Mineral Nutrition — BIOLOGY STD 11 Science — Question
Gujarat BoardEnglish MediumSTD 11 ScienceBIOLOGYMineral Nutrition5 Marks
Question
With the help of examples describe the classification of essential elements based on the function they perform.
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Answer
Essential elements can also be grouped into four broad categories on the basis of their diverse functions. These categories are:
Essential elements as components of biomolecules and hence structural elements of cells (e.g., carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen).
Essential elements that are components of energy related chemical compounds in plants (e.g., magnesium in chlorophyll and phosphorous in ATP).
Essential elements that activate or inhibit enzymes, for example $Mg^{2+}$ is an activator for both ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/ oxygenase and phosphoenol pyruvate carboxylase, both of which are critical enzymes in photosynthetic carbon fixation, $Zn^{+}$ is an activator of alcohol dehydrogenase and Mo of nitrogenase during nitrogen metabolism.
Some essential elements can alter the osmotic potential of a cell. Potassium plays an important role in the opening and closing of stomata. Minerals also play role as solutes in determining the water potential of a cell.
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