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Into the Spongy-Verse: Structural Differences between Leaf and Flower Mesophyll.

Jeroen D M Schreel^1,2, Guillaume Théroux-Rancourt³, Pamela K Diggle⁴

¹Institute of Environment, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.

Integrative and Comparative Biology

|October 29, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Flower and leaf mesophyll tissues differ in structure, with flowers having higher porosity and less spherical cells. These differences in plant tissues may reduce biomass investment per surface area in flowers.

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Area of Science:

Plant anatomy
Plant physiology
Comparative biology

Background:

Mesophyll tissue is crucial for carbon fixation in leaves.
Mesophyll tissue is also found in floral perianths, offering a model to study structure-metabolism links.
Differences in tissue structure may relate to metabolic variations between organs.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the mesophyll tissue structure of leaves and flower perianths across six species.
To investigate the relationship between mesophyll cell shape, porosity, and intercellular airspace conductance.
To understand how structural differences in mesophyll tissue relate to organ function and biomass investment.

Main Methods:

High-resolution X-ray computed microtomography (microCT) imaging was used to analyze mesophyll tissue structure.
Quantitative comparisons of stomatal density, vein density, and mesophyll porosity were performed.
Intercellular airspace conductance was modeled based on tissue structural parameters.

Main Results:

Flowers exhibited significantly lower stomatal and vein densities compared to leaves.
Mesophyll porosity was significantly higher in flowers than in leaves.
Higher mesophyll porosity in flowers correlated with more aspherical mesophyll cells.
Despite structural differences, modeled intercellular airspace conductance did not significantly differ between leaf and flower mesophyll.

Conclusions:

Leaf and flower mesophyll tissues display distinct structural characteristics, including cell shape and porosity.
These structural variations may contribute to flowers being more biomass-efficient per unit surface area.
The findings highlight significant internal tissue differences beyond stomatal and vein densities between reproductive and vegetative organs.