Changes in the Water Balance and Photosynthesis of Onion, Bean and Cotton Plants under Saline Conditions

The osmotic concentration (osmotic potential) of onion leaf sap did not adjust to chloride salinity, and consequently water potential, turgor, stomatal aperture and transpiration were reduced. Although osmotic concentration of bean and cotton leaf sap did adjust to a saline root medium and turgor was no less in the salinized plants than in the controls, stomata of the salinized plants remained only partly open and transpiration was reduced. Net photosynthesis of onion plants was reduced by salinity (this effect being much enhanced in a hot dry atmosphere) but it could be rapidly raised to the level of the controls by inducing elevated leaf turgor. Stomatal closure was initially responsible for most of the ～30 % reduction in photosynthesis of salinized beans. This was due to interference with CO₂ diffusion and could be overcome by raising the CO₂ concentration in the air. At a later stage of growth, salinity affected the light reaction of bean photosynthesis, and elevation of the air CO₂ had little effect. Closure of stomata of salinized cotton plants had only a relatively small effect on net photosynthesis. Light intensity and CO₂ concentration experiments showed that salinity was reducing the photosynthesis of cotton leaves mainly by affecting the light reaction of photosynthesis. It is concluded that chloride salinity does affect the water balance and rate of photosynthesis of plants and that the nature and degree of the effects will depend upon climatic conditions and may be very different between plant species and in the same species at different periods of growth.     

弱光下生长的葡萄叶片蒸腾速率和气孔结构的变化

 植物能够对生长环境产生生态适应性,这种适应性可从气孔导度、光合速率、水分利用效率等生态指标上反映出来。为了研究葡萄蒸腾特性对弱光环境的适应性变化,本试验以‘京玉’葡萄幼苗（Vitis vinefera cv. Jingyu）为试验材料,通过遮光处理（2个处理,分别遮光65%和85%）营造弱光环境,测定了在弱光环境下生长的葡萄叶片蒸腾速率、气孔导度、水分利用效率对光照强度的响应,同时用扫描电镜技术观察了气孔的发育。结果表明,弱光环境下生长的葡萄幼苗,叶片的水势较高,但水分利用效率较低,叶片蒸腾速率和气孔导度变化对光照强度的响应缓慢,而自然光下生长的葡萄叶片则反应较迅速。通过对气孔结构的研究发现,与自然光照环境下生长的植株相比,在弱光环境下生长的葡萄幼苗,叶片下表皮的气孔横轴变宽,大小气孔之间差异减少,气孔外突,表皮细胞变大甚至扭曲,角质层变薄。说明葡萄幼苗能够对弱光环境产生适应性变化,其蒸腾特性的变化与其气孔结构的变化相关,具有一致性。     

Experiments using split-root chambers on water uptake from soil macropores by sunflowers

The purpose of this study was to use split-root chambers to determine whether sunflowers (Helianthus annuus), which possess high transpirational demand, can preferentially extract macropore water when they are given the option of using either micropore or macropore water. Sunflower plants were grown in split-root chambers with half of their roots in a macroporous soil and half in a microporous soil of identical mineralogy. The two chambers were irrigated with water of different stable hydrogen isotope compositions (D) (tap water and melted snow water). By measuring the D of the sunflower xylem sap, it was possible to determine from which soil type the sunflowers were extracting water. It was found that sunflowers did not preferentially extract macropore water. Since sunflower plants possess very high transpiration rates on a whole-plant basis, and because transpiration remains high even under soil drying, we believe sunflower roots must have a consistently very low water potential compared with the soil water potentials of either the macroporous or microporous soils. If root water potentials are sufficiently low, then root water uptake cannot discriminate between macropores and micropores.     

