Arabidopsis leaf membranes appeared to be very resistant to water deficit, as shown by their capacity to maintain their polar lipid contents and the stability of their lipid composition under severe water loss conditions. Moreover, arabidopsis displayed several characteristics indicative of a so far unknown adaptation capacity to drought-stress at the cellular level, such as an increase in the DGDG : MGDG ratio and fatty acid unsaturation.

Membranes are main targets of drought, and there is growing evidence for the involvement of membrane lipid in plant adaptation to such an environmental stress. Biosynthesis of the galactosylglycerolipids, monogalactosyl-diacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyl-diacylglycerol (DGDG), which are the main components of chloroplast envelope and thylakoid membranes, could be important for plant tolerance to water deficit and for recovery after rehydration. In this study, galactolipid (GL) biosynthesis in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) leaves was analysed during drought stress and subsequent rewatering. Comparison of two cowpea cutivars, one drought tolerant and the other drought susceptible submitted to moderate drought stress, revealed patterns associated with water-deficit tolerance: increase in DGDG leaf content, stimulation of DGDG biosynthesis in terms of (14)C-acetate incorporation and messenger accumulation corresponding to four genes coding for GL synthases (MDG1, MGD2, DGD1 and DGD2). Similar to phosphate starvation, lack of water enhanced DGDG biosynthesis and it was hypothesized that the drought-induced DGDG accumulated in extrachloroplastic membranes, and thus contributes to plant tolerance to arid environments.

Many scientific disciplines are currently experiencing a 'reproducibility crisis' because numerous scientific findings cannot be repeated consistently. A novel but controversial hypothesis postulates that stringent levels of environmental and biotic standardization in experimental studies reduce reproducibility by amplifying the impacts of laboratory-specific environmental factors not accounted for in study designs. A corollary to this hypothesis is that a deliberate introduction of controlled systematic variability (CSV) in experimental designs may lead to increased reproducibility. To test this hypothesis, we had 14 European laboratories run a simple microcosm experiment using grass (Brachypodium distachyon L.) monocultures and grass and legume (Medicago truncatula Gaertn.) mixtures. Each laboratory introduced environmental and genotypic CSV within and among replicated microcosms established in either growth chambers (with stringent control of environmental conditions) or glasshouses (with more variable environmental conditions). The introduction of genotypic CSV led to 18% lower among-laboratory variability in growth chambers, indicating increased reproducibility, but had no significant effect in glasshouses where reproducibility was generally lower. Environmental CSV had little effect on reproducibility. Although there are multiple causes for the 'reproducibility crisis', deliberately including genetic variability may be a simple solution for increasing the reproducibility of ecological studies performed under stringently controlled environmental conditions.