A herbaceous species provides insights into drought-driven plant adaptation

Johnson, Kate M.; Fletcher, Leila R.

doi:10.1093/jxb/erac485

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 21 publications

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“…Most of these studies, however, have focussed on woody species, with fewer investigating the anatomical drivers of embolism resistance in the stems of herbs (Lens et al, 2022). Recent studies assessing the embolism resistance in the stems of herbaceous eudicots have found that greater embolism resistance is linked to increased woodiness (Dória et al, 2019; Lens et al, 2016; Thonglim et al, 2021; Tixier et al, 2013), thus conferring higher drought resistance in herbs (Johnson & Fletcher, 2023; Thonglim et al, 2023). In these studies, the degree of stem woodiness is described as the proportion of lignified area (i.e., primary xylem, secondary xylem, and fibres) per total stem area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gradients in embolism resistance within stems driven by secondary growth in herbs

Haverroth,

Rimer,

Oliveira

et al. 2024

Plant Cell & Environment

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The stems of some herbaceous species can undergo basal secondary growth, leading to a continuum in the degree of woodiness along the stem. Whether the formation of secondary growth in the stem base results in differences in embolism resistance between the base and the upper portions of stems is unknown. We assessed the embolism resistance of leaves and the basal and upper portions of stems simultaneously within the same individuals of two divergent herbaceous species that undergo secondary growth in the mature stem bases. The species were Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) and Senecio minimus (fireweed). Basal stem in mature plants of both species displayed advanced secondary growth and greater resistance to embolism than the upper stem. This also resulted in significant vulnerability segmentation between the basal stem and the leaves in both species. Greater embolism resistance in the woodier stem base was found alongside decreases in the pith‐to‐xylem ratio, increases in the proportion of secondary xylem, and increases in lignin content. We show that there can be considerable variation in embolism resistance across the stem in herbs and that this variation is linked to the degree of secondary growth present. A gradient in embolism resistance across the stem in herbaceous plants could be an adaptation to ensure reproduction or basal resprouting during episodes of drought late in the lifecycle.

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