Sap flow, gas exchange, and hydraulic conductance of young apricot trees growing under a shading net and different water supplies

The experiment was carried out in a research field near Murcia, Spain, over a 3-week period between September 26 and October 16, 2000. Sixteen trees were used in the experiment, eight of which were placed under a rectangular shading net, while the other eight were maintained in the open air. Trees were irrigated once per day and, after October 5th, water was witheld from eight trees (four shaded and four unprotected for 5 days). The leaf stomatal conductance and the photosynthesis rates were higher in the shaded trees than in the exposed plants, probably because the leaf water potential was lower in the unshaded plants. This higher leaf conductance partially compensated for the effect of low radiation on transpiration, and the reduction of daily sap flow registered in shaded trees was only around 10-20%. The net also affected trunk diameter changes, with the shaded trees showing lower values of maximum daily shrinkage. Soil water deficit and high radiation had a similar effect on plant water parameters, lowering leaf water potential, leaf stomatal conductance, and the photosynthesis rate. The effects of both conditions were accumulative and so the exposed water-stressed plants showed the lowest values of total hydraulic resistance and water use efficiency, while the shaded well-irrigated trees registered the highest values for both parameters. For this reason, we think that net shading could be extended to apricot culture in many areas in which irrigation water is scarce and insolation is high.     

Photosynthetic Response to Water Stress in Phaseolus vulgaris

Water stressed Phaseolus vulgaris L. plants were monitored to detect the relationships between net photosynthesis, transpiration, boundary layer plus stomatal resistance, mesophyll resistance, CO₂ compensation point, ribulose, 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase activity and leaf water potential. At full expansion, the first trifoliate leaves of greenhouse grown bean plants were subjected to water stress by withholding irrigation. Gas exchange and enzyme activity of the central trifoliolate leaflets were monitored as leaf water potential decreased. Although increased stomatal resistance appeared to be the primary causal factor of reduced net photosynthesis, increased mesophyll resistance and decreased ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase activity further documented the role of non-stomatal factors.     

不同时期毛乌素沙区主要植物种光合作用和蒸腾作用的变化

 采用LI—6000便携式光合分析系统对毛乌素沙区主要植物种油蒿、中间锦鸡儿、旱柳进行了不同时期光合作用,蒸腾作用日进程的测定,并同步测定有效光辐射、空气相对湿度、叶温、气温、胞间CO2浓度、气孔阻力、叶片水势及土壤水势等因子;结果表明：不同时期、不同植物种其光合、蒸腾特征各异;植物的光合、蒸腾与环境因子和植物内部因子之间有密切关系,其中有效光辐射是影响光合作用、蒸腾作用诸因子中的主导因子,而气孔阻力变化则在调节光合和蒸腾中起着重要作用;不同植物种间气孔对环境条件变化的响应程度不同,以中间锦鸡儿最为灵敏;3种植物的水分利用效率表明,中间锦鸡儿的水分利用效率较油蒿、旱柳为高。     

Compensating effect of fulvic acid and super-absorbent polymer on leaf gas exchange and water use efficiency of maize under moderate water deficit conditions

A field-based pot experiment with maize plants was conducted to examine the effect of combined fulvic acid (FA) and super-absorbent polymer (SAP) on leaf gas exchange, water use efficiency, and grain yield under soil water deficit. SAP (45 kg hm^?2) was applied to the topsoil at sowing. Plants were well-watered (80% field capacity), but subjected to water deficit (50% field capacity) from tassel stage to grain-fill. FA solution (2 g L^?1) was sprayed onto plant leaves at 2 and 9 days after imposing water deficit. Under water deficit, SAP and FA application did not affect evapotranspiration, but increased leaf abscisic acid and decreased leaf transpiration rate with a little change in photosynthesis, thus improving instantaneous water use efficiency. Applying SAP and FA under water deficit also increased grain yield by 19% and grain water use efficiency by 24%, largely attributed to an increase in kernel number. In contrast, under well-watered condition the two chemicals increased stomatal conductance, leaf transpiration, photosynthesis and chlorophyll content, but did not change kernel number and were relatively less effective in respect to water use efficiency compared to water-stressed condition. This study showed that application of foliar FA and soil SAP had little effect on evapotranspiration but maintained high photosynthesis and kernel number, and improved water use efficiency under soil water deficit.     

