Cuticular wax composition contributes to different strategies of foliar water uptake in six plant species from foggy rupestrian grassland in tropical mountains.
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Date
2021
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Abstract
The cuticle is the outermost region of the epidermal cell wall of plant aerial organs. The cuticle acts as a two-way
lipid barrier for water diffusion; therefore, it plays a vital role in foliar water uptake (FWU). We hypothesised
that the chemical composition of the cuticular waxes influences the FWU strategy that plants adopt in a foggy
tropical ecosystem. We analysed the leaf cuticular waxes of six plant species known by their different FWU
strategies, in both qualitative and quantitative approaches, to test this hypothesis. We also investigated the fine
structure of the plant cuticle by scanning electron microscopy. Neither the total wax loads nor the amounts of
single wax compound classes correlated to the FWU. In contrast, the qualitative chemical composition of the
cuticular waxes was related to the water absorption speed but not to the maximum water absorbed. The presence
of wax crystals might interfere with the FWU. Our findings suggest that a complex three-dimensional network of
the cuticular compounds contributes to different strategies of FWU in six plant species from foggy tropical
mountaintops.
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Keywords
Campo rupestre, Cuticular waxes, Ultrastructural traits, Epicuticular wax crystals
Citation
SOUZA, D. B. de. et al. Cuticular wax composition contributes to different strategies of foliar water uptake in six plant species from foggy rupestrian grassland in tropical mountains. Phytochemistry, v. 190, 2021. Disponível em: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031942221002430>. Acesso em: 29 abr. 2022.