Analysis of Cavitation Processes in Xylem

Cavitation in plants is caused by development of air bubbles, which is related to their equilibrium and development. There is a univariate cubic equation for bubble balance. New root formula of this kind of equation was proposed by Shenjin Fan, which is simpler than the Caldan’s. Using Shenjin formulas and taking water pressure P1 as an independent variable, this paper gives the exact solution of the equation under certain conditions. The stability of the equilibrium of an air bubble in its different radius ranges is obtained by the way different from the previous. This kind of cavitation includes two types: First type may be caused by the growth of pre-existent air bubbles;Second type is air seeding, here defined as the sucking of air bubbles from already gas-filled conduits. For air seeding three ways of cavitation have been proposed. For the first type this paper puts forward that two ways of cavitation can occur, which are the same with the first two ways of air seeding except of air reservoirs. Moreover, for the first way of the first type, the range of water pressures is the same with that of the first way of air seeding. For the second way of the first type the range of water pressures is much wider, or the pressure range equals the pressure sum of the second and third ways of air seeding. Through the specific data the relationship between the two types is given.

Loss of Responsiveness to Osmotic Stress in Maize Root:the Effect of Water Channel Blocker HgCl_2

In order to investigate the effect of water channel blocker HgCl2 on the hydraulic resistance in roots of maize seedlings, a xylem pressure probe was used to monitor the changes in root xylem pressure in response to NaCl- or mannitol-induced osmotic stresses before and after the application of HgCl2. When the maize roots were subjected to 500 umol L-1 HgCl2 in root bathing solution, not only a considerable decline in xylem pressure （increase in xylem tension） was observed, but the loss of responsiveness of the plant to both salt- and mannitol-induced osmotic stresses in terms of xylem pressure change was seen as well when the transpiration rate of the plant was not significantly changed. The results are similar but different from the reversed osmosis by the Fenton reaction in the internodes of Chara coralline, showing that the mechanisms of water transport across cell membrane in plant roots are far more complicated than expected.

A Novel Approach to the Water Uptake Dynamics in Roots of Maize,Wheat and Barley Under Salt Stress

The water uptake dynamics in maize,wheat,and barley under salt stress were investigated with a xylem pressure probe.The average xylem pressure responses to salt stress in the three plants were 36,93,and 89% of the osmotic stresses for maize,wheat,and barley,respectively,which are significantly smaller than the magnitude of the osmotic stresses being applied.In order to explain the thermodynamic discrepancies among the water potential changes in the root xylem of the three plants,a novel approach,tentatively named the ＂symplastic flow dilution model＂ was proposed in this paper.The model was presented in an attempt to give answers to the problem of how the roots under salt stress could absorb water when the water potential of the xylem sap is considerably higher than that of the solution in the root ambient.According to the model,the salt solution in the microenvironment of the endodermis of a root was diluted to some extent by the efflux from cells so the central stele of the root is not exposed to the same solution bathing the root with the same salt concentration.In contrast,we also presented another approach,the ＂reflection coefficient progression approach＂,which was less likely to be true because it requires a considerable amount of solute to be transported into the root xylem when the salt stress is severe.

An Analysis to the Driving Forces for Water and Salt Absorption in Roots of Maize Seedlings Under Salt Stress

When maize seedlings were subjected to salt stress,a decline in root xylem pressure was observed within seconds,followed by a gradual increase in Na＋ deposition in the seedlings.The magnitude of xylem pressure response was positively correlated with,but not proportional to the intensity of the stress.A continuous recording of the xylem pressure profile showed that self-regulation of the xylem pressure existed before and after the imposition of salt stress when the environmental conditions were relatively stable.The salt induced increase in xylem tension dominated the total water potential of the plant when the salt stress was mild,but the osmotic potential became more prominent when the NaCl concentration in the root bathing solution was raised to over 100 mol m-3.The average transpiration rate of the seedlings dropped by 40% when the NaCl concentration in the root ambient was increased to 150 mol m-3.Although salt stress resulted in the decline of both the xylem pressure potential and the osmotic potential in the root xylem,the changes in the total water potential of the root xylem solution were always smaller than the changes in the water （osmotic） potentials of the solution bathing the root.An analysis to the water relations of maize seedlings showed that not only the water potential components,but the radial reflection coefficient of the roots was also dependent on the level of salinity.When the NaCl level in the root bathing solution was raised from 25 to 150 mol m-3,the radial reflection coefficient of the root declined from 0.43 to 0.31.This small change resulted in a remarkable increase in the normalised relative NaCl absorption by 2.4 times,indicating that the radial reflection coefficient of root played a very important role in regulating the absorption of NaCl in maize seedlings under salt stress.

Na^+ and Water Uptake in Relation to the Radial Reflection Coefficient of Root in Arrowleaf Saltbush Under Salt Stress

The response of halophyte arrowleaf saltbush （Atriplex triangularis Willd） plants to a gradient of salt stress were investigated with hydroponically cultured seedlings. Under salt stress, both the Na^＋ uptake into root xylem and negative pressures in xylem vessels increased with the elevation of salinity （up to 500 mol/m^3） in the root environment. However, the increment in negative pressures in root xylem far from matches the decrease in the osmotic potential of the root bathing solutions, even when the osmotic potential of xylem sap is taken into consideration. The total water potential of xylem sap in arrowleaf saltbush roots was close to the osmotic potential of root bathing solutions when the salt stress was low, but a progressively increased gap between the water potential of xylem sap and the osmotic potential of root bathing solutions was observed when the salinity in the root environment was enhanced. The maximum gap was 1.4 MPa at a salinity level of 500 mol/m^3 without apparent dehydration of the tested plants. This discrepancy could not be explained with the current theories in plant physiology. The radial reflection coefficient of root in arrowleaf saltbush decreased with the enhanced salt stress was and accompanied by an increase in the Na^＋ uptake into xylem sap. However, the relative Na^＋ in xylem exudates based on the corresponding NaCl concentration in the root bathing solutions showed a tendency of decrease. The results showed that the reduction in the radial reflection coefficient of roots in the arrowleaf saltbush did not lead to a mass influx of NaCl into xylem when the radial reflection coefficient of the root was considerably small; and that arrowleaf saltbush could use small xylem pressures to counterbalance the salt stresses, either with the uptake of large amounts of salt, or with the development of xylem pressures dangerously negative. This strategy could be one of the mechanisms behind the high resistance of arrowleaf saltbush plants to salt stress.