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Effects of temperature on leaf hydraulic architecture of tobacco plants

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Abstract

Main Conclusion

Modifications in leaf anatomy of tobacco plants induced greater leaf water transport capacity, meeting greater transpirational demands and acclimating to warmer temperatures with a higher vapor pressure deficit.

Temperature is one of the most important environmental factors affecting photosynthesis and growth of plants. However, it is not clear how it may alter leaf hydraulic architecture. We grew plants of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) ‘k326’ in separate glasshouse rooms set to different day/night temperature conditions: low (LT 24/18 °C), medium (MT 28/22 °C), or high (HT 32/26 °C). After 40 days of such treatment, their leaf anatomies, leaf hydraulics, photosynthetic rates, and instantaneous water-use efficiency (WUEi) were measured. Compared with those under LT, plants exposed to HT or MT conditions had significantly higher values for minor vein density (MVD), stomatal density (SD), leaf area, leaf hydraulic conductance (K leaf), and light-saturated photosynthetic rate (A sat), but lower values for leaf water potential (ψ l) and WUEi. However, those parameters did not differ significantly between HT and MT conditions. Correlation analyses demonstrated that SD and K leaf increased in parallel with MVD. Moreover, greater SD and K leaf were partially associated with accelerated stomatal conductance. And then stomatal conductance was positively correlated with A sat. Therefore, under well-watered, fertilized conditions, when relative humidity was optimal, changes in leaf anatomy seemed to facilitate the hydraulic acclimation to higher temperatures, meeting greater transpirational demands and contributing to the maintenance of great photosynthetic rates. Because transpiration rate increased more with temperature than photosynthetic rate, WUEi reduced under warmer temperatures. Our results indicate that the modifications of leaf hydraulic architecture are important anatomical and physiological strategies for tobacco plants acclimating to warmer temperatures under a higher vapor pressure deficit.

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Abbreviations

MVD:

Minor vein density

SD:

Stomatal density

VPD:

Higher vapor pressure deficit

LA:

Leaf area

HT:

High temperature

MT:

Medium temperature

LT:

Low temperature

K leaf :

Leaf hydraulic conductance

ψ l :

Leaf water potential

WUEi :

Instantaneous water-use efficiency

g s :

Stomatal conductance

A sat :

Light-saturated photosynthetic rate

PPFD:

Photosynthetic photon flux density

A area :

Area-based net CO2 assimilation rate

E :

Transpiration rate

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Acknowledgments

We thank Wei Zhang for his assistance in the photosynthetic measurements; and Ying-jie Yang, Feng-ping Zhang, and Guangyou Hao for their helpful comments and suggestions on this manuscript. We thank the Biological technology open platform, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences for providing glasshouse rooms. This work was financially supported by the Yunnan Tobacco Academy of Agriculture [Grant Numbers 110201101003 (TS-03), 2011YN02, and 2011YN03].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China

    Jing Hu, Qiu-Yun Yang, Wei Huang, Shi-Bao Zhang & Hong Hu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jing Hu

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  1. Jing Hu
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  2. Qiu-Yun Yang
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  3. Wei Huang
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  4. Shi-Bao Zhang
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  5. Hong Hu
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Correspondence to Shi-Bao Zhang or Hong Hu.

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Hu, J., Yang, QY., Huang, W. et al. Effects of temperature on leaf hydraulic architecture of tobacco plants. Planta 240, 489–496 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-014-2097-z

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