Abstract
We commence our discussion by asserting that Plant Physiology is fundamentally focused on comprehending the evolutionary and adaptive processes of plants over time. Despite its intuitive association with the temporal dimension, the field has traditionally been underpinned by methods that largely overlook the temporal element. Even in this era of advanced scientific techniques, many studies in plant science continue to employ methods that are essentially “timeless”. Therefore, our comprehension of plant processes “across time” tends to be fragmented. Instead of observing a continuous, real-time progression, we aggregate averaged measurements from various samples collected at discrete time points. This approach provides insights into the temporal aspects of biological processes, analogous to snapshots extracted from a movie, but it falls short of capturing the full dynamism of these processes. The understanding of these temporal aspects holds paramount significance in the realm of plant biology, as plants, by their inherent nature, represent intricate systems. Consequently, the concept of time assumes pivotal importance, and the present article elucidates a spectrum of philosophical perspectives and scientific interpretations of time. Comprehending the diverse facets of time is indispensable within the domain of plant physiology. It serves as a gateway to a more comprehensive and dynamic exploration of plant processes. This amalgamation of philosophy and science enables us to perceive plant biology as a continuum of processes unfolding over time, accentuating the interconnectedness of internal and external events. In this context, we assert that Processual Philosophy provides a suitable and reliable foundation for the development of Plant Physiology as a science dedicated to the temporal dimensions of plant life.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
16 April 2024
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-024-00324-5
References
Amaral MN, Souza GM (2017) The challenge to translate OMICS data to whole plant physiology: the context matters. Front Plant Sci 8:2146. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.02146
Anderson CM, Wilkins MB (1989) Period and phase control by temperature in the circadian rhythm of carbon dioxide fixation in illuminated leaves of Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi. Planta 177:456–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392613
Armstrong EM, Larson ER, Webb CR, Harper H, Dohleman F, Araya Y, MeadeC FX, Mukoye B, Levin MJ, Lacombe B, Bakirbas A, Cardoso AA, Fleury D, Gessler A, Jaiswal D, Onkokesung N, Pathare VS, Phartyal SS, Sevanto SA, Wilson I, Grierson CS (2023) One hundred important questions facing plant science: an international perspective. New Phytol 238:470–481. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18771
Attorre F, Sciubba E, Vitale M (2019) A thermodynamic model for plant growth, validated with Pinus sylvestris data. Ecol Modell 391:53–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.10.022
Beck F, Blasius B, Lüttge U, Neff R, Rascher U (2001) Stochastic noise interferes coherently with a model biological clock and produces specific dynamic behaviour. Proc R Soc B 268:1307–1313. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1655
Blasius B, Beck F, Lüttge U (1997) A model for photosynthetic oscillations in crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). J Theor Biol 184:345–351. https://doi.org/10.1006/jtbi.1996.0287
Blasius B, Beck F, Lüttge U (1998) Oscillatory model of crassulacean acid metabolism: structural analysis and stability boundaries with a discrete hysteresis switch. Plant Cell Environ 21:775–784. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3040.1998.00312.x
Blasius B, Neff R, Beck F, Lüttge U (1999) Oscillatory model of crassulacean acid metabolism with a dynamic hysteresis switch. Proc R Soc B 266:93–101. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0608
Bohn A, Geist A, Rascher U, Lüttge U (2001) Responses to different external light rhythms by the circadian rhythm of crassulacean acid metabolism in Kalanchoë daigremontiana. Plant Cell Environ 24:811–820. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0016-8025.2001.00732.x
Bohn A, Rascher U, Hütt M-T, Kaiser F, Lüttge U (2002) Responses of a plant circadian rhythm to thermoperiodic perturbations with asymmetric temporal patterns and the rate of temperature change. Biol Rhythm Res 33:151–170. https://doi.org/10.1076/brhm.33.2.151.1318
Bohn A, Hinderlich S, Hütt M-T, Kaiser F, Lüttge U (2003) Identification of rhythmic subsystems in the circadian cycle of crassulacean acid metabolism under thermoperiodic perturbations. Biol Chem 384:721–728. https://doi.org/10.1515/BC.2003.080
Cardon ZG, Mott KA, Berry JA (1994) Dynamics of patchy stomatal movements, and their contribution to steady state and oscillating stomatal conductance calculated using gas- exchange techniques. Plant Cell Environ 17:995–1007. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.1994.tb02033.x
Costa ÁVL, Oliveira TFDC, Posso DA, Reissig GN, Parise AG, Barros WS, Souza GM (2023) Systemic signals induced by single and combined abiotic stimuli in common bean plants. Plants 12:924. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12040924
