Question

Give four differences between meristematic and permanent tissues?

Answer 1

Hint: Meristematic tissues are the tissues that have the ability to divide and differentiate continuously whereas the permanent tissue are those which have lost their ability to grow and divide.

Complete answer:
Meristematic tissue:
Meristematic tissue is the tissue which has active living cells and they form the foundation for a specialized plant structure. They have the ability to divide and regenerate . The meristematic tissues have very small cells and are thin walled and contain very few number of vacuoles. They have a dense protoplasm, a prominent nucleus and show very high metabolic activity. They are also involved in healing the injuries in plants.

Permanent tissue:
Permanent tissues are the tissues which have grown fully and have lost their ability to divide anymore. They have acquired specific roles and are differentiated .

Meristematic tissue	Permanent tissue
They can divide	They can not divide further.
Always found in living cells	May or may not be a living cell.
These are undifferentiated cells.	These are differentiated cells.
They consist of only one type of cell hence simple tissues.	They can be simple or complex tissue (more than one type of cell).

Additional information:
Simple tissue:
Simple tissues are made up of a single cell type and are homogenous; they are divided into parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma. All the cells constituting have the same structure and function. Their main functions are storage, providing mechanical strength, flexibility and packaging.

Complex tissue:
Complex tissues are made up of different types of cells and perform different functions. They include phloem which is involved in transport of food and xylem which is transport of water and nutrients.

Note: A meristematic tissue is one which is actively dividing cells whereas the cells of permanent tissue have completed their growth. Permanent tissues are bigger in size and have a specialized function.