Scope of plant physiology

• The field of plant physiology includes the study of all the internal activities of plants— those chemical and physical processes associated with life as they occur in plants. Major subdisciplines of plant physiology include phytochemistry (the study of the biochemistry of plants) and phytopathology (the study of disease in plants).

• Plant physiology includes the study of biological and chemical processes of individual plant cells. That is, it helps to disclose complex life processes.
• Plant physiology deals with interactions between cells, tissues, and organs within a plant.
• Plant physiologists study the ways that plants control or regulate internal functions. Like animals, plants produce chemicals called hormones which are produced in one part of the plant to signal cells in another part of the plant to respond.
• Plant physiology includes the study of how plants respond to conditions and variations in the environment, a field known as environmental physiology. Stress from water loss, changes in air chemistry, or crowding by other plants can lead to changes in the way a plant functions.
• Several new biological sciences have evolved such as biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular biology, and genetic engineering for which deep knowledge of plant physiology is required.