Damineli DSC, Portes MT, Feijó JA (2017) Oscillatory signatures underlie growth regimes in Arabidopsis pollen tubes: computational methods to estimate tip location, periodicity, and synchronization in growing cells. J Exp Bot 68:3267–3281. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erx032
Damineli DS, Portes MT, Feijó JA (2022) Electrifying rhythms in plant cells. Curr Opin Cell Biol 77:102113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2022.102113
Dodd AN, Kusakina J, Hall A, Gould PD, Hanaoka M (2014) The circadian regulation of photosynthesis. Photosynth Res 119:181–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-013-9811-8
Dunlap JC (1999) Molecular bases for circadian clocks. Cell 96:271–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80566-8
Erdei L, Szegletes Z, Barabas KN, Pestenacz A, Fulop K, Kalmar L, Kovacs A, Toth B, Der A (1998) Environmental stress and the biological clock in plants: changes of rhythmic behavior of carbohydrates, antioxidant enzymes and stomatal resistance by salinity. J Plant Physiol 152:265–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0176-1617(98)80141-7
Gallego M, Virshup DM (2007) Post-translational modifications regulate the ticking of the circadian clock. Nat Rev Mol Biol 8:139–148. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2106
Galviz Y, Souza GM, Lüttge U (2022) The biological concept of stress revisited: relations of stress and memory of plants as a matter of space–time. Theor Exp Plant Physiol 34:239–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-022-00245-1
Grams TEE, Beck F, Lüttge U (1996) Generation of rhythmic and arrhythmic behaviour of crassulacean acid metabolism in Kalanchoë daigremontiana under continuous light by varying the irradiance or temperature: measurements in vivo and model simulations. Planta 198:110–117. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00197593
Greenwood M, Locke JCW (2020) The circadian clock coordinates plant development through specificity at the tissue and cellular level. Curr Opin Plant Biol 53:65–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2019.09.004
Hütt M-T, Lüttge U (2002) Nonlinear dynamics as a tool for modeling in plant physiology. Plant Biol 4:281–297. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2002-32339
James WO (1950) An introduction to plant physiology. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Li K, Prada J, Damineli DSC, Liese A, Romeis T, Dandekar T, Feijó JA, Hedrich R, Konrad KR (2021) An optimized genetically encoded dual reporter for simultaneous ratio imaging of Ca2+ and H+ reveals new insights into ion signaling in plants. New Phytol 230:2292–2310. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17202
Lim SL, Voon CP, Guan X, Yang Y, Gardeström P, Lim BL (2020) In planta study of photosynthesis and photorespiration using NADPH and NADH/NAD+ fluorescent protein sensors. Nat Commun 11:3238. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17056-0
Lima-Neto MC, Carvalho FEL, Souza GM, Silveira JAG (2021) Understanding photosynthesis in a spatial–temporal multiscale: the need for a systemic view. Theor Exp Plant Physiol 33:113–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-021-00199-w
Lüttge U (2000) The tonoplast functioning as the master switch for circadian regulation of crassulacean acid metabolism. Planta 211:761–769. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004250000408
Lüttge U, Hütt M-T (2003) High frequency or ultradian rhythms in plants. Prog Bot 65:235–263. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18819-0_10
Lüttge U, Thellier M (2016) Roles of memory and the circadian clock in the ecophysiological performance of plants. Prog Bot 77:73–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25688-7_2
Marder M (2021) The weirdness of being in time: aristotle, hegel, and plants. Philos Rhetor 54:333–347. https://doi.org/10.5325/philrhet.54.4.0333
Markham K, Greenham K (2021) Abiotic stress through time. N Phytol 231:40–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17367
Martin E, Hargreaves AL (2023) Gradients in the time seeds take to germinate could alter global patterns in predation strength. J Biogeogr 50:884–896. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14582
Merilo E, Joesaar I, Brsché M, Kollist H (2014) To open or to close: species-specific stomatal responses to simultaneously applied opposing environmental factors. N Phytol 202:499–508. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12667
Mohr H, Schopfer P (1995) Setting the aims in physiology. In: Mohr H, Schopfer P (eds) Plant physiology. Springer, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-97570-7_1
Mott KA, Woodrow IE (2000) Modelling the role of Rubisco activase in limiting non-steady-state photosynthesis. J Exp Bot 51(suppl_1):399–406. https://doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/51.suppl_1.399
Neff R, Blasius B, Beck F, Lüttge U (1998) Thermodynamics and energetics of the tonoplast membrane operating as a hysteresis switch in an oscillatory model of crassulacean acid metabolism. J Membr Biol 165:37–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002329900418
