The physiological consequences of altering genetic controls in stomatal development of Arabidopsis thaliana
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Stomata are pores on the epidermis of plants that facilitate the exchange of gases between the interior of the plant and the external environment. Gas exchange is a fundamental process for plants, as it permits atmospheric carbon dioxide to perfuse into cell tissues that perform photosynthesis, but as a corollary, it also releases water vapor. The consequences of these activities extend far beyond the productivity of an individual plant, as transpiration and carbon sequestration have dramatic effects on ecosystem structure, global energy cycles, and are even capable of driving large shifts in climate. Here, genetic tools in Arabidopsis thaliana were used to alter the density and pattern of stomata on the epidermis and the physiological outcomes of those changes were quantified by leaf-level gas exchange experiments, measurements of water-use efficiency, microscopic analysis of leaf morphology, and predictive modeling. Changes in stomatal development had significant impacts on operational stomatal conductance -- the rate of gas exchange -- and net carbon assimilation. Stomatal conductance could be modeled as a function of stomatal density and size (gsmax) and the physiological responses to increasing ambient carbon dioxide were attributed to pore-specific properties of stomata. Furthermore, genetic regulators of stomatal development were capable of driving organizational changes in mesophyll tissues of the leaf interior, thus altering photosynthetic potential. These results indicate that stomatal development plays a critical role in structuring the physiological capacity of the leaf and stomatal anatomy can be characterized to predict plant-environment interactions under past, current, and future regimes of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2014 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Dow, Graham John |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Biology. |
| Primary advisor | Bergmann, Dominique |
| Thesis advisor | Bergmann, Dominique |
| Thesis advisor | Berry, Joseph A, 1941- |
| Thesis advisor | Fraser, Hunter B |
| Thesis advisor | Long, Sharon |
| Advisor | Berry, Joseph A, 1941- |
| Advisor | Fraser, Hunter B |
| Advisor | Long, Sharon |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Graham John Dow. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Biology. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2014. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2014 by Graham John Dow
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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