Limitation of acetylene reduction (nitrogen fixation) by photosynthesis in soybean having low water potentials

The role of photosynthesis and transpiration in the desiccation-induced inhibition of acetylene reduction (nitrogen fixation) was investigated in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr. var. Beeson) using an apparatus that permitted simultaneous measurements of acetylene reduction, net photosynthesis, and transpiration. The inhibition of acetylene reduction caused by low water potentials and their aftereffects could be reproduced by depriving shoots of atmospheric CO₂ even though the soil remained at water potentials that should have favored rapid acetylene reduction. The inhibition of acetylene reduction at low water potentials could be partially reversed by exposing the shoots to high CO₂ concentrations. When transpiration was varied independently of photosynthesis and dark respiration in plants having high water potentials, no effects on acetylene reduction could be observed. There was no correlation between transpiration and acetylene reduction in the CO₂ experiments. Therefore, the correlation that was observed between transpiration and acetylene reduction during desiccation was fortuitous. We conclude that the inhibition of shoot photosynthesis accounted for the inhibition of nodule acetylene reduction at low water potentials.     

Stomatal responses to humidity of coastal and interior populations of a Californian shrub

Summary Plants of two populations of Diplacus aurantiacus, a subshrub of the Californian chaparral, were compared for their stomatal response to water vapor concentration gradients. Plants of a coastal and an interior population were compared when grown under both low and high humidities. When grown at high humidity the coastal plants exhibited higher conductances and higher transpiration/photosynthesis ratios at all leaf-to-air water vapor concentration gradients than did the interior plants. Although all of the plants examined showed a pronounced stomatal response to humidity the response did not result in the degree of regulation of water-use efficiency reported for other Californian coastal species.     

Transpiration and stomatal conductance of mistletoe (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Loranthus europaeus</Emphasis>) and its host plant,downy oak (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Quercus pubescens</Emphasis>)

Sap flow rate was measured in the crown of a solitary specimen of downy oak (Quercus pubescens) infested by mistletoe (Loranthus europaeus). Five oak branches and two mistletoe plants were selected for analysis. The seasonal sum of transpired water expressed per leaf area unit was five times higher in the mistletoe than in the oak. In addition, the diurnal curves of sap flow were different between the plants. In the morning, the sap flow measured in the mistletoe lagged one hour behind the sap flow measured in an oak branch unencumbered by mistletoe. In contrast, no time lag was observed in the evening. The proportion of water transpired at night relative to the total transpiration was 7% in both species. The stomatal conductances derived from the inverted Penman-Monteith equation and their dependence on global radiation and the vapour pressure deficit (D) revealed that D exerts a different behaviour in stomatal control of transpiration in the mistletoe. We also determined that the concentration of calcium in the leaf mass could serve as a proxy for transpiration rate, however the relationship was not proportional.     

Effects of varying air and soil moisture on the water relations and growth of sugar beet

Sugar beet were grown for short periods with different amounts of moisture in the soil and air. Growing plants in wet soil (23 % moisture on dry weight) compared with dry soil (15% moisture) increased growth of the shoots and roots and plant dry weights by 15% in young plants and 10% in mature plants. Growing plants in wet air containing 10.9 g m^-3 of water (equivalent to a saturation deficit of 2.5 mb) compared with dry air containing 6.4 g m^-3 of water (saturation deficit = 8.5 mb) increased the dry weights of both young and mature plants by 8%, mostly by increasing the sizes of their storage roots. Wet air and wet soil increased the net assimilation rates of both young and mature plants. Wet soil, but not wet air, increased leaf areas of young plants by accelerating leaf expansion, and both increased the leaf area of mature plants by slowing senescence of the older leaves. Wet soil increased the water potential of the leaves of both young and mature plants and, by doing so, increased their stomatal conductances and rates of photosynthesis. Wet air also increased stomatal conductances and rates of photosynthesis of leaves of plants of both ages, but without changing their water potentials. Stomatal conductances and photosynthetic rates were greater for young leaves than mature on the same plant and at the same water potential. It is suggested that at certain stages in the crops growth photosynthetic efficiency could be increased by applying additional water as a mist to increase the moisture content of the air around the crop.     

