Multimodal imaging analysis in silver fir reveals coordination in cellulose and lignin deposition.

Despite lignin being a key component of wood, the dynamics of tracheid lignification are generally overlooked in xylogenesis studies, which hampers our understanding of environmental drivers and blurs the interpretation of isotopic and anatomical signals stored in tree rings. Here, we analyzed cell wall formation in silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) tracheids to determine if cell wall lignification lags behind secondary wall deposition.

Toward a better understanding of angiosperm xylogenesis: a new method for a cellular approach.

The kinetics of wood formation in angiosperms are largely unknown because their complex xylem anatomy precludes using the radial position of vessels and fibers to infer their time of differentiation. We analyzed xylogenesis in ring-porous ash (Fraxinus angustifolia) and diffuse-porous beech (Fagus sylvatica) over 1 yr and proposed a novel procedure to assess the period of vessel and fiber enlargement using a referential radial file (RRF). Our approach captured the dynamics of wood formation and provided a robust estimation of the kinetics of vessel and fiber enlargement.

Seasonal patterns of increases in stem girth, vessel development, and hydraulic function in deciduous tree species.

Background And Aims: The onset of spring growth and vessel formation were examined within three deciduous woody plant species, Acer rubrum, Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa and Quercus rubra. We were broadly interested in the lag between the onset of girth expansion and the formation of mature and hydraulically conductive vessels within the new xylem.

Cutting tree rings into time slices: how intra-annual dynamics of wood formation help decipher the space-for-time conversion.

Tree-ring anatomy, microdensity and isotope records provide valuable intra-annual information. However, extracting signals at that scale is challenged by the complexity of xylogenesis, where two major processes - cell enlargement and wall thickening - occur at different times and rates. We characterized the space-for-time association in the tree rings of three conifer species by examining the duration, overlapping, inter-tree synchronicity and interannual stability during cell enlargement and wall thickening across regular tree-ring sectors (portions of equal tangential width).

Do changes in spring phenology affect earlywood vessels? Perspective from the xylogenesis monitoring of two sympatric ring-porous oaks.

This study addresses relationships between leaf phenology, xylogenesis, and functional xylem anatomy in two ring-porous oak species, the temperate Quercus robur and the sub-Mediterranean Q. pyrenaica. Earlywood vessel (EV) formation and leaf phenology were monitored in 2012 and 2013.