Surrounded by luxury: The necessities of subsidiary cells.

The evolution of stomata marks one of the key advances that enabled plants to colonise dry land while allowing gas exchange for photosynthesis. In large measure, stomata retain a common design across species that incorporates paired guard cells with little variation in structure. By contrast, the cells of the stomatal complex immediately surrounding the guard cells vary widely in shape, size and count.

Essential Oils of the Leaves of Epaltes australis Less. and Lindera myrrha (Lour.) Merr.: Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial, Anti-inflammatory, Tyrosinase Inhibitory, and Molecular Docking Studies.

Epaltes australis Less. has been traditionally used to treat fever and snake bites, whereas Lindera myrrha (Lour.) Merr.

OnGuard3e: A predictive, ecophysiology-ready tool for gas exchange and photosynthesis research.

Gas exchange across the stomatal pores of leaves is a focal point in studies of plant-environmental relations. Stomata regulate atmospheric exchange with the inner air spaces of the leaf. They open to allow CO entry for photosynthesis and close to minimize water loss.

Engineering stomata for enhanced carbon capture and water-use efficiency.

Stomatal pores facilitate gaseous exchange between the inner air spaces of the leaf and the atmosphere. As gatekeepers that balance CO entry for photosynthesis against transpirational water loss, they are a focal point for efforts to improve crop performance, especially in the efficiency of water use, within the changing global environment. Until recently, engineering strategies had focused on stomatal conductance in the steady state.

The outward shaker channel OsK5.2 improves plant salt tolerance by contributing to control of both leaf transpiration and K secretion into xylem sap.

Soil salinity constitutes a major environmental constraint to crop production worldwide. Leaf K /Na homoeostasis, which involves regulation of transpiration, and thus of the xylem sap flow, and control of the ionic composition of the ascending sap, is a key determinant of plant salt tolerance. Here, we show, using a reverse genetics approach, that the outwardly rectifying K -selective channel OsK5.

A Dual Role for the OsK5.2 Ion Channel in Stomatal Movements and K Loading into Xylem Sap.

The roles of potassium channels from the Shaker family in stomatal movements have been investigated by reverse genetics analyses in Arabidopsis (), but corresponding information is lacking outside this model species. Rice () and other cereals possess stomata that are more complex than those of Arabidopsis. We examined the role of the outward Shaker K channel gene Expression of the gene ( reporter strategy) was observed in the whole stomatal complex (guard cells and subsidiary cells), root vasculature, and root cortex.

Differential expression analysis of a subset of GmNAC genes in shoots of two contrasting drought-responsive soybean cultivars DT51 and MTD720 under normal and drought conditions.

NAC transcription factors are known to be involved in regulation of plant responses to drought stress. In this study, the expression of 23 drought-responsive GmNAC genes was assessed in the shoot tissues of DT51 and MTD720, the two soybean varieties with contrasting drought-responsive phenotypes, by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) under normal and drought conditions. Results indicated that expression profile of GmNAC genes was genotype-dependent, and six GmNACs (GmNAC019, 043, 062, 085, 095 and 101) had higher transcript levels in the shoots of the drought-tolerant DT51 in comparison with the drought-sensitive MTD720 under drought.