Osmoregulation in Cotton in Response to Water Stress : II. LEAF CARBOHYDRATE STATUS IN RELATION TO OSMOTIC ADJUSTMENT

Diurnal changes in tissue water potential components, photosynthesis, and specific leaf carbohydrates were examined in water stress-adapted and nonadapted cotton plants. Adapted plants exhibited lower daily minimum leaf water potentials and maintained turgor to lower leaf water potentials than nonadapted plants. Because of this turgor maintenance, photosynthesis continued in adapted plants at leaf water potentials that inhibited photosynthesis in nonadapted plants. Adapted plants exhibited lower rates of photosynthesis than did nonadapted plants when leaves were fully turgid. The inhibition was not due to stomatal restriction of CO₂ diffusion because leaf conductances of nonadapted and adapted leaves were similar at high leaf water potentials.     

Elevated CO2 alleviates the impact of drought on barley improving water status by lowering stomatal conductance and delaying its effects on photosynthesis

We analysed the impact of elevated CO₂ on water relations, water use efficiency and photosynthetic gas exchange in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) under wet and drying soil conditions. Soil moisture was less depleted under elevated compared to ambient [CO₂]. Elevated CO₂ had no significant effect on the water relations of irrigated plants, except on whole plant hydraulic conductance, which was markedly decreased at elevated compared to ambient CO₂ concentrations. The values of relative water content, water potential and osmotic potential were higher under elevated CO₂ during the entire drought period. The better water status of water-limited plants grown at elevated CO₂ was the result of stomatal control rather than of osmotic adjustment. Despite the low stomatal conductance produced by elevated CO₂, net photosynthesis was higher under elevated than ambient CO₂ concentrations. With water shortage, photosynthesis was maintained for longer at higher rates under elevated CO₂. The reduction of stomatal conductance and therefore transpiration, and the enhancement of carbon assimilation by elevated CO₂, increased instantaneous and whole plant water use efficiency in both irrigated and droughted plants. Thus, the metabolism of barley plants grown under elevated CO₂ and moderate or mild water deficit conditions is benefited by increased photosynthesis and lower transpiration. The reduction in plant water use results in a marked increase in soil water content which delays the onset and severity of water deficit.     

松嫩草地全叶马兰夏季与秋季光合及蒸腾作用的比较

在生长季晴天条件下,夏季和秋季松嫩草地全叶马兰的光合,蒸腾作用的日变化均为双峰曲线,但不同季节有所差异,夏季日均净光合速率与蒸腾速率均高于秋季,光合和蒸腾作用与环境因子的植物内部因子之间有密切关系。分析表明,叶片净光合速率与有效光辐射呈极显著相关,与气孔阻力,胞间CO2呈负相关;蒸腾速率与有效光辐射呈极显著相关,与叶温,饱和差呈正相关,与气孔阻力,胞间CO2浓度呈负相关,有效光辐射是影响光合和蒸腾作用诸因子中的主导因子,而气孔阻力变化则在调节光合和蒸腾中起着重要作用,蒸腾速率午降主要由于光辐射强,叶温高,湿度低,植物体缺水,气孔部分关闭所致。     

Physiological adaptation and plasticity to water stress of coastal and desert populations of Heliotropium curassavicum L.

Summary In spite of the ten times higher evaporative demand in a desert versus a coastal habitat, plants of populations of Heliotropium curassavicum from both show similar stomatal conductances in the field as well as under controlled conditions. The desert plants however have a plastic stomatal response to dry air growing conditions which results in a greater photosynthetic performance at negative water potentials. The root and stem resistance to water flow is lower in the desert plants resulting in the maintenance of a high transpiration rate without a large reduction in water potential.     

