Knowledge of the location and magnitude of the resistance to water flow in a plant is fundamental for describing whole plant response to water stress. The reported magnitudes of these resistances vary widely, principally because of the difficulty of measuring water potential within the plant. A number of interrelated experiments are described in which the water potential of a covered, nontransp...

Growth at elevated CO2 often decreases photosynthetic capacity (acclimation) and leaf N concentrations. Lower-shaded canopy leaves may undergo both CO2 and shade acclimation. The relationship of acclimatory responses of flag and lower-shaded canopy leaves of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to the N content, and possible factors affecting N gain and distribution within the plant were investigated i...

Heat shock (HS) at 40 degrees C was given to the root system of Nicotiana tabacum wild type (WT) and to HSIPT transgenic plants transformed with the bacterial cytokinin biosynthesis gene isopentenyltransferase (ipt) cloned behind the heat shock 70 promoter from Drosophila melanogaster. HS increased cytokinin concentrations in roots and leaves of transgenic plants. The effect was smaller in WT p...

Fifty-one genotypes of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) or closely related germplasm were evaluated in a pot experiment to examine genetic variation in transpiration efficiency. Significant variation in whole plant transpiration efficiency was observed, with the difference between lowest and highest genotypes being about 40% of the mean. Leaf gas exchange measurements were made across a wide range of...

Long-term hydraulic acclimation to resource availability was explored in 3-year-old Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh. clones by examining transpiration, leaf-specific hydraulic conductance (G(L)), canopy stomatal conductance (G(S)) and leaf to sapwood area ratio (A(L):A(S)) in response to irrigation (13 and 551 mm year(-1) in addition to ambient precipitation) and fertilization (0 and 120 kg N...

Leaves are key factors in the global water exchange cycle. As the primary control interface involved in regulating water loss, understanding the relative influence of leaf morphological and physiological transpiration factors is critical to accurate evapotranspiration predictions. We parameterized a three-dimensional array model, MAESTRA, to establish a link from the leaf to canopy scale and at...

Leaf teeth are conspicuous and often diagnostic features of many plant species. In mesic environments with sufficient nutrient resources, the percentage of toothed species in extant floras generally correlates negatively with temperature; consequently, fossil leaf teeth are widely used to estimate continental paleotemperatures. However, the function of leaf teeth with respect to climate is poor...

The objective of this study was to compare stem flow and porometer methods of measuring transpiration of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) trees on a semiarid site. Stem flow was measured using heat balance stem flow gauges. Porometer measurements of leaf stomatal conductance (gs) were made within foliage layers of each stem and scaled to transpiration values for the entire stem (Estern) usi...

Plants display a range of striking architectural adaptations when grown at elevated temperatures. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, these include elongation of petioles, and increased petiole and leaf angles from the soil surface. The potential physiological significance of these architectural changes remains speculative. We address this issue computationally by formulating a mathematica...

In this paper, we describe the thought process and initial data behind the development of an imaging platform (LeasyScan) combined with lysimetric capacity, to assess canopy traits affecting water use (leaf area, leaf area index, transpiration). LeasyScan is based on a novel 3D scanning technique to capture leaf area development continuously, a scanner-to-plant concept to increase imaging throu...