Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun;172(2):528-539.
doi: 10.1111/ppl.13334. Epub 2021 Jan 31.

Dew absorption by leaf trichomes in Caragana korshinskii: An alternative water acquisition strategy for withstanding drought in arid environments

Muhammad Waseem  1 , Zheng-Fei Nie  1 , Guang-Qian Yao  1 , Mahadi Hasan  1 , Yun Xiang  2 , Xiang-Wen Fang  1
Affiliations

Dew absorption by leaf trichomes in Caragana korshinskii: An alternative water acquisition strategy for withstanding drought in arid environments

Muhammad Waseem et al. Physiol Plant. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Investigating plant morphological traits can provide insights into plant drought tolerance. To date, many papers have focused on plant hydraulic responses to drought during dehydration, but atmospheric water absorption by trichomes to mitigate drought stress by influencing leaf hydraulics in plant species that inhabit arid environments has been largely ignored. The experiment in this study was designed to assess how dew absorbed by leaf trichomes helps Caragana korshinskii withstand drought. The results showed that under a drought stress and dew (DS & D) treatment, C. korshinskii displayed a strong capacity to absorb dew with trichomes; exhibited slow decreases in leaf water potential (Ψleaf ), leaf hydraulic conductivity (Kleaf ), and gas exchange; experienced 50% Kleaf and gas exchange losses at lower relative soil water content levels than plants treated with drought stress and no dew (DS & ND); and experienced 50% Kleaf loss (Kleaf P50 ) at similar Ψleaf levels as DS & ND plants. Its congener C. sinica, which does not have leaf trichomes, displayed little ability to absorb dew under drought stress and did not show any remarkable improvement in the above parameters under the DS & D treatment. Our results indicated that leaf trichomes are important epidermal dew-uptake structures that assist in partially sustaining the leaf hydraulic assimilation system, mitigate the adverse effects of drought stress and contribute to the distribution of C. korshinskii in arid environments.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Agam, N. & Berliner, P.R. (2006) Dew formation and water vapor absorption in semi-arid environments: a review. Journal of Arid Environments, 65, 572-590.
    1. Ahammed, G.J., Li, X., Mao, Q., Wan, H., Zhou, G. & Cheng, Y. (2020) The SlWRKY81 transcription factor inhibits stomatal closure by attenuating nitric oxide accumulation in the guard cells of tomato under drought. Physio Plant. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.13243.
    1. Ahammed, G.J., Li, X., Wan, H., Zhou, G. & Cheng, Y. (2020) SlWRKY81 reduces drought tolerance by attenuating proline biosynthesis in tomato. Scientia Horticulturae, 270, 109444.
    1. Ahammed, G.J., Li, X., Yang, Y., Liu, C., Zhou, G., Wan, H., et al. (2020) Tomato WRKY81 acts as a negative regulator for drought tolerance by modulating guard cell H2O2-mediated stomatal closure. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 171, 103960.
    1. Berry, Z.C.C., Emery, N.C., Gotsch, S.G. & Goldsmith, G.R. (2019) Foliar water uptake: processes, pathways, and integration into plant water budgets. Plant, Cell & Environment, 42, 410-423.

LinkOut - more resources