An overview of the hydraulic systems in early land plants

Abstract

One of the key functions of wood is hydraulic conductivity, and the general physical properties controlling this are well characterized in living plants. Modern species capture only a fraction of the known diversity of wood, which is well preserved in a fossil record that extends back over 400 million years to the origin of the vascular plants. Early fossil woods are known to differ in many key respects from woods of modern gymnosperms (e.g., tracheid size, secondary wall thickenings, lignin chemistry, cambium development) and recent discoveries are shedding new light on the earliest stages of wood evolution, raising questions about the performance of these systems and their functions. We provide an overview of the early fossil record focusing on tracheid morphology in the earliest primary and secondary xylem and on cambial development. The fossil record clearly shows that wood evolved in small stature plants prior to the evolution of a distinctive leaf-stem-root organography. The hydraulic properties of fossil woods cannot be measured directly, but with the development of mathematical models it is becoming increasingly feasible to make inferences and quantify performance, enabling comparison with modern woods. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of hydraulic conductance to quantify is the resistance of pits and other highly distinctive and unique secondary wall features in the earliest tracheids. New analytical methods, in particular X-ray synchrotron microtomography (PPC-SRμCT), open up the possibility of creating dynamic, three-dimensional models of permineralized woods facilitating the analysis of hydraulic and biomechanical propertie

On the structure and chemistry of fossils of the earliest woody plant

“…B–I), typical of P‐type tracheids (Kenrick & Crane ; Strullu‐Derrien et al . ). Similar to modern lignified tissues, the cell walls comprise secondary wall thickenings ( c .…”

“…F, G), as observed in P‐type tracheids (Kenrick & Crane ; Strullu‐Derrien et al . ). The perforations are distributed in a reticulum (Fig.…”

Fungal colonization of the rooting system of the early land plantAsteroxylon mackieifrom the 407-Myr-old Rhynie Chert (Scotland, UK)

“…Third, the tracheids of the xylem have the highly distinctive thick‐walled cells of G‐type morphology (Fig. D, E) (Kenrick & Edwards, ; Kenrick & Crane, ; Strullu‐Derrien et al ., ). A perforate sheet of material occupies the cell wall between the thickenings, and this is particularly clearly seen using CLSM (Fig.…”

Evolution and palaeophysiology of the vascular system and other means of long-distance transport

“…Also essential is the limitation of cavitation and embolism resulting from negative pressure in the xylem [23], as also discussed below. data from five species of the slightly younger trimerophyte Psilophyton (see also [4,45]). The calculations suggested to Wilson [21] that plants with high hydraulic conductivity with low resistance to embolism and plants with lower hydraulic conductivity but high resistance to embolism occurred approximately 410 to approximately 390 Ma (see also [46]).…”

“…Analyses of the flux-pressure gradient relationship have been performed for some of the Rhynie chert embryophytic sporophytes [15][16][17]23,24,[42][43][44]. There is also a comparison by Wilson [21] of calculations based on data on Aglaophyton and Asteroxylon from the Rhynie chert with calculations based on data from five species of the slightly younger trimerophyte Psilophyton (see also [4,45]). The calculations suggested to Wilson [21] that plants with high hydraulic conductivity with low resistance to embolism and plants with lower hydraulic conductivity but high resistance to embolism occurred approximately 410 to approximately 390 Ma (see also [46]).…”