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Plants are a vital component of human life on Earth; they provide us with food and essential nutrients as well as the oxygen we breathe. However, the science education community struggles to find ways to make plant processes less abstract and more understandable for learners. In this article we demonstrate how we make plant processes more understandable for learners by observing the behaviors of a specific plant structure, a stoma, which is a microscopic opening that plays a role in the movement of matter into and out of a plant. Recent research across plant-related science fields centers on plant stomata because they protect plants from various environmental strains, including attacks from pathogens. Translating this research into science classroom instruction has not occurred extensively. A key impediment is that few common methods to make stomata visible or demonstrate their dynamic nature to learners are available. The activities we share here make stomata visible utilizing a specific plant, Tradescantia zebrina, and common laboratory equipment. In the first activity, we share how to demonstrate stomata closing and opening by manipulating a combination of these environmental factors. In the second activity, we describe how to create a visual simulation of stomata response to attacks from microorganisms.
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Do stomata optimize turgor‐driven growth? A new framework for integrating stomata response with whole‐plant hydraulics and carbon balance
- Award ID(s):
- 2045610
- PAR ID:
- 10391362
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- New Phytologist
- ISSN:
- 0028-646X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Summary The onset of stomatal closure reduces transpiration during drought. In seed plants, drought causes declines in plant water status which increases leaf endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) levels required for stomatal closure. There are multiple possible points of increased belowground resistance in the soil–plant atmospheric continuum that could decrease leaf water potential enough to trigger ABA production and the subsequent decreases in transpiration.We investigate the dynamic patterns of leaf ABA levels, plant hydraulic conductance and the point of failure in the soil–plant conductance in the highly embolism‐resistant speciesCallitris tuberculatausing continuous dendrometer measurements of leaf water potential during drought.We show that decreases in transpiration and ABA biosynthesis begin before any permanent decreases in predawn water potential, collapse in soil–plant hydraulic pathway and xylem embolism spread.We find that a dynamic but recoverable increases in hydraulic resistance in the soil in close proximity to the roots is the most likely driver of declines in midday leaf water potential needed for ABA biosynthesis and the onset of decreases in transpiration.more » « less
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Abstract Due to fiber swelling, textile fabrics containing hygroscopic fibers tend to decrease pore size under wet or increasing humidity and moisture conditions, the reverse being true. Nevertheless, for personal thermal regulation and comfort, the opposite is desirable, namely, increasing the fabric pore size under increasing humid and sweating conditions for enhanced ventilation and cooling, and a decreased pore size under cold and dry conditions for heat retention. This paper describes a novel approach to create such an unconventional fabric by emulating the structure of the plant leaf stomata by designing a water responsive polymer system in which the fabric pores increase in size when wet and decrease in size when dry. The new fabric increases its moisture permeability over 50% under wet conditions. Such a water responsive fabric can find various applications including smart functional clothing and sportswear. Graphical Abstractmore » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18620
