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Pratt RB, Tobin MF, Jacobsen AL, Traugh CA, De Guzman ME, Hayes CC, Toschi HS, MacKinnon ED, Percolla MI, Clem ME, Smith PT. Starch storage capacity of sapwood is related to dehydration avoidance during drought. Am J Bot 2021; 108:91-101. [PMID: 33349932 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE The xylem tissue of plants performs three principal functions: transport of water, support of the plant body, and nutrient storage. Tradeoffs may arise because different structural requirements are associated with different functions or because suites of traits are under selection that relate to resource acquisition, use, and turnover. The structural and functional basis of xylem storage is not well established. We hypothesized that greater starch storage would be associated with greater sapwood parenchyma and reduced fibers, which would compromise resistance to xylem tensions during dehydration. METHODS We measured cavitation resistance, minimum water potential, starch content, and sapwood parenchyma and fiber area in 30 species of southern California chaparral shrubs (evergreen and deciduous). RESULTS We found that species storing greater starch within their xylem tended to avoid dehydration and were less cavitation resistant, and this was supported by phylogenetic independent contrasts. Greater sapwood starch was associated with greater parenchyma area and reduced fiber area. For species without living fibers, the associations with parenchyma were stronger, suggesting that living fibers may expand starch storage capacity while also contributing to the support function of the vascular tissue. Drought-deciduous species were associated with greater dehydration avoidance than evergreens. CONCLUSIONS Evolutionary forces have led to an association between starch storage and dehydration resistance as part of an adaptive suite of traits. We found evidence for a tradeoff between tissue mechanical traits and starch storage; moreover, the evolution of novel strategies, such as starch-storing living fibers, may mitigate the strength of this tradeoff.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Brandon Pratt
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Michael F Tobin
- University of Houston-Downtown, Department of Natural Sciences, One Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77002, USA
| | - Anna L Jacobsen
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Courtney A Traugh
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Mark E De Guzman
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Christine C Hayes
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Hayden S Toschi
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Evan D MacKinnon
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Marta I Percolla
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Michael E Clem
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
| | - Paul T Smith
- California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Biology, Bakersfield, California, 93311, USA
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Rodriguez-Zaccaro FD, Valdovinos-Ayala J, Percolla MI, Venturas MD, Pratt RB, Jacobsen AL. Wood structure and function change with maturity: Age of the vascular cambium is associated with xylem changes in current-year growth. Plant Cell Environ 2019; 42:1816-1831. [PMID: 30707440 DOI: 10.1111/pce.13528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Revised: 01/27/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Xylem vessel structure changes as trees grow and mature. Age- and development-related changes in xylem structure are likely related to changes in hydraulic function. We examined whether hydraulic function, including hydraulic conductivity and vulnerability to water-stress-induced xylem embolism, changed over the course of cambial development in the stems of 17 tree species. We compared current-year growth of young (1-4 years), intermediate (2-7 years), and older (3-10 years) stems occurring in series along branches. Diffuse and ring porous species were examined, but nearly all species produced only diffuse porous xylem in the distal branches that were examined irrespective of their mature xylem porosity type. Vessel diameter and length increased with cambial age. Xylem became both more conductive and more cavitation resistant with cambial age. Ring porous species had longer and wider vessels and xylem that had higher conductivity and was more vulnerable to cavitation; however, these differences between porosity types were not present in young stem samples. Understanding plant hydraulic function and architecture requires the sampling of multiple-aged tissues because plants may vary considerably in their xylem structural and functional traits throughout the plant body, even over relatively short distances and closely aged tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Marta I Percolla
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, Bakersfield, California
| | - Martin D Venturas
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, Bakersfield, California
- Departamento de Sistemas y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain
| | - R Brandon Pratt
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, Bakersfield, California
| | - Anna L Jacobsen
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, Bakersfield, California
