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C 4 grasses adapted to low precipitation habitats show traits related to greater mesophyll conductance and lower leaf hydraulic conductance
Author(s) -
Pathare Varsha S.,
Sonawane Balasaheb V.,
Koteyeva Nouria,
Cousins Asaph B.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/pce.13807
Subject(s) - photosynthesis , stomatal conductance , water use efficiency , biology , botany , transpiration , conductance , agronomy , precipitation , horticulture , mathematics , physics , combinatorics , meteorology
In habitats with low water availability, a fundamental challenge for plants will be to maximize photosynthetic C‐gain while minimizing transpirational water‐loss. This trade‐off between C‐gain and water‐loss can in part be achieved through the coordination of leaf‐level photosynthetic and hydraulic traits. To test the relationship of photosynthetic C‐gain and transpirational water‐loss, we grew, under common growth conditions, 18 C 4 grasses adapted to habitats with different mean annual precipitation (MAP) and measured leaf‐level structural and anatomical traits associated with mesophyll conductance (g m ) and leaf hydraulic conductance (K leaf ). The C 4 grasses adapted to lower MAP showed greater mesophyll surface area exposed to intercellular air spaces (S mes ) and adaxial stomatal density (SD ada ) which supported greater g m . These grasses also showed greater leaf thickness and vein‐to‐epidermis distance, which may lead to lower K leaf . Additionally, grasses with greater g m and lower K leaf also showed greater photosynthetic rates (A net ) and leaf‐level water‐use efficiency (WUE). In summary, we identify a suite of leaf‐level traits that appear important for adaptation of C 4 grasses to habitats with low MAP and may be useful to identify C 4 species showing greater A net and WUE in drier conditions.