Nicholson DJ, Dupré J (2018) Everything flows: towards a processual philosophy of biology. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Nick P (2023) Towards a grammar of plant stress: modular signaling conveys meaning. Theor Exp Plant Physiol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-023-00292-2
Nicolis G, Prigogine I (1977) Self-organization in nonequilibrium systems. Wiley, New York
Nimmo GA (2000) The regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in CAM plants. Trends Plant Sci 5:75–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1360-1385(99)01543-5
Nimmo GA, Wilkins MB, Fewson CA, Nimmo HG (1987) Persistent circadian rhythms in the phosphorylation state of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi leaves and its sensitivity to inhibition by malate. Planta 170:408–415. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00395034
Prigogine I (1993) Le leggi del Caos. GLF editori Laterza, Bari
Prigogine I, Stengers I, Raoul-Duval J (1988) Entre le temps et l’éternité. Fayard, Paris
Rascher U, Hütt M-T, Siebke K, Osmond CB, Beck F, Lüttge U (2001) Spatiotemporal variation of metabolism in a plant circadian rhythm: the biological clock as an assembly of coupled individual oscillators. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:11801–11805. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.191169598
Rovelli C (2018) The order of time. Penguin Random House, New York
Sai K, Sood N, Saini I (2023) Time series data modelling for classification of drought in tomato plants. Theor Exp Plant Physiol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-023-00295-z
Shabala S, Delbourgo R, Newman I (1997) Observations of bifurcation and chaos in plant physiological responses to light. Funct Plant Biol 24:91–96. https://doi.org/10.1071/PP96075
Sielaff H, Börsch M (2013) Twisting and subunit rotation in single F0F1-ATP synthase. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 368:20120024. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0024
Souza GM, Lüttge U (2015) Stability as a phenomenon emergent from plasticity–complexity–diversity in eco-physiology. Prog Bot 76:211–239. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08807-5_9
Souza GM, Oliveira RF, Cardoso VJM (2004) Temporal dynamics of stomatal conductance of plants under water deficit: can homeostasis be improved by more complex dynamics? Braz Arch Biol Technol 47:423–431. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-89132004000300013
Souza GM, Pincus SM, Monteiro JAF (2005) The complexity–stability hypothesis in plant gas exchange under water deficit. Braz J Plant Physiol 17:363–373. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1677-04202005000400004
Srivastava D, Shamimb Md, Kumar M, Mishra A, Maurya R, Sharma D, Pandey P, Singh KN (2019) Role of circadian rhythm in plant system: an update from development to stress response. Environ Exp Bot 162:256–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.02.025
Strogatz SH (2018) Nonlinear dynamics and chaos. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Sukhova E, Ratnitsyna D, Sukhov V (2021) Stochastic spatial heterogeneity in activities of H+-ATP-ases in electrically connected plant cells decreases threshold for cooling-induced electrical responses. Int J Mol Sci 22:8254. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22158254
Taiz L, Møller IM, Murphy A, Zeiger E (2022) Plant physiology and development. Oxford university Press, Oxford
Toledo GRA, Parise AG, Simmi FZ, Costa AVL, Senko LGS, Debono M-W, Souza GM (2019) Plant electrome: the electrical dimension of plant life. Theor Exp Plant Physiol 31:21–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-019-00145-x
Toyota M, Spencer D, Sawai-Toyota S, Jiaqi W, Zhang T, Koo AJ, Howe GA, Gilroy S (2018) Glutamate triggers long-distance, calcium-based plant defense signaling. Science 361:1112–1115. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat7744
Wegner L (2023). Formalizing complexity in the life sciences: systems, emergence, and metafluxes. Theor. Exp. Plant Physiol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-023-00293-1
Funding
The authors acknowledge the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Person- nel (CAPES, Brazil) for the Scholarship (Finance Code 001) granted to TFCO. GMS is fellow of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, Brazil; Grant #302715/2018-5); this work was partially funded by CNPq (Grant # 404817/2021-1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
Gustavo Maia Souza is one of the guest editors for the special issue “Advances in Philosophical and Theoretical Plant Biology” and this article was independently handled by another member of the journal editorial board. The authors also declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Souza, G.M., Posso, D.A. & de Carvalho Oliveira, T.F. The quest for time in plant physiology: a processual perspective. Theor. Exp. Plant Physiol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-024-00307-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-024-00307-6