Cuticular wax composition contributes to different strategies of foliar water uptake in six plant species from foggy rupestrian grassland in tropical mountains.
Phytochemistry
; 190: 112894, 2021 Oct.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34364088
The cuticle is the outermost region of the epidermal cell wall of plant aerial organs. The cuticle acts as a two-way lipid barrier for water diffusion; therefore, it plays a vital role in foliar water uptake (FWU). We hypothesised that the chemical composition of the cuticular waxes influences the FWU strategy that plants adopt in a foggy tropical ecosystem. We analysed the leaf cuticular waxes of six plant species known by their different FWU strategies, in both qualitative and quantitative approaches, to test this hypothesis. We also investigated the fine structure of the plant cuticle by scanning electron microscopy. Neither the total wax loads nor the amounts of single wax compound classes correlated to the FWU. In contrast, the qualitative chemical composition of the cuticular waxes was related to the water absorption speed but not to the maximum water absorbed. The presence of wax crystals might interfere with the FWU. Our findings suggest that a complex three-dimensional network of the cuticular compounds contributes to different strategies of FWU in six plant species from foggy tropical mountaintops.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Agua
/
Ecosistema
Tipo de estudio:
Qualitative_research
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Phytochemistry
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido