Plant Diversity ›› 2015, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (2): 168-176.DOI: 10.7677/ynzwyj201514089

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Viewing Leaf Shape and Size Variation in Tobacco Plants under Different Temperatures from a Hydraulic Perspective

 HU  Jing-1、2, HU  Hong-1   

  1. 1Key Laboratory of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
    Kunming 650201, China; 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2014-06-16 Online:2015-03-25 Published:2014-10-27
  • Supported by:

    The Yunnan Tobacco Academy of Agriculture[Grantnumbers 110201101003 (TS03), 2011YN02, and 2011YN03]

Abstract:

Although leaf shape and size are highly variable across different temperatures, few studies have investigated the reasons for their variations from the hydraulic perspective. We hypothesized that temperature will induce the modification of leaf waterrelated anatomy and leaf hydraulic conductance, which may play an important role in affec
ting leaf shape and size. Narrow and small leaf might be an adaptation to low water transport capacity under low temperature, making the whole leaf obtain water more uniformly. To test the above hypothesis, we investigated leaf anatomy, leaf hydraulic conductance, leaf shape and size of tobacco under two growth temperatures (24℃/18℃ day/night; 32℃/26℃ day/night) and analyzed the associations between leaf hydraulic architecture and leaf lengthtowidth ratio. We found that the tobacco leaves at 24℃ were significantly narrower, and had smaller petiole vessel diameter, lower minor vein density and hydraulic conductance compared with those at 32℃. However, there was no significant difference in leaf size between two temperatures. Leaf hydraulic conductance was positively correlated with minor vein density, but negatively with leaf lengthtowidth ratio. Our results suggested that the modification of leaf anatomy and leaf hydraulic conductance might play an important role in affecting leaf shape under different temperatures.

Key words: Leaf anatomy, Leaf hydraulic conductance, Leaf shape, Leaf size, Nicotiana tabacum Temperature

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