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Updated: May 9, 2026

Xylem Water Distribution in Woody Plants Visualized with a Cryo-scanning Electron Microscope
Published on: June 20, 2019
The evolution and function of vessel and pit characters with respect to cavitation resistance across 10 Prunus
Alexander Scholz1, David Rabaey, Anke Stein
1Institute for Systematic Botany and Ecology, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89081 Ulm, Germany.
Abstract:
Various structure-function relationships regarding drought-induced cavitation resistance of secondary xylem have been postulated. These hypotheses were tested on wood of 10 Prunus species showing a range in P50 (i.e., the pressure corresponding to 50% loss of hydraulic conductivity) from -3.54 to -6.27 MPa. Hydraulically relevant wood characters were quantified using light and electron microscopy. A phylogenetic tree was constructed to investigate evolutionary correlations using a phylogenetically independent contrast (PIC) analysis. Vessel-grouping characters were found to be most informative in explaining interspecific variation in P50, with cavitation-resistant species showing more solitary vessels than less resistant species. Co-evolution between vessel-grouping indices and P50 was reported. P50 was weakly correlated with the shape of the intervessel pit aperture, but not with the total intervessel pit membrane area per vessel. A negative correlation was found between P50 and intervessel pit membrane thickness, but this relationship was not supported by the PIC analysis. Cavitation resistance has co-evolved with vessel grouping within Prunus and was mainly influenced by the spatial distribution of the vessel network.
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