Electrical impedance of white spruce shoots in relation to pressure-volume analysis and free sugar content |
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Authors: | S J COLOMBO E BLUMWALD |
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Institution: | Ontario Forest Research Institute, P.O. Box 969, 1234 Queen Street East, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6A 5N5;Centre for Plant Biotechnology, Department of Botany, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada |
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Abstract: | Electrical impedance measurements made on white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, stems were related to shoot free sugar contents and to osmotic, turgor and water potential. During seasonal dormancy induction, there were commensurate increases in free sugar contents, osmotic potential at full turgor and impedance which resulted in linear relationships among these variables. When measured over the course of laboratory drying, impedance increased curvilinearly with decreasing relative water content. There was a linear increase in impedance with decreasing water potential, with a break point coincident with the turgor loss point, possibly attributed to disruption to current flow through broken plasmodesmatal connections between adjacent cells. This technique offers a non-destructive method to measure tissue free sugar content, and therefore, short- and long-term shifts in parameters historically derived from pressure-volume analysis. |
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Keywords: | Picea glauca electrical impedance water potential osmotic potential turgor water content free sugars |
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