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Is intrinsic water use efficiency independent of leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit?

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Abstract

Intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE, the ratio between net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance to water vapor) is assumed to be insensitive to leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit (VPDl) for some plant species. This assumption has led many researchers to accept that iWUE may be more useful for evaluating plants for drought-resistance than instantaneous water-use efficiency (WUE, the ratio between net photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate), since the latter is known to depend on VPDl. However, the assumption that iWUE does not depend on VPDl may not be always correct because the stomatal aperture (ostiole area, Ao) and the resulting stomatal conductance (gsw) has been shown to respond to VPDl in some plant species. In this study, we present experimental data on leaf gas exchange and anatomical evaluations in three wild (non-commercial) and one commercial Phaseolus vulgaris L. cultivars, as well as a bibliographic review of the topic supporting that sensitivity of stomata to VPDl is species-specific. These results provide important implications for the interpretation of iWUE as a useful parameter to screen bean cultivars for identifying drought resistance forms.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Federal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil. We acknowledge support from the Brazilian Scholarship Program PAEC OEA-GCUB (Partnerships for Education and Training Program—PAEC, Organization of American States—OEA, International Cooperation Group of Brazilian Universities-GCUB) for a postgraduate scholarship granted to Renan Previl.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Agronomia e Zootecnia, Departamento de Solos e Engenharia Rural, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Correa, No 2367, Bairro Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, MT, 78060-900, Brazil

    Francisco de Almeida Lobo

  2. Faculdade de Agronomia e Zootecnia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agricultura Tropical, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Correa, No 2367, Bairro Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, MT, 78060-900, Brazil

    Renan Previl

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor St., Chicago, IL, 60607, USA

    Miquel A. Gonzalez-Meler

  4. Faculdade de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Correa, No 2367, Bairro Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, MT, 78060-900, Brazil

    Bárbara Luísa Corradi Pereira & Luciana Coelho de Moura

  5. Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Botânica e Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Correa, No 2367, Bairro Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, MT, 78060-900, Brazil

    Carmen Eugenia Rodriguez Ortíz

  6. Faculdade de Agronomia e Zootecnia, Departamento de Fitotecnia e Fitossanidade, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Correa, No 2367, Bairro Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, MT, 78060-900, Brazil

    Glaucio da Cruz Genuncio

  7. Department of Biological Science, California State University, San Marcos, San Marcos, CA, 92096-0001, USA

    George Louis Vourlitis

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  1. Francisco de Almeida Lobo
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  2. Renan Previl
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  3. Miquel A. Gonzalez-Meler
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de Almeida Lobo, F., Previl, R., Gonzalez-Meler, M.A. et al. Is intrinsic water use efficiency independent of leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit?. Theor. Exp. Plant Physiol. 35, 65–80 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-023-00269-1

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