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Author Spotlight: Innovative Approaches to Understanding Plant Structure-Function Relationships for Climate-Resilient Crops

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Weak coordination between leaf structure and function among closely related tomato species.

Christopher D Muir^1,2, Miquel À Conesa³, Emilio J Roldán³

¹Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.

The New Phytologist

|February 7, 2017

Summary

Natural selection may not strongly link leaf structure and function. Tomato plants show unique trait combinations, allowing water-use efficiency gains without sacrificing photosynthesis.

Keywords:

Solanum CO2 diffusion Rubisco evolution leaf economics spectrum leaf gas exchange leaf mass per area photosynthesis

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Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

Published on: October 12, 2015

Area of Science:

Plant physiology and evolution
Leaf trait coordination
Evolutionary adaptation

Background:

Theory predicts coordination between leaf structure, biochemistry, and physiology along a fast-slow resource acquisition spectrum.
Testing this coordination hypothesis at a phylogenetic scale is crucial for understanding adaptation and predicting evolutionary trajectories.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate genetically based coordination between leaf traits across diverse tomato taxa.
To assess the integration of leaf structure and physiological function in a common garden experiment.

Main Methods:

A common garden experiment was conducted with 19 wild and cultivated tomato taxa.
Leaf traits including structure (e.g., leaf mass per area), physiology (photosynthetic rate), biochemistry, and CO2 diffusion were measured.

Main Results:

Weak genetic integration was found between leaf structure and physiological function across the 'fast-slow' trait spectrum.
Despite weak integration, traits generally aligned with the predicted fast-slow continuum.
Partially independent variation in stomatal and mesophyll conductance was observed, potentially enhancing water-use efficiency without compromising photosynthesis.

Conclusions:

Leaf trait coordination is less constrained than predicted, allowing for unique trait combinations to evolve.
This flexibility offers scope for adaptation to new environments and for crop breeding.
Variation within taxa may be unique and not generalizable across all plant groups.