Sieve tube element

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Sieve tube elements, also called sieve tube members, are a certain type of elongated parenchyma cells in phloem tissue. At the ends those cells are connected with other sieve elements, and together they constitute the sieve tube. The main function of the sieve tube is transport of carbohydrates in the plant (e.g., from the leaves to the fruits and roots).

The forest botanist Theodor Hartig was the first to discover and name these cells as Siebfasern (sieve fibres) and Siebröhren (sieve tubes) in 1837.

Unlike vessel elements, which are elongated cells that transport water and minerals in the xylem/wood, and represent another kind of vascular tissue in the plant, sieve elements are living cells.

[edit] References

• Katherine Esau (1969). The Phloem -in: Encyclopedia of Plant Anatomy. Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart.