title: Hydraulic conductivity of red oak (Quercus rubra L.) leaf tissue does not respond to light.
abstract: The permeability of leaf tissue to water has been reported to increase under illumination, a response reputed to involve aquaporins. We studied this 'light response' in red oak (Quercus rubra L.), the species in which the phenomenon was first detected during measurements of leaf hydraulic conductance with the high-pressure flow meter (HPFM). In our HPFM measurements, we found that pre-conditioning leaves in darkness was not sufficient to bring them to their minimum conductance, which was attained only after an hour of submersion and pressurization. However, pre-conditioning leaves under anoxic conditions resulted in an immediate reduction in conductance. Leaves light- and dark-acclimated while on the tree showed no differences in the time course of HPFM measurement under illumination. We also studied the effect of light level and anoxia on rehydration kinetics, finding that anoxia slowed rehydration, but light had no effect either in the lab (rehydration under low light, high humidity) or on the tree (acclimation under high light, 10 min of dark prior to rehydration). We conclude that the declines in conductance observed in the HPFM must involve a resistance downstream of the extracellular air space, and that in red oak the hydraulic conductivity of leaf tissue is insensitive to light.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. rockwel@fas.harvard.edu
authors.forename: F E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Rockwell
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Holbrook
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Zwieniecki
mesh_terms: D020346:Aquaporins / Q000378:metabolism; D001692:Biological Transport; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000528:radiation effects; D008027:Light; D010539:Permeability / Q000528:radiation effects; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D054046:Plant Stomata / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D018526:Plant Transpiration / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D029963:Quercus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020346:Aquaporins; D014867:Water