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Interactions Between Epiphyllic Microorganisms and Leaf Cuticles

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Plant Surface Microbiology

Leaves of higher plants are exposed to the atmosphere. Due to the pronounced two-dimensional structure of leaves, the surface area of plants is significantly enlarged.This allows an efficient absorption of visible light used in photosynthesis and it supports the rapid gas exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen, occurring across stomates. With most leaves, stomates representing small pores, cover only between 0.5 to 1 % of the total leaf surface area (Larcher 1996), whereas the largest part of the leaf surface is covered by the plant cuticle forming the major interface between the leaves and the atmosphere (Kerstiens 1996). The cuticle developed during evolution when plants moved from their aqueous habitats to the dry land. It protects land living plants from desiccation. The water potential in the atmosphere is nearly always lower than the water potential of plants, which causes a constant driving force for the flow of water from the plant body to the atmosphere (Nobel 1991).Without the cuticle forming a very efficient transport barrier for the passive diffusion of water from the turgescent plant to the atmosphere, most of the land-living higher plants would never be able to survive.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Zelluläre und Molekulare Botanik (IZMB), Universität Bonn, Kirschallee 1, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Lukas Schreiber & Ursula Krimm

  2. Institut für Allgemeine Botanik Angewandte Molekularbiologie der Pflanzen, Universität Hamburg, Ohnhorststrasse 18, 22609, Hamburg, Germany

    Daniel Knoll

Authors
  1. Lukas Schreiber
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  2. Ursula Krimm
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  3. Daniel Knoll
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Amity University, 201303, Noida, UP, India

    Ajit Varma

  2. The University of Western Australia, WA 6009, Nedlands, Australia

    Lynette Abbott

  3. Philipps Universität Marburg, 35032, Marburg, Germany

    Dietrich Werner

  4. University of Tübingen, 72116, Tübingen, Germany

    Rüdiger Hampp

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Schreiber, L., Krimm, U., Knoll, D. (2008). Interactions Between Epiphyllic Microorganisms and Leaf Cuticles. In: Varma, A., Abbott, L., Werner, D., Hampp, R. (eds) Plant Surface Microbiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74051-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74051-3_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-74050-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-74051-3

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