Baobab trees (Adansonia) in Madagascar use stored water to flush new leaves but not to support stomatal opening before the rainy season

Baobab trees (Adansonia, Bombacaceae) are widely thought to store water in their stems for use when water availability is low. We tested this hypothesis by assessing the role of stored water during the dry season in three baobab species in Madagascar. In the dry season, leaves are present only during and after leaf flush. We quantified the relative contributions of stem and soil water during this period through measures of stem water content, sap flow and stomatal conductance. Rates of sap flow at the base of the trunk were near zero, indicating that leaf flushing was almost entirely dependent on stem water. Stem water content declined by up to 12% during this period, yet stomatal conductance and branch sap flow rates remained very low. Stem water reserves were used to support new leaf growth and cuticular transpiration, but not to support stomatal opening before the rainy season. Stomatal opening coincided with the onset of sap flow at the base of the trunk and occurred only after significant rainfall.     

The effect of competition from neighbours on stomatal conductance in lettuce and tomato plants

Competition decreased transpiration from young lettuce plants after 2 days, before any reductions in leaf area became apparent, and stomatal conductance (g(s) ) of lettuce and tomato plants was also reduced. Stomatal closure was not due to hydraulic signals or competition for nutrients, as soil water content, leaf water status and leaf nitrate concentrations were unaffected by neighbours. Competition-induced stomatal closure was absent in an abscisic acid (ABA)-deficient tomato mutant, flacca, indicating a fundamental involvement of ABA. Although tomato xylem sap ABA concentrations were unaffected by the presence of neighbours, ABA/pH-based stomatal modulation is still likely to underlie the response to competition, as soil and xylem sap alkalization was observed in competing plants. Competition also modulated leaf ethylene production, and treatment of lettuce plants with an ethylene perception inhibitor (1-methylcyclopropene) diminished the difference in g(s) between single and competing plants grown in a controlled environment room, but increased it in plants grown in the greenhouse: ethylene altered the extent of the stomatal response to competition. Effects of competition on g(s) are discussed in terms of the detection of the absence of neighbours: increases in g(s) and carbon fixation may allow faster initial space occupancy within an emerging community/crop.     

The Effect of VA Mycorrhizal Infection and Phosphorus Status on Sunflower Hydraulic and Stomatal Properties

Koide, R. 1985. The effect of VA mycorrhizal infection and phosphorusstatus on sunflower hydraulic and stomatal properties.—J. exp. Bot. 36: 1087–1098. Mycorrhizal (M) and non-mycorrhizal (NM) sunflower plants weregrown in a soil of low phosphorus availability (with and withoutphosphorus amendment) and in a soil of moderate phosphorus availability(without phosphorus amendment). Using the Ohm's law analogyand measured leaf water potentials, stem water potentials, andtranspiration rates, hydraulic resistances were calculated forthe whole plant, leaf, and below leaf components. Mycorrhizalinfection (as high as 89%) was shown to have no effect on theintrinsic hydraulic properties of the soil/plant system overa wide range of transpiration rates in either soil when M andNM plants of equivalent root length were compared. When grownin the soil of moderate phosphorus availability, calculatedhydraulic resistances under given environmental conditions werethe same for M and NM plants, as were stomatal resistances andtranspiration rates. When grown in the soil of low phosphorusavailability, calculated values of hydraulic resistance werelower for M plants than for NM plants under given sets of environmentalconditions. These differences in calculated hydraulic resistancewere not due to a difference in the intrinsic hydraulic propertiesof M and NM plants. The differences were evident because stomatalresistances were lower and transpiration rates higher for Mplants and because hydraulic resistance varied inversely withtranspiration rate. When plants of significantly greater rootlength were compared to plants of lesser root length, the calculatedhydraulic resistances under given environmental conditions weremuch lower for the plants of greater root length. This differencewas largely due to a difference in the intrinsic hydraulic propertiesbetween large and small plants, and not because of differencesin transpiration rate. The elevated transpiration rates exhibitedby M plants were attributed to an enhanced phosphorus status.Short term phosphorus amendments made to phosphorus-deficientNM plants improved transpiration; transpiration rates were similarfor M and NM plants before NM plants became phosphorus-deficient,and phosphorus-amended M and NM plants had similar transpirationrates. The data are discussed in relation to other reports ofmycorrhizal influence on hydraulic and stomatal resistances.Possible mechanisms for the influence of infection on stomatalresistance are also briefly discussed. Key words: Hydraulic resistance, stomatal resistance, mycorrhizas     

