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PMID: 34164816 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Linking xylem network failure with leaf tissue death.

The New phytologist ·Vol. 232 ·No. 1 ·2021-00-00 ·Pages 68-79

Brodribb T, Brodersen CR, Carriqui M, Tonet V, Rodriguez Dominguez C, McAdam S

Abstract

Global warming is expected to dramatically accelerate forest mortality as temperature and drought intensity increase. Predicting the magnitude of this impact urgently requires an understanding of the process connecting atmospheric drying to plant tissue damage. Recent episodes of forest mortality worldwide have been widely attributed to dry conditions causing acute damage to plant vascular systems. Under this scenario vascular embolisms produced by water stress are thought to cause plant death, yet this hypothetical trajectory has never been empirically demonstrated. Here we provide foundational evidence connecting failure in the vascular network of leaves with tissue damage caused during water stress. We observe a catastrophic sequence initiated by water column breakage under tension in leaf veins which severs local leaf tissue water supply, immediately causing acute cellular dehydration and irreversible damage. By highlighting the primacy of vascular network failure in the death of leaves exposed to drought or evaporative stress our results provide a strong mechanistic foundation upon which models of plant damage in response to dehydration can be confidently structured.

Keywords
drought mortality stomata tissue damage xylem cavitation
MeSH Terms
Dehydration Droughts Plant Leaves Plant Transpiration Xylem
Authors & Affiliations
6 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Brodribb Timothy ORCID
School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
Brodersen Craig R ORCID
School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
Carriqui Marc ORCID
School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
Tonet Vanessa ORCID
School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
Rodriguez Dominguez Celia ORCID
Irrigation and Crop Ecophysiology Group, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS, CSIC), Avda. Reina Mercedes, 10, Sevilla, 41012, Spain.
McAdam Scott ORCID
Purdue Center for Plant Biology, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
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Article Info
Journal
The New phytologist
Abbr.
New Phytol
ISSN
1469-8137
DOI
10.1111/nph.17577
Published
2021-00-00
Epub
2021-00-22
Pages
68-79
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
9882884
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1111/nph.17577 View journal details
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