Different between Apical meristem and Lateral Meristem.
Answers
apical meristem
The apical meristem is the meristematic tissue found at the apex of stem and roots. It is involved in the primary growth of the plant by increasing the length of the plant. In the root, the meristem is situated behind the tip (sub-terminal) and in the shoot, it is the terminal. Cells in the apical meristem are unspecialized and actively divide to produce new cells throughout the lifetime of a plant. Once divided, the cells in the apex remain undifferentiated and undergo continuous cell division by mitosis. But cells in the center of the plant gradually lose their power of division and become a permanent tissue. The central cells are vacuolated and expanded by absorbing water by the vacuole. Then, they are specialized to perform a particular function.
lateral meristem
The lateral meristem lies laterally in the stem and roots and is involved the secondary growth. Secondary growth only occurs in dicots. The lateral meristem is responsible for the thickening of the vascular cambium and the cork cambium. Vascular cambium produces both secondary xylem and secondary phloem. The secondary xylem is produced inside the stem and the secondary phloem is produced in the stem periphery. The stem tissue that is produced by the secondary xylem is called wood. Secondary phloem produces the inner bark. Due to the favorable conditions that are provided during the summer such as intense sunlight, vascular cambium actively divides. But in the winter, the division of the vascular cambium occurs slowly due to the reduced intense of sunlight. This differential growth of the vascular cambium produces annual rings in the stem. The number of rings in the stem hence determines the age of the tree.