Root Signals Mediate Coordination of Stomatal and Hydraulic Conductance in Growing Sugarcane

Abstract

Root hydraulic conductance and total stomatal conductance on a per plant basis changed in parallel during growth of sugarcane. Changes in root system water and solute transport properties were evaluated to determine the role of changes in root xylem sap composition in this coordination of vapour and liquid phase conductances. Stomatal conductance of excised leaf strips supplied with root exudate declined with increasing leaf area of the exudate donor plants. Leaf strips from plants of different sizes responded similarly to exudate from each donor plant, indicating that there were no inherent differences in leaf stomatal properties. The effect of xylem sap from plants of increasing size paralleled the decline in stomatal conductance of intact plants of similarly increasing plant size. Delivery rates per unit leaf area of K⁺, Ca²⁺, abscisic acid, and zeatin riboside (ZR) in xylem sap declined with increasing plant size. Patterns of delivery of ZR and K⁺ were consistent with a role in the plant size-dependent regulation of stomatal conductance, although additional xylem constituents are likely to be involved. Developmental patterns of stomatal conductance in intact sugarcane plants may be linked to plant hydraulic properties by the composition and flux of xylem sap arriving at the stomatal complexes in leaves.