Cell size has pervasive effects on the functional composition and morphology of leaves: a case study in Rhododendron (Ericaceae).

The leaf economics spectrum (LES) characterizes a tradeoff between building a leaf for durability versus for energy capture and gas exchange, with allocation to leaf dry mass per projected surface area (LMA) being a key trait underlying this tradeoff. However, regardless of the biomass supporting the leaf, high rates of gas exchange are typically accomplished by small, densely packed stomata on the leaf surface, which is enabled by smaller genome sizes. Here, we investigate how variation in genome size-cell size allometry interacts with variation in biomass allocation (i.

Linking structure to function: the connection between mesophyll structure and intrinsic water use efficiency.

Climate change-driven drought events are becoming unescapable in an increasing number of areas worldwide. Understanding how plants are able to adapt to these changing environmental conditions is a non-trivial challenge. Physiologically, improving a plant's intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi ) will be essential for plant survival in dry conditions.

Into the spongy-verse: structural differences between leaf and flower mesophyll.

As the site of almost all terrestrial carbon fixation, the mesophyll tissue is critical to leaf function. However, mesophyll tissue is not restricted only to leaves but also occurs in the laminar, heterotrophic organs of the floral perianth, providing a powerful test of how metabolic differences are linked to differences in tissue structure. Here, we compared mesophyll tissues of leaves and flower perianths of six species using high-resolution X-ray computed microtomography (microCT) imaging.

Population structure and natural selection across a flower color polymorphism in the desert plant Encelia farinosa.

Premise: Clines-or the geographic sorting of phenotypes across continual space-provide an opportunity to understand the interaction of dispersal, selection, and history in structuring polymorphisms.

Methods: In this study, we combine field-sampling, genetics, climatic analyses, and machine learning to understand a flower color polymorphism in the wide-ranging desert annual Encelia farinosa.

Results: We find evidence for replicated transitions in disk floret color from brown to yellow across spatial scales, with the most prominent cline stretching ~100 km from southwestern United States into México.