Ran Ruilan, Cui Xiaoyun, Zhao Xin, Zhao Yingxue, Zhang Caixia, Zhao Pengshan
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences Lanzhou People's Republic of China.
Key Laboratory of Stress Physiology and Ecology in Cold and Arid Regions, Gansu Province Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences Lanzhou People's Republic of China.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Jun 12;15(6):e71542. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71542. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Subindividual variation in leaf elemental composition, driven by trichome density and leaf maturity, is critical for plant adaptation but poorly understood in desert species. Here, we reveal that sand rice (), a potential future food crop, exhibits obvious declines in leaf trichome density across developmental stages, significantly influencing the redistribution of 33 mineral elements. The concentrations of these elements varied between genotypes (wild type: Shapotou, SPT; mutant: ) and/or across leaf ages (top, middle, bottom). Sixteen key elements (e.g., S, Ca, Fe, Mn) were identified as primary factors of elemental variance. Our findings reveal a specific subindividual mineral composition of sand rice influenced by trichome density and leaf maturity, providing insights into adaptive trends in leaf nutrient traits and enhancing our understanding of the strategies plants employ to thrive in barren sandy environments.
由表皮毛密度和叶片成熟度驱动的叶片元素组成的个体内变异，对植物适应至关重要，但在沙漠物种中却知之甚少。在此，我们揭示了一种未来潜在的粮食作物沙米，在其整个发育阶段叶片表皮毛密度呈现明显下降，这显著影响了33种矿质元素的重新分配。这些元素的浓度在不同基因型（野生型：沙坡头，SPT；突变体： ）之间和/或不同叶龄（顶部、中部、底部）之间存在差异。确定了16种关键元素（如硫、钙、铁、锰）为元素变异的主要因素。我们的研究结果揭示了受表皮毛密度和叶片成熟度影响的沙米特定的个体内矿物质组成，为叶片营养性状的适应趋势提供了见解，并增进了我们对植物在贫瘠沙地环境中茁壮成长所采用策略的理解。
