Plasticity of the xylem vulnerability to embolism in Populus tremula x alba relies on pit quantity properties rather than on pit structure.

Knowledge on variations of drought resistance traits are needed to predict the potential of trees to acclimate to coming severe drought events. Xylem vulnerability to embolism is a key parameter related to such droughts, and its phenotypic variability relies mainly on environmental plasticity. We investigated the structural determinants controlling the plasticity of vulnerability to embolism, focusing on the key elements involved in the air bubble entry in vessels, especially the intervessel pits. Poplar saplings (Populus tremula x alba (Aiton) Sm., 1804) grown in contrasted water availability or light exposure exhibited differences in the vulnerability to embolism (P50) in a range of 0.76 MPa. We then characterized the structural changes in features related to pit quantity and pit structure, from the pit ultrastructure to the organization of xylem vessels, using different microscopy techniques (transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy). A multispectral combination of X-ray microtomography and light microscopy analysis allowed measuring the vulnerability of each single vessel and testing some of the relationships between structural traits and vulnerability to embolism inside the xylem. The pit ultrastructure did not change, whereas the vessel dimensions increased with the vulnerability to embolism and the grouping index and fraction of intervessel cell wall both decreased with the vulnerability to embolism. These findings hold when comparing between trees or between the vessels inside the xylem of an individual tree. These results evidenced that plasticity of vulnerability to embolism in hybrid poplar occurs through changes in the pit quantity properties such as pit area and vessel grouping rather than changes on the pit structure.

Integrated drought responses of black poplar: how important is phenotypic plasticity?

Climate change is expected to increase drought frequency and intensity which will threaten plant growth and survival. In such fluctuating environments, perennial plants respond with hydraulic and biomass adjustments, resulting in either tolerant or avoidant strategies. Plants' response to stress relies on their phenotypic plasticity. The goal of this study was to explore physiology of young Populus nigra in the context of a time-limited and progressive water deficit in regard to their growth and stress response strategies. Fourteen French 1-year-old black poplar genotypes, geographically contrasted, were subjected to withholding water during 8 days until severe water stress. Water fluxes (i.e. leaf water potentials and stomatal conductance) were analyzed together with growth (i.e. radial and longitudinal branch growth, leaf senescence and leaf production). Phenotypic plasticity was calculated for each trait and response strategies to drought were deciphered for each genotype. Black poplar genotypes permanently were dealing with a continuum of adjusted water fluxes and growth between two extreme strategies, tolerance and avoidance. Branch growth, leaf number and leaf hydraulic potential traits had contrasted plasticities, allowing genotype characterization. The most tolerant genotype to water deficit, which maintained growth, had the lowest global phenotypic plasticity. Conversely, the most sensitive and avoidant genotype ceased growth until the season's end, had the highest plasticity level. All the remaining black poplar genotypes were close to avoidance with average levels of traits plasticity. These results underpinned the role of plasticity in black poplar response to drought and calls for its wider use into research on plants' responses to stress.

Multiphase chemistry of ozone on fulvic acids solutions.

By means of a wetted-wall flow tube, we studied the multiphase chemistry of ozone on aqueous solutions containing fulvic acids (FA), taken as proxies for atmospheric "humic like substances", so-called HULIS. In these experiments, the loss of gaseous O3 was monitored by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy at the reactor outlet (i.e., after contact between the gaseous and liquid phases). Measurements are reported in terms of dimensionless uptake coefficients (gamma) in the range from 1.6 x 10(-7) to 1.3 x 10(-5) depending on ozone gas phase concentration (in the range from 6.6 to 34.4 x 10(11) molecules cm(-3)) and fulvic acid aqueous concentration (in the range from 0.25 to 2.5 mg L(-1)) and pH (in the range from 2.5 to 9.2). The measured kinetics were observed to follow a Langmuir-Hinshelwood type mechanism, in which O3 first adsorbs on the liquid surface and then reacts with the Fulvic Acid molecules. The reported uptake coefficients are greatly increased over those measured on pure water, demonstrating that the presence in solution of fulvic acids does greatly enhance the uptake kinetics. Accordingly, the chemical interactions of fulvic acids (or HULIS) may be a driving force for the uptake of ozone on liquid organic aerosols and can also represent an important mechanism for the O3 deposition to the rivers and lakes.