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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 37(9)

Primary nerve (vein) density influences spatial heterogeneity of photosynthetic response to drought in two Acacia species

Katy E. Sommerville A B C , Teresa E. Gimeno B and Marilyn C. Ball A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Plant Science Division, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.

B Laboratorio Internacional de Cambio Global (LINC-Global), Instituto de Recursos Naturales, CCMA, CSIC, Serrano 115, 28 006 Madrid, Spain.

C Corresponding author. Email: katy.sommerville@anu.edu.au

Functional Plant Biology 37(9) 840-848 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP10062
Submitted: 23 March 2010  Accepted: 26 May 2010   Published: 24 August 2010

Abstract

We examined the relationship between variation in phyllode nerve density and the spatio-temporal response of the photosynthetic apparatus to water-stress in two Acacia s.str. species with contrasting nerve patterns: Acacia floribunda (Vent.) Willd and Acacia pycnantha Benth. A. floribunda had greater primary nerve density than A. pycnantha and also showed greater spatial homogeneity in photosynthetic function with drought than phyllodes of A. pycnantha. A. pycnantha had lower maximum quantum efficiency of PSII in phyllode tissue further from primary nerves consistent with its lower primary nerve density. Further, A. floribunda phyllodes maintained function of the photosynthetic apparatus with drought for longer and recovered more swiftly from drought than A. pycnantha. These findings suggest that greater primary nerve density may enhance drought tolerance and are consistent with the observed predominance of acacias with high primary nerve density in areas with lower precipitation.

Additional keywords: fluorescence, foliage, hydraulic architecture, photosynthesis, water, wattle.


Acknowledgements

KES was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award. Other project costs were supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP0881009) to MCB. TEG holds a postgraduate I3P fellowship and a short stage travel grant awarded by the Spanish Scientific Council (CSIC). We thank Joana Zaragoza-Castells for technical assistance and Dr Owen Atkin for valued advice regarding experimental design.


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