What is the Difference Between Bordered Pit and Simple Pit?

The main difference between bordered pits and simple pits lies in the presence or absence of a secondary wall thickening, or border, over the pit cavity.

Bordered Pits:

• Have a secondary wall thickening over the pit cavity.
• Found primarily in tracheids of gymnosperms and vessels of angiosperms.
• Pit apertures can be small, rounded, and have different shapes, such as circular, lenticular, linear, or oval.
• When observed under a microscope, bordered pits appear as a doughnut.

Simple Pits:

• Do not have a border, meaning there is no secondary wall thickening over the pit cavity.
• Occur mainly in parenchymatous cells and rarely in sclerenchymatous cells.
• Found in medullary rays, extra-xylary fibers, companion cells, and in parenchyma cells.

Pits are essential for the transport of minerals and water between plant cells, and they usually form complementary pairs with neighboring cells, known as pit pairs. Bordered pits narrow towards the lumen of the cell, and the pit apertures may have different shapes. In contrast, simple pits lack borders and are found in different cell types.

Comparative Table: Bordered Pit vs Simple Pit

The main difference between bordered pits and simple pits lies in the presence of a secondary wall thickening, or border, around the pit cavity. Here is a table comparing the two types of pits:

Both bordered and simple pits are depressions in the secondary cell wall of plant cells that aid in the transport of minerals and water between cells. They are usually found in complementary pairs, known as pit pairs.