NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -In the symplastic pathway, the movement of water is in between the cytoplasm and the vacuoles through the plasma membranes and plasmodesmata and beyond the cortex of plant cells.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the active absorption, the water first enters the cell sap and passes from one cell to another. This type of movement where protoplasm is involved is called symplast. In passive absorption, water moves through the apoplast of the root. The apoplast path includes the cell wall and intercellular spaces.

Detailed explanation-3: -One of the pathways of water movement in roots, called symplastic movement, occurs through a living continuum (plasmodesmata and cytoplasm). Vacuoles are also involved. The cell wall is outside the cytoplasm and dead, and the symplast pathway does not need to involve it.

Detailed explanation-4: -So, the correct option is ‘plasmodesmata’.

Detailed explanation-5: -Water can move between cells and through the cell walls and intercellular spaces in the apoplast pathway (apoplastic route) or between adjacent cytoplasms through plasmodesmata in the symplast pathway (symplastic route).