Retention of mobile water during dehydration in the desiccation-tolerant grass Eragrostis nindensis
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2005
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Physiologia Plantarum
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Wiley
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
Leaf tensile strength was measured for the drought-tolerant grass Eragrostis curvula and the desiccation-tolerant grass E. nindensis when fully hydrated, partially dehydrated, naturally air-dried, and flash-dried. Leaf tensile strength increased in intact, air-dried leaves of E. curvula but not for similarly treated leaves of E. nindensis. Examination of leaf cross-sections by light microscopy and histochemical staining for lignins failed to show any significant structural differences between the two species in the hydrated state. When leaves were flash-dried, the tensile strength of E. curvula remained unchanged from leaves dried naturally, while there was a marked increase in the tensile strength of flash-dried leaves of E. nindensis. Proton NMR indicated that the desiccation-tolerant E. nindensis retained mobile water when leaf relative water content was less than 20% if dried naturally but not if flash-dried, whereas no mobile water was detected in leaves of E. curvula when dried either naturally or with flash-drying to below 20% relative water content. This behaviour suggests a fundamental difference in strategy for surviving water loss in vegetative tissues between desiccation-tolerant species and drought-tolerant species.
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Reference:
Balsamo, R. A., Vander Willigen, C., Boyko, W., & Farrant, J. (2005). Retention of mobile water during dehydration in the desiccation‐tolerant grass Eragrostis nindensis. Physiologia Plantarum, 124(3), 336-342.