Gas Exchange Measurements in Systemic Signaling Studies.

Different parts of a plant can be simultaneously exposed to very different conditions, for example a leaf moving in and out of shadow. In addition to local responses, transmission of information between different tissues and organs is thought to affect the coordination of overall responses to changing environmental conditions. An important adaptive role is played by the stomata, which regulate the evaporation of water vapor and supply of CO2 for photosynthesis. Here, we describe a method to study the effect of distally triggered systemic signals on stomatal conductance. The experimental set up, consisting of a growth chamber and a leaf gas exchange measuring system, enables time-resolved measurements on an intact leaf while maintaining a full control over the environmental conditions of the measured leaf and the whole seedling. The method can be used as a powerful tool to study short- and long-term stomatal responses to changes in different environmental variables, such as light.

Reactive Oxygen Species, Photosynthesis, and Environment in the Regulation of Stomata.

SIGNIFICANCE: Stomata sense the intercellular carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration (Ci) and water availability under changing environmental conditions and adjust their apertures to maintain optimal cellular conditions for photosynthesis. Stomatal movements are regulated by a complex network of signaling cascades where reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a key role as signaling molecules. Recent Advances: Recent research has uncovered several new signaling components involved in CO2- and abscisic acid-triggered guard cell signaling pathways. In addition, we are beginning to understand the complex interactions between different signaling pathways. CRITICAL ISSUES: Plants close their stomata in reaction to stress conditions, such as drought, and the subsequent decrease in Ci leads to ROS production through photorespiration and over-reduction of the chloroplast electron transport chain. This reduces plant growth and thus drought may cause severe yield losses for agriculture especially in arid areas. FUTURE DIRECTIONS: The focus of future research should be drawn toward understanding the interplay between various signaling pathways and how ROS, redox, and hormonal balance changes in space and time. Translating this knowledge from model species to crop plants will help in the development of new drought-resistant crop species with high yields.

Genome sequencing and population genomic analyses provide insights into the adaptive landscape of silver birch.

Silver birch (Betula pendula) is a pioneer boreal tree that can be induced to flower within 1 year. Its rapid life cycle, small (440-Mb) genome, and advanced germplasm resources make birch an attractive model for forest biotechnology. We assembled and chromosomally anchored the nuclear genome of an inbred B. pendula individual. Gene duplicates from the paleohexaploid event were enriched for transcriptional regulation, whereas tandem duplicates were overrepresented by environmental responses. Population resequencing of 80 individuals showed effective population size crashes at major points of climatic upheaval. Selective sweeps were enriched among polyploid duplicates encoding key developmental and physiological triggering functions, suggesting that local adaptation has tuned the timing of and cross-talk between fundamental plant processes. Variation around the tightly-linked light response genes PHYC and FRS10 correlated with latitude and longitude and temperature, and with precipitation for PHYC. Similar associations characterized the growth-promoting cytokinin response regulator ARR1, and the wood development genes KAK and MED5A.