Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2013, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (4): 423-428.DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1259.2013.00423

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The Relationship Between Light-induced Changes in Transpiration Pull and Rehydration Times in Desiccated Myrothamnus flabellifolia

Jianjun Zhu*, Linde Liu, Luying Zhu   

  1. College of Life Sciences, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China
  • Received:2012-07-12 Revised:2012-11-23 Online:2013-07-01 Published:2013-08-09
  • Contact: Jianjun Zhu

Abstract: We investigated the rate of water ascent and time course of xylem pressure in response to light or darkness in the rehydrated resurrection plant Myrothamnus flabellifolia. The time for water to rise to the apex of an intact or detached desiccated twig was about 10 h, whereas the time for full recovery of the regulation of xylem pressure response to light or darkness was about 3 weeks. The recovery of the pressure regulation should be associated with the recovery and function of stomata in desiccated leaves after rehydration. In addition, the relaxation time of xylem pressure decline in response to light was significantly longer than that of xylem pressure ascent in response to darkness, so the regulation rate of the plant to transpiration increase induced by light was significantly lower than that to transpiration decline induced by darkness.