Abstract
Water scarcity, a common stress factor, negatively impacts plant performance. Strategies to cope with it, such as desiccation tolerance, are becoming increasingly important to investigate. However, phenomena, such as intraspecific variation in stress responses have not received much attention. Knowledge of this variability and the environmental drivers can be leveraged to further investigate the mechanisms of desiccation tolerance. Here we tested for variation in desiccation tolerance in Plagiochila porelloides among colonies and sexes within the same riparian zone. Field-collected dehardened plants were subjected to a desiccation event, under controlled conditions and then rehydrated. Plant water status, photosynthetic rates, net carbon gain, and efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) were assayed to evaluate tissue desiccation, basic metabolic processes and plant recovery. To establish a linkage between plant response and environmental factors, field light conditions were measured. We detected intraspecific variation, where a more exposed colony (high percentage of open sky, large temporal range of light quantity, and high red/far-red ratio) showed sex differences in desiccation tolerance and recovery. Overall, PSII recovery occurred by 72 h after rehydration, with a positive carbon gain occurring by day 30. This within species variation suggests plastic or genetic effects, and likely association with light conditions.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-10-2022
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11040478
Funding Information
This research was conducted during a scholarship supported by the International Cooperation Program CAPES/COFECUB at the University of Kentucky funded by [CAPES—Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education] grant number [Finance Code 001], and is an integrative part of research funded by [FAPEMIG—Foundation for Research Support of the State of Minas Gerais] grant number [APQ CRA 01598-14]; this study was part of JCSC dissertation. Publication fee support granted by College of Arts and Sciences, University of Kentucky.
Related Content
The data presented in this study are openly available in [Figshare] at [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14079791], reference number [14079791].
Repository Citation
Silva-e-Costa, Juliana da C.; Luizi-Ponzo, Andrea P.; and McLetchie, David Nicholas, "Sex Differences in Desiccation Tolerance Varies by Colony in the Mesic Liverwort Plagiochila porelloides" (2022). Biology Faculty Publications. 227.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/biology_facpub/227
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Plants, v. 11, issue 4, 478.
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).