Plasticity to soil water deficit in Arabidopsis thaliana: dissection of leaf development into underlying growth dynamic and cellular variables reveals invisible phenotypes

Abstract

Genetic variability in the plasticity of leaf area expansion in response to water deficit has been reported in Arabidopsis thaliana . Here, the objective was to identify the underlying dynamic and cellular processes involved in this variability. Twenty-five accessions were subjected to identical soil water deficit treatments. In all accessions, the plasticity of leaf production was low compared with that of individual leaf expansion. A subset of accessions was selected for further dissection of individual leaf expansion into its underlying variables: the rate and duration of leaf expansion and epidermal cell number and area. In all accessions, water deficit had opposite effects on the rate and duration of leaf expansion. The accumulation of these effects was reflected in changes in final leaf area. At the cellular level, moderate water deficits had opposite effects on cell number and cell size, but more severe ones reduced both variables. The importance of these opposing effects is highlighted by the behaviour of the accession An-1, for which the compensation between the decrease in leaf expansion rate and the increase in the duration of expansion is total. This dynamic plasticity in response to water deficit is not detectable when only final measurements are done.

Tackling Drought Stress: RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASES Present New Approaches

“…At the cellular scale, cell division and endoreduplication are reduced. Cell expansion can be maintained or decreased, depending on the maintenance of turgor and cell wall extensibility regulated by phytohormones like abscisic acid (ABA) and other local and systemic factors involved in coordination of the drought responses (Aguirrezabal et al, 2006;Cookson et al, 2006;Valliyodan and Nguyen, 2006). However, each individual response and the additive effect of several responses does not necessarily lead to drought tolerance (Tardieu, 2012).…”

“…) often are associated with a water conservation strategy but may cause a decrease in cumulated photosynthetic activity and therefore limit biomass production (Tardieu, 2012). In addition, reduction in cell division in leaves does not necessarily induce a reduction in leaf area, as a reduced number of cells might be compensated by an increase in cell size (Aguirrezabal et al, 2006).…”

DELLA Signaling Mediates Stress-Induced Cell Differentiation in Arabidopsis Leaves through Modulation of Anaphase-Promoting Complex/Cyclosome Activity

“…When plants are confronted with limited water availability, both cell proliferation and cell expansion are affected, leading to smaller leaves composed of fewer and smaller cells (Schuppler et al, 1998;Granier and Tardieu, 1999;Aguirrezabal et al, 2006;Skirycz et al, , 2011a. Previously, we could show that when stress hits during the proliferation phase, cell division is first reversibly arrested in a posttranscriptional manner by ethylene signaling, resulting in a reduction of CDKA activity (Skirycz et al, 2011a).…”

The effect of foliar application of methanol on sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) plants grown in drought conditions

“…Drought may initially inhibit leaf growth and development [Gazanchian et al 2007], and although chlorophyll content is closely associated with leaf development, response patterns of cell number and size [Lecoeur et al 1995] and chlorophyll content to water stress depend on the period of leaf development. At the cellular level, moderate water de cits (mild stress) had opposite effects on cell number and cell size, but more severe de cits reduced both variables [Aguirrezabal et al 2006]. Thus, compared with severe water de cit stress, under moderate drought the youngest leaves might increase their chlorophyll content, demonstrating adaptation to environmental stress (Table 2).…”