA signalling in guard cells is attached to Chapter 15, and others deal with phytochrome responses (Chapter 16).

Chapters 17–19: Seed Dormancy, Germination, and Seedling Establishment; Vegetative Growth and Organogenesis: Primary Growth of the Plant Axis; Vegetative Growth and Organogenesis: Branching and Secondary Growth

The development of the vegetative plant: from seed dormancy and germination to seedling establishment, primary growth of the shoot and root, and then branching and secondary growth. Online topics include a model of auxin-regulated branching and reaction wood in Chapter 19.

Chapters 20–22: The Control of Flowering and Floral Development; Sexual Reproduction: From Gametes to Fruits; Embryogenesis: The Origin of Plant Architecture

Reproductive development: how flowering is controlled, sexual reproduction from gametes to fruit, and embryogenesis. Online topics include genes that control flowering time and floral induction by gibberellins (Chapter 20).

Chapters 23–24: Plant Senescence and Developmental Cell Death; Biotic Interactions

The closing chapters treat senescence and programmed cell death and plants' interactions with other organisms.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–8: Cells and Water

• Water potential: the quantity describing the energy status of water in plant cells and tissues.
• Signal transduction: the pathways by which cells convert signals to responses.
• Solute transport: the movement of ions and solutes across membranes.

Chapters 9–14: Energy and Metabolism

• Light reactions and carbon reactions: the two stages of photosynthesis.
• Phloem translocation: long-distance transport of sugars.
• Nutrient assimilation: incorporation of inorganic nutrients into organic compounds.

Chapters 15–24: Stress and Development

• Abiotic stress: responses to environmental challenges.
• Seed dormancy and germination: the transition from seed to seedling.
• Flowering control: environmental and genetic regulation of flowering.
• Senescence and programmed cell death: the concluding developmental processes.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Physiology and development together. The title and the publisher's description point to developmental material woven through the physiological chapters, and the chapter list moves from cellular and metabolic processes into seed biology, vegetative growth, flowering, embryogenesis and senescence.
• Systematic coverage. The 24 chapters cover cell structure, water, minerals, transport, photosynthesis, respiration, stress, light signals, growth, reproduction and biotic interactions, so one book can support a full upper-division course.
• Online depth. The student resources hold per-chapter web topics and web essays, flashcards, study questions and references, as well as web appendices. The topics (for example, on how the Calvin–Benson cycle was elucidated) take readers beyond the printed chapters.
• Updated presentation. The publisher says figures were revised and simplified wherever possible and that climate-change feature boxes were added.

Limitations

• Length. At about 860 pages the book is a reference as much as a course text, and a semester course must be selective.
• Prerequisites. Introductory biology and general chemistry are assumed, and biochemistry helps in the metabolism chapters.
• No separate hormones chapter. The chapter list has no chapter devoted to plant hormones; judging from the online topics, hormone material is spread across the chapters on growth, flowering and stress. Readers wanting a single treatment of each hormone should check the index.
• Stomatal function is dispersed. The publisher states that stomatal function no longer has a chapter of its own, so it must be sought in other chapters.
• Material kept online. Many of the more specialised derivations and examples sit in web topics rather than in the printed book.

Where It Fits in the Course

Plant Physiology and Development is the only plant-focused text among the physiology books on this site. Dee Silverthorn's Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach, Boron and Boulpaep's Medical Physiology and the two introductory human anatomy and physiology books treat the human body; Richard Hill and colleagues' Animal Physiology is the comparative text for animals and sets function in an ecological and evolutionary context. The plant book shares topics with these (membrane transport, signalling, energy metabolism) but applies them to organisms with walls, plastids and a very different growth habit.

For a reader coming from the human physiology texts, the chapters on signal transduction (4), solute transport (8) and energy metabolism (9–13) are the natural bridge, since they treat concepts that both fields share.

How to Use This Book

The book assumes introductory biology and general chemistry, with some biochemistry for the metabolism chapters. It is aimed at upper-division undergraduates in plant biology and related fields.

A practical plan:

• Core: Chapters 1–8 on cells, water and transport, then Chapters 9–11 on photosynthesis, which anchors the remainder.
• Metabolism and stress: Chapters 12–16, in order or by interest.
• Development: Chapters 17–22 form a sequence from seed to flower to embryo and are best read together.
• Selective: Chapters 23–24 on senescence and biotic interactions.

Use the flashcards and study questions for each chapter, and read the web topics when a chapter's argument depends on a method or experiment. Because the hormone material is spread across chapters, follow auxin, gibberellin and abscisic acid through the index as you study growth, flowering and stress.