Humidity gradients in the air spaces of leaves

Exploring the occurrence of the level of water saturation of air within leaves uncovers a mechanism for maintaining photosynthesis and vascular flow under dry conditions. Stomata are orifices that connect the drier atmosphere with the interconnected network of more humid air spaces that surround the cells within a leaf. Accurate values of the humidities inside the substomatal cavity, w(i), and in the air, w(a), are needed to estimate stomatal conductance and the CO2 concentration in the internal air spaces of leaves. Both are vital factors in the understanding of plant physiology and climate, ecological and crop systems. However, there is no easy way to measure w(i) directly. Out of necessity, w(i) has been taken as the saturation water vapour concentration at leaf temperature, w(sat), and applied to the whole leaf intercellular air spaces. We explored the occurrence of unsaturation by examining gas exchange of leaves exposed to various magnitudes of w(sat) - w(a), or Delta w, using a double-sided, clamp-on chamber, and estimated degrees of unsaturation from the gradient of CO2 across the leaf that was required to sustain the rate of CO2 assimilation through the upper surface. The relative humidity in the substomatal cavities dropped to about 97% under mild Delta w and as dry as around 80% when Delta w was large. Measurements of the diffusion of noble gases across the leaf indicated that there were still regions of near 100% humidity distal from the stomatal pores. We suggest that as Delta w increases, the saturation edge retreats into the intercellular air spaces, accompanied by the progressive closure of mesophyll aquaporins to maintain the cytosolic water potential.

Automated summary

Investigating the water saturation level within leaves reveals a mechanism for maintaining photosynthesis and vascular flow in dry conditions. Accurate values of humidity inside the substomatal cavity are needed to understand plant physiology and climate. This study found that as the difference in saturation water vapor concentration between the substomatal cavity and the air increases, the saturation edge retreats into the intercellular air spaces, accompanied by the closure of mesophyll aquaporins.