sieve element

sieve element, in vascular plants, elongated living cells of the phloem, the nuclei of which have fragmented and disappeared and the transverse end walls of which are pierced by sievelike groups of pores (sieve plates). They are the conduits of food (mostly sugar) transport from the leaves to the rest of the plant.

In angiosperms, these cells are known as sieve tubes. In non-angiospermous vascular plants—e.g., gymnosperms, lycophytes, and ferns—rows of sieve cells, showing more primitive structural features, perform the same function. Sieve tube elements are almost always adjacent to nucleus-containing companion cells, which have been produced as sister cells with the sieve element from the same mother cell. Companion cells apparently function with the enucleate sieve tube elements and die when they break down. The sieve cells of non-angiospermous vascular plants lack true companion cells, although other adjacent cells, called albuminous cells, serve a similar function.

The small pores of sieve cells and the larger ones of sieve elements are traversed by strands of cytoplasm called P-protein. It is not known whether P-protein is active in transport or merely serves as a seal against leakage in case of injury. See also phloem.