Felicia observed that the lettuce plants in her garden had wilted after several days of drought. The next day, there was a downpour of rain, and the leaves began to swell. What cellular process caused
this effect in the lettuce plants?

Roots take water from the environment through osmosis. This is the diffusion of water molecules from a less concentrated solution to a more concentrated one. Osmotic process caused  this effect in the lettuce plants.

Osmosis is the phenomenon that occurs when two dilutions of different concentrations are separated by a semipermeable membrane.

The membrane allows the pass of water but not solute. Hence, water can move from the most diluted side to the less diluted one.

Water goes from the most diluted solution to the cell interior until concentrations are equal on both sides. At this point, the cell and the solution are in dynamic equilibrium.

As water enters, the cell begins to enlarge and becomes bigger-sized. It acquires turgidity.

Under natural conditions, the organism regulates the extracellular fluids to avoid cells swelling until they burst.

In the exposed example, the lettuce plants had lost water due to several days of drought. They were dehydrated.

Immediately after the downpour of rain, the plant cells acted as the more concentrated solution, separated by their membrane with a less concentrated solution.

Water molecules moved toward the most concentrated side, the interior of the cell.

Roots took water from the soil by osmotic process and drove it to the different plant tissues, rehydrating the cells.

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Due to the chought water was released from the plant which caused the plant to shrink or wilt.

Explanation:

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