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This content will become publicly available on December 22, 2025

Title: Linking structure to function: the connection between mesophyll structure and intrinsic water use efficiency
Climate change-driven drought events are becoming unescapable in an increasing number of areas worldwide. Understanding how plants are able to adapt to these changing environmental conditions is a non-trivial challenge. Physiologically, improving a plant’s intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) will be essential for plant survival in dry conditions. Physically, plant adaptation and acclimatisation are constrained by a plant’s anatomy. In other words, there is a strong link between anatomical structure and physiological function. Former research predominantly focussed on using 2D anatomical measurements to approximate 3D structures based on the assumption of ideal shapes, such as spherical spongy mesophyll cells. As a result of increasing progress in 3D imaging technology, the validity of these assumptions is being assessed, and recent research has indicated that these approximations can contain significant errors. We suggest to invert the workflow and use the less common 3D assessments to provide corrections and functions for the more widely available 2D assessments. By combining these 3D and corrected 2D anatomical assessments with physiological measurements of WUEi, our understanding of how a plant’s physical adaptation affects its function will increase and greatly improve our ability to assess plant survival.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2029756
PAR ID:
10550149
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
CSIRO
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Functional plant biology
ISSN:
1445-4408
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
functional plant anatomy, intercellular airspace, leaf anatomy, leaf functional traits, leaf structure, mesophyll, structure-function relations, water use efficiency
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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