0000000000426568
AUTHOR
E. Oddo
Morpho-physiologic traits in two sage taxa grown under different irrigation regime
Sage is an important aromatic crop, extensively cultivated worldwide. Drought stress affects yield and composition of secondary metabolites such as fatty acids, essential oils, antioxidants, changing the essential oil composition profile with respect to the ISO 9909 standard. Drought tolerance may differ among genotypes, so we compared the response of Salvia officinalis L. and S. officinalis cv. ‘Maxima’ grown under two different irrigation regimes to highlight differences in leaf growth, water potential, gas exchange and essential oil composition. Potted plants were grown in the greenhouse at 100% or 50% of field water capacity for three months. Monthly measurements of 3rd node leaf length…
Seasonal pattern of mannitol and malate accumulation in leaves of two manna ash species (Fraxinus ornus L. and F. angustifolia Vahl) growing in Sicily
The content of mannitol and malate was assayed enzimatically during spring, summer and autumn, in leaves of two species of ash traditionally cultivated in Sicily for the extraction of manna. The results suggest that in these species, under the local field conditions, mannitol has a more relevant role than malate in the response to summer drought.
Water recycling in leaves of Lithops (Aizoaceae)
Lithops plants consist of a pair of succulent leaves inserted on a short stem; in each growing season, young leaves develop in a cavity formed between the older pair. Young leaves can take up water from the older pair allowing the plant to maintain growth and leaf expansion even without external supply of water. Recycling water between vegetative organs is one of the possible adaptation strategies of plants under drought stress, but it had never been demonstrated experimentally in Lithops. The methodology used to verify the existence of water redistribution from old leaves to young leaves was fluorescence microscopy, using two dyes to follow the water pathway inside the plant: Sulforhodamin…