Journal
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 367, Issue 1588, Pages 537-546Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0270
Keywords
leaf gas exchange; photosynthesis; plant evolution; gas exchange capacity; transpiration; vein density
Categories
Funding
- Australian Research Council
- University of Sheffield
- Royal Society
- Gatsby Charitable Foundation
- BBSRC [BB/J002364/1, BB/F001177/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/F001177/1, BB/J002364/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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In response to short-term fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 concentration, c(a), plants adjust leaf diffusive conductance to CO2, g(c), via feedback regulation of stomatal aperture as part of a mechanism for optimizing CO2 uptake with respect to water loss. The operational range of this elaborate control mechanism is determined by the maximum diffusive conductance to CO2, g(c(max)), which is set by the size (S) and density (number per unit area, D) of stomata on the leaf surface. Here, we show that, in response to long-term exposure to elevated or subambient c(a), plants alter g(c(max)) in the direction of the short-term feedback response of g(c) to c(a) via adjustment of S and D. This adaptive feedback response to c(a), consistent with long-term optimization of leaf gas exchange, was observed in four species spanning a diverse taxonomic range (the lycophyte Selaginella uncinata, the fern Osmunda regalis and the angiosperms Commelina communis and Vicia faba). Furthermore, using direct observation as well as flow cytometry, we observed correlated increases in S, guard cell nucleus size and average apparent 1C DNA amount in epidermal cell nuclei with increasing c(a), suggesting that stomatal and leaf adaptation to c(a) is linked to genome scaling.
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