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turgor pressure definition

Author

Emily Wong

Updated on May 22, 2026

turgor, Pressure exerted by fluid in a cell that presses the cell membrane against the cell wall. Turgor is what makes living plant tissue rigid. Loss of turgor, resulting from the loss of water from plant cells, causes flowers and leaves to wilt.

What is turgidity and turgor pressure?

Plant turgidity is a condition in plants wherein the cells are turgid due to turgor pressure, i.e. the pressure that is being exerted by water inside the cell against the cell wall. One of the important features of a plant organism is its cell wall.

What is turgor movement in biology?

Definition of turgor movement

: a reversible change in position of a plant part due to a change in turgor pressure of various cells (as in sleep movements) — compare nyctitropism.

What is an example of turgor pressure?

Think of a balloon that is being filled up with water as a turgor pressure example. The balloon swells as more water draws in. The pressure that the water exerts against the walls of the balloon is similar to the turgor pressure exerted against the wall.

What is the importance of turgor pressure?

Turgor pressure in plants plays a key role in processes such as growth, development, mechanical support, signalling, flowering and stress response. Turgor pressure is an ideal means in plant cells through which the energy content of water molecules (water potential) can be adjusted quickly, within seconds.

What is the difference between diffusion and osmosis?

In diffusion, particles move from an area of higher concentration to one of lower concentration until equilibrium is reached. In osmosis, a semipermeable membrane is present, so only the solvent molecules are free to move to equalize concentration.

What is the difference between osmotic pressure and turgor pressure?

Note: Osmotic pressure refers to the minimum pressure that needs to be applied on the solution to prevent the inward flow of its pure solvent across a semipermeable membrane whereas turgor pressure refers to the pressure inside the cell pushes the plasma membrane against the cell wall of the plant cell.

What is turgor pressure How is turgor pressure maintained by the plant?

The water pressure inside plant cells is called turgor pressure, and it is maintained by a process called osmosis. Technically speaking, osmosis is the movement of water across a differentially permeable membrane from a place where water concentration is higher to one where the concentration is lower.

What is Wall pressure in biology?

Definition of wall pressure

: the pressure exerted on the contents of a plant cell by the cell wall that is equal in force and opposite in direction to the turgor pressure.

What is turgor movement explain with example?

Explanation. Turgor movement is caused when there is difference in the turgidity in two different regions of a plant part such as a leaf. For example, when we touch the leaves of the Mimosa plant then it drops. This is due to the difference of turgidity in different parts of the leaf.

Does turgor increase or decrease?

Turgor pressure increases or decreases when the water content changes within the cell (Fig. 1C).

Is turgor pressure always negative?

It was known formerly as wall pressure or turgor pressure. In a turgid plant cell, pressure potential is usually positive but, negative in case of xylem, the potential pressure of xylem in a transpiring plant, which is under considerable tension, will be negative.

How is turgor pressure measured?

Turgor pressures were measured directly using a pressure probe, or indirectly using a vapour pressure osmometer. With the latter, discs were placed directly in the osmometer chamber and turgor was calculated as the difference in osmotic pressure before and after freezing and thawing.

What is turgor pressure and plasmolysis?

If a plant cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, the plant cell loses water and hence turgor pressure by plasmolysis: pressure decreases to the point where the protoplasm of the cell peels away from the cell wall, leaving gaps between the cell wall and the membrane and making the plant cell shrink and crumple.