Nocturnal and daytime stomatal conductance respond to root-zone temperature in ‘Shiraz’ grapevines

Background and Aims

Daytime root-zone temperature may be a significant factor regulating water flux through plants. Water flux can also occur during the night but nocturnal stomatal response to environmental drivers such as root-zone temperature remains largely unknown.

Methods

Here nocturnal and daytime leaf gas exchange was quantified in ‘Shiraz’ grapevines (Vitis vinifera) exposed to three root-zone temperatures from budburst to fruit-set, for a total of 8 weeks in spring.

Key Results

Despite lower stomatal density, night-time stomatal conductance and transpiration rates were greater for plants grown in warm root-zones. Elevated root-zone temperature resulted in higher daytime stomatal conductance, transpiration and net assimilation rates across a range of leaf-to-air vapour pressure deficits, air temperatures and light levels. Intrinsic water-use efficiency was, however, lowest in those plants with warm root-zones. CO₂ response curves of foliar gas exchange indicated that the maximum rate of electron transport and the maximum rate of Rubisco activity did not differ between the root-zone treatments, and therefore it was likely that the lower photosynthesis in cool root-zones was predominantly the result of a stomatal limitation. One week after discontinuation of the temperature treatments, gas exchange was similar between the plants, indicating a reversible physiological response to soil temperature.

Conclusions

In this anisohydric grapevine variety both night-time and daytime stomatal conductance were responsive to root-zone temperature. Because nocturnal transpiration has implications for overall plant water status, predictive climate change models using stomatal conductance will need to factor in this root-zone variable.     

北京山区元宝枫夜间液流活动特征及影响因素

树木夜间会维持部分气孔开放,从而能够在一定环境驱动因子的情况下进行夜间蒸腾。夜间液流作为储存水的重要来源,能够补充植物白天的水分亏缺,使其恢复水分储备,对植物生长发育有重要意义。采用TDP热探针法测定了位于八达岭林场的元宝枫树干液流密度,同步监测了主要环境因子,以深入揭示树木夜间蒸腾耗水规律和植被应对环境胁迫的调控机制,为山区植被建设、森林健康经营和挑选节水树种提供理论依据。结果表明:以0:00为界区分前半夜和后半夜,元宝枫夜间液流速率前半夜较后半夜活跃,且前半夜夜间累积液流量占夜间累积液流量的53.85%—64.10%,而后半夜夜间累积液流量占夜间累积液流量的35.9%—46.15%。5月的夜间累积液流量最大,平均夜间液流通量为5月6月8月9月7月。存在水分胁迫的条件下降雨之后夜间液流会增大,而当土壤水分条件较好,土壤水分不再是夜间液流的限制因子时,夜间液流通量并不高。不同树木形态的夜间液流通量有显著差异,在一定范围内,胸径树高冠幅越大的样木,夜间液流通量越大。用于夜间蒸腾的夜间液流通量与饱和水汽压差、温度、空气相对湿度、风速相关,其中夜间蒸腾存在于前半夜,表现为前半夜夜间液流通量与环境因子的相关性相较后半夜相关性较为显著,后半夜则以补水为主,补水量取决于土壤含水量和日蒸腾强度。存在干旱胁迫的条件下,夜间液流既用于夜间蒸腾,又有一部分用来补水;而土壤水分条件好时夜间液流则主要用于补水,此时夜间树干液流与环境因子相关性不高。元宝枫夜间液流通量的日蒸腾贡献率5、6月份大于7、8月份,即干季比湿季贡献率更高。夜间液流通量的日蒸腾贡献率与白天总蒸腾量相关性较高,并与累积太阳辐射成负相关。