Video Transcript
What’s may happen to a plant if it does not obtain enough minerals? (A) Discolored leaves, (B) reduced or no production of flowers, (C) stunted growth,
or (D) all of the above.
All plants require some of their nutrition in the form of minerals. Minerals are inorganic nutrients that cannot be synthesized by organisms, so they
need to be taken in from the environment. Animals like humans are able to ingest minerals as a part of the food we eat. However, plants do not have a digestive system, so these essential minerals need to
be taken in by absorption.
Minerals can often be found in soil, so plants usually absorb them through their
highly specialized roots from soil. Let’s take a look at a couple of the key minerals that are needed in large amounts by
plants and their functions so that we can figure out what might happen to the plant
if they are not absorbed in sufficient quantities.
One such example is nitrogen. Nitrogen is a key component of amino acids, which are the subunits of proteins. Proteins are one of the four major biological macromolecules, essential for growth,
repair, and numerous other biological processes. If soil is deficient in nitrogen, the plant won’t be able to absorb as much as it
needs and the leaves will begin to turn yellow and the plant could potentially
die. As protein is a key component required for growth, a lack of nitrogen could also
result in stunted growth.
Magnesium is another example of an essential nutrient in plants, as it is a key
component of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the main pigment found in the chloroplasts of most green plants. These pigments are responsible for absorbing the light energy needed for
photosynthesis so that the plant can synthesize sugars. As photosynthesis is how a plant makes its own food, magnesium must be absorbed from
soil in large quantities.
Without magnesium, chlorophyll would not be synthesized, the leaves would turn
yellow, and photosynthesis would not take place. Furthermore, in plants that usually produce flowers, a lack of available minerals can
result in the prevention of the growth of these flowers. This would hinder the plant’s ability to reproduce.
We now have enough information to answer this question. We know that all of the listed answers are potential outcomes for a plant if it does
not obtain enough minerals. So, the correct answer is (D), all of the above.
