Dataset Information

Direct observation of local xylem embolisms induced by soil drying in intact Zea mays leaves.

ABSTRACT: The vulnerability of vascular plants to xylem embolism is closely related to their stable long-distance water transport, growth, and survival. Direct measurements of xylem embolism are required to understand what causes embolism and what strategies plants employ against it. In this study, synchrotron X-ray microscopy was used to non-destructively investigate both the anatomical structures of xylem vessels and embolism occurrence in the leaves of intact Zea mays (maize) plants. Xylem embolism was induced by water stress at various soil drying periods and soil water contents. X-ray images of dehydrated maize leaves showed that the ratio of gas-filled vessels to all xylem vessels increased with decreased soil water content and reached approximately 30% under severe water stress. Embolism occurred in some but not all vessels. Embolism in maize leaves was not strongly correlated with xylem diameter but was more likely to occur in the peripheral veins. The rate of embolism formation in metaxylem vessels was higher than in protoxylem vessels. This work has demonstrated that xylem embolism remains low in maize leaves under water stress and that there xylem has characteristic spatial traits of vulnerability to embolism.

SUBMITTER: Ryu J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4861012 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Direct observation of local xylem embolisms induced by soil drying in intact Zea mays leaves.

Ryu Jeongeun J Hwang Bae Geun BG Kim Yangmin X YX Lee Sang Joon SJ

Journal of experimental botany 20160305 9

The vulnerability of vascular plants to xylem embolism is closely related to their stable long-distance water transport, growth, and survival. Direct measurements of xylem embolism are required to understand what causes embolism and what strategies plants employ against it. In this study, synchrotron X-ray microscopy was used to non-destructively investigate both the anatomical structures of xylem vessels and embolism occurrence in the leaves of intact Zea mays (maize) plants. Xylem embolism was ...[more]

PMID: 26946123

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Project description:The relationship between leaf water potential, soil water potential, and transpiration depends on soil and plant hydraulics and stomata regulation. Recent concepts of stomatal response to soil drying relate stomatal regulation to plant hydraulics, neglecting the loss of soil hydraulic conductance around the roots. Our objective was to measure the effect of soil drying on the soil-plant hydraulic conductance of maize and to test whether stomatal regulation avoids a loss of soil-plant hydraulic conductance in drying soils. We combined a root pressure chamber, in which the soil-root system is pressurized to maintain the leaf xylem at atmospheric pressure, with sap flow sensors to measure transpiration rate. The method provides accurate and high temporal resolution measurements of the relationship between transpiration rate and xylem leaf water potential. A simple soil-plant hydraulic model describing the flow of water across the soil, root, and xylem was used to simulate the relationship between leaf water potential and transpiration rate. The experiments were carried out with 5-week-old maize grown in cylinders of 9 cm diameter and 30 cm height filled with silty soil. The measurements were performed at four different soil water contents (WC). The results showed that the relationship between transpiration and leaf water potential was linear in wet soils, but as the soil dried, the xylem tension increased, and nonlinearities were observed at high transpiration rates. Nonlinearity in the relationship between transpiration and leaf water potential indicated a decrease in the soil-plant hydraulic conductance, which was explained by the loss of hydraulic conductivity around the roots. The hydraulic model well reproduced the observed leaf water potential. Parallel experiments performed with plants not being pressurized showed that plants closed stomata when the soil-plant hydraulic conductance decreased, maintaining the linearity between leaf water potential and transpiration rate. We conclude that stomata closure during soil drying is caused by the loss of soil hydraulic conductivity in a predictable way.

Project description:Maize (Zea mays L.), an important industrial material and food source, shows an astonishing environmental adaptation. A remarkable feature of its post-domestication adaptation from tropical to temperate environments is adaptation to a long photoperiod (LP). Many photoperiod-related genes have been identified in previous transcriptomics analysis, but proteomics shows less evidence for this mechanism of photoperiod response. In this study, we sampled newly expanded leaves of maize at the three- and six-leaf stages from an LP-sensitive introgression line H496, the donor CML288, LP-insensitive inbred line, and recurrent parent Huangzao4 (HZ4) grown under long days (15 h light and 9 h dark). To characterize the proteomic changes in response to LP, the iTRAQ-labeling method was used to determine the proteome profiles of plants exposed to LP. A total of 943 proteins differentially expressed at the three- and six-leaf stages in HZ4 and H496 were identified. Functional analysis was performed by which the proteins were classified into stress defense, signal transduction, carbohydrate metabolism, protein metabolism, energy production, and transport functional groups using the WEGO online tool. The enriched gene ontology categories among the identified proteins were identified statistically with the Cytoscape plugin ClueGO + Cluepedia. Twenty Gene Ontology terms showed the highest significance, including those associated with protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, splicesome, ribosome, glyoxylate, dicarboxylate metabolism, L-malate dehydrogenase activity, and RNA transport. In addition, for subcellular location, all proteins showed significant enrichment of the mitochondrial outer membrane. The sugars producted by photosynthesis in plants are also a pivotal metabolic output in the circadian regulation. The results permit the prediction of several crucial proteins to photoperiod response and provide a foundation for further study of the influence of LP treatments on the circadian response in short-day plants.

Dataset Information

Direct observation of local xylem embolisms induced by soil drying in intact Zea mays leaves.

Publications

Direct observation of local xylem embolisms induced by soil drying in intact Zea mays leaves.

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