The Pneumatron: An automated pneumatic apparatus for estimating xylem vulnerability to embolism at high temporal resolution

Pereira, Luciano; Bittencourt, Paulo R. L.; Pacheco, Vinícius S.; Miranda, Marcela T.; Zhang, Ya; Oliveira, Rafael S.; Groenendijk, Peter; Machado, Eduardo Caruso; Tyree, Melvin T.; Jansen, Steven; Rowland, Lucy; Ribeiro, Rafael Vasconcelos

doi:10.1111/pce.13647

Cited by 44 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Moreover, thick root segments of C. avellana show a similar embolism resistance to intact root networks, indicating that the pneumatic method can be applied to non-terminal plant material. We also demonstrate that the pneumatron approach shows promising results for establishing a high-throughput platform on a large number of samples, especially when this approach is combined with stem psychrometers (Pereira et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Root xylem in three woody angiosperm species is not more vulnerable to embolism than stem xylem

Zhang

Oya

et al. 2020

Plant Soil

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Aims Since plants are compartmentalised organisms, failure of their hydraulic transport system could differ between organs. We test here whether xylem tissue of stems and roots differ in their drought-induced embolism resistance, and whether intact roots are equally resistant to embolism than root segments. Methods Embolism resistance of stem and root xylem was measured based on the pneumatic technique for Acer campestre, A. pseudoplatanus and Corylus avellana, comparing also intact roots and root segments of C. avellana. Moreover, we compared anatomical features such as interconduit pit membrane between roots and stems. Results We found a higher embolism resistance for roots than stems, although a significant difference was only found for A. pseudoplatanus. Interconduit pit membrane thickness was similar for both organs of the two Acer species, but pit membranes were thicker in roots than stems of C. avellana. Also, embolism resistance of an intact root network was similar to thick root segments for C. avellana. Conclusion Our observations show that root xylem is not more vulnerable to embolism than stem xylem, although more species need to be studied to test if this finding can be generalised. We also demonstrated that the pneumatic method can be applied to non-terminal plant samples.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Root xylem in three woody angiosperm species is not more vulnerable to embolism than stem xylem

Zhang

Oya

et al. 2020

Plant Soil

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“…In fact, one user can operate five to ten Pneumatrons simultaneously and, thus, the productivity could be multiplied easily. The Pneumatron is a very low-cost device based on an open-source hardware and software (Pereira et al 2020). For this reason, the construction of many devices is accessible for most laboratories.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A complete description of the Pneumatron can be found in Pereira et al (2020). For estimating VLD, the hardware was not changed, and it was similar to the device originally described for measuring embolism.…”

Section: Plant Materials and Apparatusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…xylem (Pereira et al 2020), we present a semi-automated method to measure VLD using the Pneumatron. This instrument is based on the Pneumatic method (Pereira et al 2016;Bittencourt et al 2018;Jansen et al 2020), which measures the amount of gas that can be extracted from stems (Pereira et al 2016;Zhang et al 2018), roots (Wu et al 2020), or leaves (Pereira et al 2020). By measuring pressure changes inside a fixed tube volume over time, gas conductivity is calculated by extracting gas from plant xylem under subatmospheric pressure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A semi-automated method for measuring xylem vessel length distribution

Pereira

Miranda

Pires

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Knowledge about the length of xylem vessels is essential to understand water transport in plants because these multicellular units show a 100-fold variation, from less than a centimeter to many meters. However, the available methods to estimate vessel length distribution (VLD) are excessively time consuming and do not allow large and in-depth surveys. Here, we describe a semi-automated method to measure VLD using an automated Pneumatron device. Gas conductivity of a xylem tissue with a certain length is estimated in a straightforward and precise way with the Pneumatron in a way theoretically similar to the air-injection method. The method presented enables fast and easy measurements using multiple devices simultaneously (>50 samples day-1), which is a significant advantage. Here, the apparatus is described in detail as well as how measurements are taken. We also present the software and an R-script for data analysis. The method described represents an important contribution to studies on plant hydraulic architecture and can improve our understanding about the role of VLD in plant performance under varying water availability.

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“…Any number of available methods are currently being used to generate vulnerability curves [44] [45] [46], some of which may yield different P 50 values on the same set of species. For example, Jacobsen et al (2007) used the dehydration method to produce stem Q. agrifolia vulnerability curves with nearly identical P 50 values to those in Fig 4 [47], whereas the optical curves produced by Skelton and colleagues yielded P 50 values of −4.32 ± 0.26 MPa in the leaves and −4.45 ± 0.24 MPa in stems [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two coastal Pacific evergreens, Arbutus menziesii, Pursh. and Quercus agrifolia, Née show little water stress during California's exceptional drought

et al. 2020

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California's coastal climate is characterized by rainy winters followed by a dry summer season that is supplemented by frequent fog. While rising temperatures and drought caused massive tree mortality in central California during the 2011-2015 extreme drought, dying trees were less common in the central coast region. We hypothesized that cooler, maritimeameliorated temperatures reduced the effects of drought stress on coastal vegetation. To test this, weekly measurements of water potential and stomatal conductance were made on two coast evergreen tree species, Arbutus menziesii and Quercus agrifolia, throughout the summer 2014 dry season. Water potential remained generally constant during this period but stomatal conductance declined in both species as the dry season progressed. Species' resistance to embolism was determined using the centrifuge method, and showed Q. agrifolia to be more vulnerable to embolism than A. menziesii. The stem vulnerability curves were consistent with species' seasonal water relations as well as their anatomy; the ring-porous Q. agrifolia had substantially larger conduits than the diffuse-porous A. menziesii. Leaf turgor loss points differed significantly as did other pressure-volume parameters but these data were consistent with the trees' seasonal water relations. Overall, the two species appear to employ differing water use strategies; A. menziesii is more profligate in its water use, while Q. agrifolia is more conservative, with a narrower safety margin against drought-induced loss of xylem transport capacity. Despite the extended drought, these species exhibited neither branch die-back nor any obvious symptoms of pronounced water-stress during the study period, implying that the maritime climate of California's central coast may buffer the local vegetation against the severe effects of prolonged drought.

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The Pneumatron: An automated pneumatic apparatus for estimating xylem vulnerability to embolism at high temporal resolution

Cited by 44 publications

References 28 publications

Root xylem in three woody angiosperm species is not more vulnerable to embolism than stem xylem

Root xylem in three woody angiosperm species is not more vulnerable to embolism than stem xylem

A semi-automated method for measuring xylem vessel length distribution

Two coastal Pacific evergreens, Arbutus menziesii, Pursh. and Quercus agrifolia, Née show little water stress during California's exceptional drought

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