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Single node cuttings with one mature leaf were taken from Rosa ×hybrida `Baroness' and rooted in water culture. The plants were subjected to either 90% (high) or 70% (moderate) relative humidity (RH) in climate chambers. Single stem roses with intact roots were transferred to 40% (low) RH to investigate the stomatal response to water stress. Moderate RH plants showed decreasing leaf conductance from day 1 to day 3 during both light and dark phases, in contrast to high RH roses, which showed almost similar leaf conductances during the 3 days. Leaf samples were studied with a light microscope (LM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to quantify morphological and structural changes. Epidermal imprints showed a significantly higher number of stomata and longer stomata, as well as a wider stomatal apertures on roses grown at high RH. The high RH leaves showed a reduced density of vascular tissue and thinner leaves when compared to moderate RH leaves. Enlarged intercellular air-space (ICA) was found due to a reduced number of spongy and palisade mesophyll cells. No obvious difference in shape, size, undulation or the structure of the epicuticular wax was observed in SEM between high and moderate RH grown leaves. In conclusion, roses subjected to high RH showed differences in leaf anatomy, stomatal morphology and stomatal function, which may explain the loss of water control of these plants. Stomatal ontogenesis should occur at RH conditions below 85% to secure roses with a high postharvest quality potential.

The effect of 16 different day (DT) and night (NT) temperature combinations (DT and NT 12, 17, 22 and 27 degrees C) on rosette leaf growth, flower stem elongation and flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana Ler was investigated. Final leaf length decreased with increasing NT due to a combination of reduced elongation period and reduced elongation rate. Final stem length increased with increasing DT due to increased elongation rate, and decreased with increasing NT due to a decrease in elongation period. Under NT 27 degrees C, however, stem elongation rate increased greatly, resulting in the same final stem length as under NT 12 degrees C. The transition to flowering was accelerated by increasing NT. A linear regression analysis was performed to clarify the relationship between final leaf length, final stem length and flowering time with DIF (DT minus NT) and/or ADT (average daily temperature). For all three variables, the effect of DIF depended on ADT and vice versa. The relationship of final stem length with DIF also depended on the temperature range. Increased cell volume in flower stems developing at DT/NT 22/12 degrees C gave rise to longer and thicker stems compared with stems developing at DT/NT 12/22 degrees C. GC-MS analysis (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) showed that the endogenous level of IAA was 56 % higher in stems grown under DT/NT 22/12 degrees C compared with DT/NT 12/22 degrees C. Of the 12 gibberellins analysed, however, only the level of non-bioactive GA29 was affected by the temperature treatment.

The physiological basis of thermoperiodic stem elongation is as yet poorly understood. Thermoperiodic control of gibberellin (GA) metabolism has been suggested as an underlying mechanism. We have investigated the influence of different day and night temperature combinations on GA levels, and diurnal steady-state expression of genes involved in GA biosynthesis (LS, LH, NA, PSGA20ox1, and PsGA3ox1) and GA deactivation (PsGA2ox1 and PsGA2ox2), and related this to diurnal stem elongation in pea (Pisum sativum L. cv Torsdag). The plants were grown under a 12-h light period with an average temperature of 17°C. A day temperature/night temperature combination of 13°C/21°C reduced stem elongation after 12 d by 30% as compared to 21°C/13°C. This was correlated with a 55% reduction of GA 1 . Although plant height correlated with GA 1 content, there was no correlation between diurnal growth rhythms and GA 1 content. NA, PsGA20ox1, and PsGA2ox2 showed diurnal rhythms of expression. PsGA2ox2 was up-regulated in 13°C/21°C (compared to 21°C/13°C), at certain time points, by up to 19-fold. Relative to PsGA2ox2, the expression of LS, LH, NA, PSGA20ox1, PsGA3ox1, and PsGA2ox1 was not or only slightly affected by the different temperature treatments. The sln mutant having a nonfunctional PsGA2ox1 gene product showed the same relative stem elongation response to temperature as the wild type. This supports the importance of PsGA2ox2 in mediating thermoperiodic stem elongation responses in pea. We present evidence for an important role of GA catabolism in thermoperiodic effect on stem elongation and conclude that PsGA2ox2 is the main mediator of this effect in pea.The ability of plants to discriminate between temperature during the day and night in their response to flowering, fruiting, and growth is referred to as thermoperiodism (Went, 1944). Erwin et al. (1989) showed that the effects of diurnal temperature alternation on stem length in Lilium longiflorum could best be described by the mathematical difference (DIF) between day temperature (DT) and night temperature (NT). Stem elongation thus increases with an increase in DIF, from a negative to a positive value. Stem elongation in many species is affected by the relationship between DT and NT, and the DIF concept is widely used for growth control in production of ornamental plants propagated in a greenhouse (Erwin and Heins, 1995;Myster and Moe, 1995;Moe and Heins, 2000). A negative DIF treatment (low DT and high NT) is a tool to produce compact flower plants and vegetable seedlings with short internodes without a delay in production time. Also, negative DIF treatments have largely replaced the use of chemical growth retardants in a number of commercial cultures.Thus, the use of such temperature regimes has substantial practical and economic implications in addition to representing an environmentally more sustainable method than chemical growth control. However, very little is known about the mechanisms underlying the thermoperiodic responses in plants. Such knowledge will be of gr...

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