Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Development Regulation, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China.
Key Laboratory of Environment Friendly Management on Alpine Rhododendron Diseases and Pests of Institutions of Higher Learning in Guizhou Province, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China.
Physiol Plant. 2024 Jan-Feb;176(1):e14211. doi: 10.1111/ppl.14211.
Alpine Rhododendron species are prominent constituents and renowned ornamental plants in alpine ecosystems. Consequently, evaluating the genetic variation in embolism resistance within the genus Rhododendron and predicting their adaptability to future climate change is important. Nevertheless, the assessment of embolism resistance in Rhododendron species remains limited. This investigation aimed to examine leaf vulnerability to embolism across ten alpine Rhododendron species, which are frequently employed as ornamental species in Rhododendron forests in Southwest China. The study analyzed the correlation between embolism resistance and various morphological traits, while also conducting water control experiments to evaluate the relationship between embolism resistance and drought resistance. The outcomes indicated pronounced variations in leaf vulnerability to embolism among species, as reflected by the water potential at 50% of embolized pixels (P ). Furthermore, the leaf P exhibited a significant positive correlation with vessel diameter (D) (R = 0.44, P = 0.03) and vessel wall span (b) (R = 0.64, P = 0.005), while displaying a significant negative correlation with vessel reinforcement ((t/b) ) (R = 0.67, P = 0.004). These findings underscore the reliability of selecting species based on embolism vulnerability to preserve the diversity of alpine ecosystems and foster resilience to climate change.
高山杜鹃是高山生态系统中的主要组成部分和著名的观赏植物。因此，评估杜鹃属植物的抗栓塞遗传变异，并预测其对未来气候变化的适应性是很重要的。然而，杜鹃属植物的抗栓塞能力评估仍然有限。本研究旨在研究十种高山杜鹃属植物的叶片对栓塞的敏感性，这些植物通常被用作中国西南地区杜鹃林中的观赏物种。该研究分析了抗栓塞能力与各种形态特征之间的相关性，同时还进行了水分控制实验，以评估抗栓塞能力与抗旱性之间的关系。结果表明，物种间叶片对栓塞的敏感性存在显著差异，这反映在栓塞像素的 50%水势（P ）上。此外，叶片 P 与导管直径（D）（R = 0.44，P = 0.03）和导管壁跨度（b）（R = 0.64，P = 0.005）呈显著正相关，而与导管强化（(t/b)）（R = 0.67，P = 0.004）呈显著负相关。这些发现强调了根据栓塞脆弱性选择物种的可靠性，以保护高山生态系统的多样性，并促进对气候变化的恢复力。
