BACKGROUND Flooding causes substantial stress for terrestrial plants, particularly if the floodwater completely submerges the shoot. The main problems during submergence are shortage of oxygen due to the slow diffusion rates of gases in water, and depletion of carbohydrates, which is the substrate for respiration. These two factors together lead to loss of biomass and eventually death of the su...

Plants of Rumex thyrsiflorus Fingerh., R. crispus L. and R. muritimus L., which are zoned along a gradient of elevation in a river foreland ecosystem, and differ in their flood-tolerance, were subjected to different Hooding levels. Under conditions of soil flooding, the growth rates of the flood-tolerant R. crispus and R. muritimus were as high as under drained conditions, but that of the flood...

Survival and growth of terrestrial plants is negatively affected by complete submergence. This is mainly the result of hampered gas exchange between plants and their environment, since gas diffusion is severely reduced in water compared with air, resulting in O2 deficits which limit aerobic respiration. The continuation of photosynthesis could probably alleviate submergence-stress in terrestria...

BACKGROUND A sizeable minority of taxa is successful in areas prone to submergence. Many such plants elongate with increased vigour when underwater. This helps to restore contact with the aerial environment by shortening the duration of inundation. Poorly adapted species are usually incapable of this underwater escape. SCOPE Evidence implicating ethylene as the principal factor initiating fas...

The ~350 km2 water level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) of China, situated at the intersection of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, experiences a great hydrological change with prolonged winter inundation. Soil samples were collected in 12 sites pre- (September 2008) and post submergence (June 2009) in the WLFZ and analyzed for soil nutrients. Self-organizing map ...

Using subtractive hybridization a submergence-induced gene was identified from deepwater rice, OsUsp1, that encodes a homologue of the bacterial universal stress protein family. Sequence analysis revealed that OsUSP1 is most closely related to the bacterial MJ0577-type of ATP-binding USP proteins which have been suggested to act as a molecular switch. USP protein homologues appear to be ubiquit...

Colonization of the land by multicellular green plants was a fundamental step in the evolution of life on earth. Land plants evolved from fresh-water aquatic algae, and the transition to a terrestrial environment required the acquisition of developmental plasticity appropriate to the conditions of water availability, ranging from drought to flood. Here we show that extant bryophytes exhibit sub...

A rapid decrease of the plant hormone ABA under submergence is thought to be a prerequisite for the enhanced elongation of submerged shoots of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Here, we report that the level of phaseic acid (PA), an oxidized form of ABA, increased with decreasing ABA level during submergence. The oxidation of ABA to PA is catalyzed by ABA 8'-hydroxylase, which is possibly encoded by thre...