The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) is synthesised by plants during drought to close stomata and regulate desiccation tolerance pathways. Conifers and some angiosperms with embolism-resistant xylem show a peaking-type (p-type) response in ABA levels, in which ABA levels increase early in drought then decrease as drought progresses, declining to pre-stressed levels. The mechanism behind this dynamic remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoffee ( L.) plants have been assorted as highly suitable to growth at elevated [CO] (e), although such suitability is hypothesized to decrease under severe shade. We herein examined how the combination of e and contrasting irradiance affects growth and photosynthetic performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOngoing changes in climate, and the consequent mortality of natural and cultivated forests across the globe, highlight the urgent need to understand the plant traits associated with greater tolerance to drought. Here, we aimed at assessing key foliar traits, with a focus on the hydraulic component, that could confer a differential ability to tolerate drought in three commercial hybrids of the most important Eucalyptus species utilized in tropical silviculture: E. urophyla, E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAuxins are known to regulate xylem development in plants, but their effects on water transport efficiency are poorly known. Here we used tomato plants with the diageotropica mutation (dgt), which has impaired function of a cyclophilin 1 cis-trans isomerase involved in auxin signaling, and the corresponding wild type (WT) to explore the mutation's effects on plant hydraulics and leaf gas exchange. The xylem of the dgt mutant showed a reduced hydraulically weighted vessel diameter (Dh) (24-43%) and conduit number (25-58%) in petioles and stems, resulting in lower theoretical hydraulic conductivities (Kt); on the other hand, no changes in root Dh and Kt were observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSilicon (Si) frequently accumulates in plants tissues, mainly in roots of dicotyledons, such as cowpea. By contrast, Cadmium (Cd) is a metal that is extremely toxic to plant metabolism. This research aims to investigate if the deposition of Si in root can reduce Cd contents and minimize its negative effects on leaves, measuring gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, antioxidant metabolism, photosynthetic pigments and growth, which may explain the possible role of Si in the attenuation of Cd toxicity in cowpea.
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