Microscopic pores on the surface of leaves called stomata help plants « breathe » by controlling how much water they lose due to evaporation. These stomatal pores also enable and control carbon dioxide intake for photosynthesis and growth.
Microscopic pores on the surface of leaves called stomata help plants « breathe » by controlling how much water they lose due to evaporation. These stomatal pores also enable and control carbon dioxide intake for photosynthesis and growth.
As far back as the 19th century, scientists have known that plants increase their stomatal pore openings to transpire, or « sweat », by sending water vapor through stomata to cool off. Today, with global temperatures and heat waves on the rise, widening stomatal pores are considered a key mechanism that can minimize heat damage to plants.
But for more than a century, plant biologists have lacked a full accounting of the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind increased stomatal « breathing » and transpiration processes in response to elevated temperatures.
University of California San Diego School of Biological Sciences Ph.D. student Nattiwong Pankasem and Professor Julian Schroeder have constructed a detailed picture of these mechanisms. Their findings, published in the journal New Phytologist, identify two paths that plants use to handle rising temperatures.
« With increasing global temperatures, there’s obviously a threat to agriculture from the impact of heat waves », said Schroeder. « This research describes the discovery that rising temperatures cause stomatal opening by one genetic pathway (mechanism), but if the heat steps up even further, then there’s another mechanism that kicks in to increase stomatal opening. »
For decades, scientists struggled to find a clear method to decipher the mechanisms underlying rising temperature-mediated stomatal openings due to the intricate measurement processes required.