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Jacobsen AL, Tobin MF, Toschi HS, Percolla MI, Pratt RB. Structural determinants of increased susceptibility to dehydration-induced cavitation in post-fire resprouting chaparral shrubs. Plant Cell Environ 2016; 39:2473-2485. [PMID: 27423060 DOI: 10.1111/pce.12802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2016] [Revised: 07/06/2016] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
It is well established that transpiration and photosynthetic rates generally increase in resprouting shoots after fire in chaparral shrublands. By contrast, little is known about how plant hydraulic function varies during this same recovery period. We hypothesized that vascular traits, both functional and structural, would also shift in order to support this heightened level of gas exchange and growth. We examined stem xylem-specific hydraulic conductivity (Ks ) and resistance to cavitation (P50 ) for eight chaparral shrub species as well as several potential xylem structural determinants of hydraulic function and compared established unburned plants and co-occurring post-fire resprouting plants. Unburned plants were generally more resistant to cavitation than resprouting plants, but the two groups did not differ in Ks . Resprouting plants had altered vessel structure compared with unburned plants, with resprouting plants having both wider diameter vessels and higher inter-vessel pit density. For biomechanics, unburned plants had both stronger and denser stem xylem tissue than resprouting plants. Shifts in hydraulic structure and function resulted in resprouting plants being more vulnerable to dehydration. The interaction between time since disturbance (i.e. resprouting versus established stands) and drought may complicate attempts to predict mortality risk of resprouting plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna L Jacobsen
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA, 93311, USA.
| | - Michael F Tobin
- Department of Natural Sciences, University of Houston-Downtown, One Main Street, Houston, TX, 77002, USA
| | - Hayden S Toschi
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA, 93311, USA
| | - Marta I Percolla
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA, 93311, USA
| | - R Brandon Pratt
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA, 93311, USA
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Venturas MD, Rodriguez-Zaccaro FD, Percolla MI, Crous CJ, Jacobsen AL, Pratt RB. Single vessel air injection estimates of xylem resistance to cavitation are affected by vessel network characteristics and sample length. Tree Physiol 2016; 36:1247-1259. [PMID: 27358206 DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpw055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2016] [Accepted: 05/30/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Xylem resistance to cavitation is an important trait that is related to the ecology and survival of plant species. Vessel network characteristics, such as vessel length and connectivity, could affect the spread of emboli from gas-filled vessels to functional ones, triggering their cavitation. We hypothesized that the cavitation resistance of xylem vessels is randomly distributed throughout the vessel network. We predicted that single vessel air injection (SVAI) vulnerability curves (VCs) would thus be affected by sample length. Longer stem samples were predicted to appear more resistant than shorter samples due to the sampled path including greater numbers of vessels. We evaluated the vessel network characteristics of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), English oak (Quercus robur L.) and black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & A. Gray), and constructed SVAI VCs for 5- and 20-cm-long segments. We also constructed VCs with a standard centrifuge method and used computer modelling to estimate the curve shift expected for pathways composed of different numbers of vessels. For all three species, the SVAI VCs for 5 cm segments rose exponentially and were more vulnerable than the 20 cm segments. The 5 cm curve shapes were exponential and were consistent with centrifuge VCs. Modelling data supported the observed SVAI VC shifts, which were related to path length and vessel network characteristics. These results suggest that exponential VCs represent the most realistic curve shape for individual vessel resistance distributions for these species. At the network level, the presence of some vessels with a higher resistance to cavitation may help avoid emboli spread during tissue dehydration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin D Venturas
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93311, USA
- Forest Genetics and Ecophysiology Research Group (GENFOR), School of Forest Engineering, Technical University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - F Daniela Rodriguez-Zaccaro
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93311, USA
| | - Marta I Percolla
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93311, USA
| | - Casparus J Crous
- Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road & Roper Street, Hatfield, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Anna L Jacobsen
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93311, USA
| | - R Brandon Pratt
- Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93311, USA
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