Hydraulic failure as a primary driver of xylem network evolution in early vascular plants

0568314 - BÚ 2023 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Bouda, Martin - Huggett, B. A. - Prats, K. A. - Wason, J. W. - Wilson, J.P. - Brodersen, C. R.
Hydraulic failure as a primary driver of xylem network evolution in early vascular plants.
Science. Roč. 378, č. 6620 (2022), s. 642-646. ISSN 0036-8075. E-ISSN 1095-9203
Research Infrastructure: e-INFRA CZ - 90140
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : plant evolution * xylem hydraulics * pteridophytes
OECD category: Plant sciences, botany
Impact factor: 56.9, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add2910

Incremental changes in xylem network organization that diverge from the cylindrical ancestral form lead to progressively greater drought resistance by reducing the risk of hydraulic failure. As xylem strand complexity increases, independent pathways for embolism spread become fewer and increasingly concentrated in more centrally located conduits, thus limiting the systemic spread of embolism during drought. Selection by drought may thus explain observed trajectories of xylem strand evolution in the fossil record and the diversity of extant forms.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0339642