Rice Curled Its Leaves Either Adaxially or Abaxially to Combat Drought Stress

Leaf rolling(LR)is one of the defensive mechanisms that plants have developed against adverse environmental conditions.LR is a typical drought response,promoting drought resistance in various gramineae species,including wheat,maize,and rice.Rice cultivation faces the formidable challenge of water deprivation because of its high water requirements,which leads to drought-related symptoms in rice.LR is an important morphological characteristic that plays a key role in controlling water loss during water insufficiency,thereby regulating leaf area and stature,which are crucial agronomic traits determining yield criteria.Bulliform,sclerenchyma,mesophyll,and vascular bundles are the cells that engage in LR and commonly exhibit adaxial or abaxial types of rolling in rice.The specific genes linked to rolling,either adaxially or abaxially,are discussed here.In addition to the factors influencing LR,here is a short review of the morphological,physiological and molecular responses of this adaptation under drought stress.Moreover,this review highlights how LR combats the consequences of drought stress.The eco-physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying this morphological adaptation in rice should be further explored,as they might be useful in dealing with various degrees of drought tolerance.

Different expression patterns of duplicated PHANTASTICA-like genes in Lotus japonicus suggest their divergent functions during compound leaf development

Recent studies on leaf development demonstrate that the mechanism on the adaxial-abaxial polarity pattern formation could be well conserved among the far-related species, in which PHANTASTICA （PAHN）-Iike genes play important roles. In this study, we explored the conservation and diversity on functions of PHAN-Iike genes during the compound leaf development in Lotusjaponicus, a papilionoid legume. Two PHAN-Iike genes in L. japonicus, LjPHANa and LjPHANb, were found to originate from a gene duplication event and displayed different expression patterns during compound leaf development. Two mutants, reduced leafletsl （rell） and reduced leaflets3 （rel3）, which exhibited decreased adaxial identity of leaflets and reduced leaflet initiation, were identified and investigated. The expression patterns of both LjPHANs in rel mutants were altered and correlated with abnormalities of compound leaves. Our data suggest that LjPHANa and LjPHANb play important but divergent roles in regulating adaxial-abaxial polarity of compound leaves in L. japonicus.

A Generalized Layered Radiative Transfer Model in the Vegetation Canopy

In this paper, a generalized layered model for radiation transfer in canopy with high vertical resolution is developed. Differing from the two-stream approximate radiation transfer model commonly used in the land surface models, the generalized model takes into account the effect of complicated canopy morphology and inhomogeneous optical properties of leaves on radiation transfer within the canopy. In the model, the total leaf area index （LAI） of the canopy is divided into many layers. At a given layer, the influences of diffuse radiation angle distributions and leaf angle distributions on radiation transfer within the canopy are considered. The derivation of equations serving the model are described in detail, and these can deal with various diffuse radiation transfers in quite broad categories of canopy with quite inhomogeneons vertical structures and uneven leaves with substantially different optical properties of adaxial and abaxial faces of the leaves. The model is used to simulate the radiation transfer for canopies with horizontal leaves to validate the generalized model. Results from the model are compared with those from the two-stream scheme, and differences between these two models are discussed.

A Simplified Scheme of the Generalized Layered Radiative Transfer Model

In this paper, firstly, a simplified version （SGRTM） of the generalized layered radiative transfer model （GRTM） within the canopy, developed by us, is presented. It reduces the information requirement of inputted sky diffuse radiation, as well as of canopy morphology, and in turn saves computer resources. Results from the SGRTM agree perfectly with those of the GRTM. Secondly, by applying the linear superposition principle of the optics and by using the basic solutions of the GRTM for radiative transfer within the canopy under the condition of assumed zero soil reflectance, two sets of explicit analytical solutions of radiative transfer within the canopy with any soil reflectance magnitude are derived： one for incident diffuse, and the other for direct beam radiation. The explicit analytical solutions need two sets of basic solutions of canopy reflectance and transmittance under zero soil reflectance, run by the model for both diffuse and direct beam radiation. One set of basic solutions is the canopy reflectance αf （written as α1 for direct beam radiation） and transmittance βf （written as β1 for direction beam radiation） with zero soil reflectance for the downward radiation from above the canopy （i.e. sky）, and the other set is the canopy reflectance （αb） and transmittance βb for the upward radiation from below the canopy （i.e., ground）. Under the condition of the same plant architecture in the vertical layers, and the same leaf adaxial and abaxial optical properties in the canopies for the uniform diffuse radiation, the explicit solutions need only one set of basic solutions, because under this condition the two basic solutions are equal, i.e., αf = αb and βf = βb. Using the explicit analytical solutions, the fractions of any kind of incident solar radiation reflected from （defined as surface albedo, or canopy reflectance）, transmitted through （defined as canopy transmittance）, and absorbed by （defined as canopy absorptance） the canopy and other properties pertinent to the radiative transfer within the canopy can be estimated easily on the ground surface below the canopy （soil or snow surface） with any reflectance magnitudes. The simplified transfer model is proven to have a similar accuracy compared to the detailed model, as well as very efficient computing.

Leaf Morphological and Stomatal Variations in Paper Birch Populations along Environmental Gradients in Canada

Variations in leaf morphology and stomatal characteristics have been extensively studied at both inter- and intraspecific levels although not explicitly in the context of paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh) populations. The birch populations might have developed the leaf variations that allowed them to adapt to a wide climatic gradient. Therefore, in this study we examined variations in the leaf morphological and stomatal characteristics of sixteen paper birch populations collected across Canada and grown in a common garden. We also examined the relationship between these leaf characteristics and the climate of the population’s origin. Significant genotypic differences were found in the leaf characteristics measured among the birch populations. Thus, we expected that the observed leaf variations may be partly explained as natural diversity in the birch due to differences in environment of origin. We noticed that along mean annual precipitation and aridity gradients, hair density on leaf adaxial surface had decreased whereas stomatal density increased significantly. Our results showed that the populations with larger leaf area and specific leaf area had higher hair density but low stomatal density. These leaf characteristics provided a structural basis in reducing water loss through leaves and increasing water use efficiency. A trade-off between stomatal area and density resulted in this study might be a strategy of the birch to balance stomatal conductance in decreased precipitation.