This presentation reviews finite element shell analyses (linear and nonlinear, isotropic and anisotropic) of microscopic stomata modeled as doubly-elliptic toroidal shells. Stomata are the regulating valve in the seminal issue of water and carbon dioxide transport in plant biology. The finite element method allows more realistic modeling of complex geometries and material properties that are co...

Loss of function of the positive stomata development regulators SPCH or MUTE in Arabidopsis thaliana renders stomataless plants; spch-3 and mute-3 mutants are extreme dwarfs, but produce cotyledons and tiny leaves, providing a system to interrogate plant life in the absence of stomata. To this end, we compared their cotyledon transcriptomes with that of wild-type plants. K-means clustering of d...

Modern imaging technology provides new approaches to plant phenotyping for traits relevant to crop yield and resource efficiency. Our objective was to investigate water use strategies at early growth stages in durum wheat genetic resources using shoot imaging at the ScreenHouse phenotyping facility combined with physiological measurements. Twelve durum landraces from different pedoclimatic back...

That form of inflammation which attacks the apposed pleural surfaces lining the base of the lung and the diaphragm has been recognised from of old by physicians. M. Gueneau de Mussy* wrote a memoir on the subject about the year 1853, and he mentions that "the ancients considered delirium to be an urgent symptom of inflammation of the diaphragm, whence arose one of the terms applied to the struc...

Stomata play a key role in the control of plant water relations and photosynthesis. A rapid non-destructive method to study the stomatal behaviour in aerial parts of plants is important for researchers in plant sciences and agricultural fields. Stomata close in response to drought stress. Stomatal closure causes lower availability of CO2 inside the leaf and thus a decrease in the rate of carbox...

In this study, the role of abscisic acid (ABA) in altered stomatal responses of Tradescantia virginiana leaves grown at high relative air humidity (RH) was investigated. A lower ABA concentration was found in leaves grown at high RH compared with leaves grown at moderate RH. As a result of a daily application of 20 microM ABA to leaves for 3 weeks during growth at high RH, the stomata of ABA-tr...

Stomata of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) leaves failed to open in the light and close in the dark or respond to changes in the CO(2) concentration of the atmosphere in either light or dark when the leaves were in an O(2)-free atmosphere. In contrast, the expected responses to environmental changes were found in atmospheres containing 1.5% O(2). It appears that O(2...

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEWCOMB, Mathematics; R. S. WOODWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; J. LE CONTE, Geology; 'W. M. DAVIS, Physiography; 0. C. MARSH, Paleontology; W. K. BROKS, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. SCUIDDER, Entomology; C. E. BESSEY, N. L. BRITTON, Botany; HENRY F. OSBORN, General Biology; C....