Stomatal conductance increases with rising temperature.

Stomatal conductance directly modifies plant water relations and photosynthesis. Many environmental factors affecting the stomatal conductance have been intensively studied but temperature has been largely neglected, even though it is one of the fastest changing environmental variables and it is rising due to climate change. In this study, we describe how stomata open when the temperature increases. Stomatal conductance increased by ca 40% in a broadleaf and a coniferous species, poplar (Populus deltoides x nigra) and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) when temperature was increased by 10 °C, from 30 °C to 40 °C at a constant vapor pressure deficit of 1 kPa. The mechanism of regulating stomatal conductance by temperature was, at least partly, independent of other known mechanisms linked to water status and carbon metabolism. Stomatal conductance increased with rising temperature despite the decrease in leaf water potential, increase in transpiration, increase in intercellular CO2 concentration and was decoupled from photosynthesis. Increase in xylem and mesophyll hydraulic conductance coming from lower water viscosity may to some degree explain temperature dependent opening of stomata. The direct stomatal response to temperature allows plants to benefit from increased evaporative cooling during the heat waves and from lower stomatal limitations to photosynthesis but they may be jeopardized by faster depletion of soil water.

A quantitative method for analyzing glycome profiles of plant cell walls.

Glycome profiling allows for the characterization of plant cell wall ultrastructure via sequential extractions and subsequent detection of specific epitopes with a suite of glycan-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The data are often viewed as the amount of materials recovered and coinciding colored heatmaps of mAb binding are generated. Interpretation of these data can be considered qualitative in nature as it depends on detecting subtle visual differences in antibody binding strength. Here, we report a mixed model-based quantitative approach for glycome profile analyses, which accounts for the amount of materials recovered and displays the normalized values in revised heatmaps and statistical heatmaps depicting significant differences. The utility of this methodology was demonstrated on a previously published dataset investigating the effects of moisture stress on the roots and needles of Pinus taeda. An annotated R script for the quantitative methodology is included to allow future studies to utilize the same approach.

Increase in leaf temperature opens stomata and decouples net photosynthesis from stomatal conductance in Pinus taeda and Populus deltoides x nigra.

The effect of temperature on stomatal conductance (gs) and corresponding gas exchange parameters was studied in two tree species with contrasting leaf anatomy and ecophysiology-a broadleaf angiosperm, Populus deltoides x nigra (poplar), and a needle-leaf gymnosperm, Pinus taeda (loblolly pine). Experiments were conducted in growth chambers across a leaf temperature range of 19-48°C. Manipulations of temperature were done in well-watered and drought soil conditions and under ambient (400 ppm) and elevated (800 ppm) air CO2 concentrations. Increases in leaf temperature caused stomatal opening at both ambient and elevated [CO2]. The gs increased by 42% in poplar and by 40% in loblolly pine when leaf temperature increased from 30°C to 40°C at a vapour pressure difference of 1 kPa. Stomatal limitation to photosynthesis decreased in elevated temperature in loblolly pine but not in poplar. The ratio of net photosynthesis to gs depended on leaf temperature, especially at high temperatures. Evaporative cooling of transpiring leaves resulted in reductions in leaf temperature up to 9°C in well-watered poplar but only 1°C in drought-stressed poplar and in loblolly pine. As global mean temperatures rise and temperature extremes become more frequent and severe, understanding the effect of temperature on gs, and modelling that relationship, will become increasingly important.

Cell Wall Ultrastructure of Stem Wood, Roots, and Needles of a Conifer Varies in Response to Moisture Availability.

The composition, integrity, and architecture of the macromolecular matrix of cell walls, collectively referred to as cell wall ultrastructure, exhibits variation across species and organs and among cell types within organs. Indirect approaches have suggested that modifications to cell wall ultrastructure occur in response to abiotic stress; however, modifications have not been directly observed. Glycome profiling was used to study cell wall ultrastructure by examining variation in composition and extractability of non-cellulosic glycans in cell walls of stem wood, roots, and needles of loblolly pine saplings exposed to high and low soil moisture. Soil moisture influenced physiological processes and the overall composition and extractability of cell wall components differed as a function of soil moisture treatments. The strongest response of cell wall ultrastructure to soil moisture was increased extractability of pectic backbone epitopes in the low soil moisture treatment. The higher abundance of these pectic backbone epitopes in the oxalate extract indicate that the loosening of cell wall pectic components could be associated with the release of pectic signals as a stress response. The increased extractability of pectic backbone epitopes in response to low soil moisture availability was more pronounced in stem wood than in roots or needles. Additional responses to low soil moisture availability were observed in lignin-associated carbohydrates released in chlorite extracts of stem wood, including an increased abundance of pectic arabinogalactan epitopes. Overall, these results indicate that cell walls of loblolly pine organs undergo changes in their ultrastructural composition and extractability as a response to soil moisture availability and that cell walls of the stem wood are more responsive to low soil moisture availability compared to cell walls of roots and needles. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence, delineated by glycomic analyses, that abiotic stress affects cell wall ultrastructure. This study is also unique in that glycome profiling of pine needles has never before been reported.

Biosynthesis of UDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose and UDP-rhamnose in pathogenic fungi Magnaporthe grisea and Botryotinia fuckeliana.

There is increasing evidence that in several fungi, rhamnose-containing glycans are involved in processes that affect host-pathogen interactions, including adhesion, recognition, virulence, and biofilm formation. Nevertheless, little is known about the pathways for the synthesis of these glycans. We show that rhamnose is present in glycans isolated from the rice pathogen Magnaporthe grisea and from the plant pathogen Botryotinia fuckeliana. We also provide evidence that these fungi produce UDP-rhamnose. This is in contrast to bacteria where dTDP-rhamnose is the activated form of this sugar. In bacteria, formation of dTDP-rhamnose requires three enzymes. Here, we demonstrate that in fungi only two genes are required for UDP-Rha synthesis. The first gene encodes a UDP-glucose-4,6-dehydratase that converts UDP-glucose to UDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose. The product was shown by time-resolved (1)H NMR spectroscopy to exist in solution predominantly as a hydrated form along with minor amounts of a keto form. The second gene encodes a bifunctional UDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose-3,5-epimerase/-4-reductase that converts UDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose to UDP-rhamnose. Sugar composition analysis and gene expression studies at different stages of growth indicate that the synthesis of rhamnose-containing glycans is under tissue-specific regulation. Together, our results provide new insight into the formation of rhamnose-containing glycans during the fungal life cycle. The role of these glycans in the interactions between fungal pathogens and their hosts is discussed. Knowledge of the metabolic pathways involved in the formation of rhamnose-containing glycans may facilitate the development of drugs to combat fungal diseases in humans, as to the best of our knowledge mammals do not make these types of glycans.