Pressure Probe (pressure + probe)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Effects of water storage in the stele on measurements of the hydraulics of young roots of corn and barley

NEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 3 2009
Ankur Joshi
Summary ,,In standard techniques (root pressure probe or high-pressure flowmeter), the hydraulic conductivity of roots is calculated from transients of root pressure using responses following step changes in volume or pressure, which may be affected by a storage of water in the stele. ,,Storage effects were examined using both experimental data of root pressure relaxations and clamps and a physical capacity model. Young roots of corn and barley were treated as a three-compartment system, comprising a serial arrangement of xylem/probe, stele and outside medium/cortex. The hydraulic conductivities of the endodermis and of xylem vessels were derived from experimental data. The lower limit of the storage capacity of stelar tissue was caused by the compressibility of water. This was subsequently increased to account for realistic storage capacities of the stele. ,,When root water storage was varied over up to five orders of magnitude, the results of simulations showed that storage effects could not explain the experimental data, suggesting a major contribution of effects other than water storage. ,,It is concluded that initial water flows may be used to measure root hydraulic conductivity provided that the volumes of water used are much larger than the volumes stored. [source]


Leaf growth and turgor in growing cells of maize (Zea mays L.) respond to evaporative demand under moderate irrigation but not in water-saturated soil

PLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 6 2006
OUMAYA BOUCHABKÉ
ABSTRACT To test whether the inhibition of leaf expansion by high evaporative demand is a result of hydraulic processes, we have followed both leaf elongation rate (LER) and cell turgor in leaves of maize plants either normally watered or in water-saturated soil in which hydraulic resistance at the soil,root interface was abolished. Cell turgor was measured in situ with a pressure probe in the elongating zone of the first and sixth leaves, and LERs of the same leaves were measured continuously with transducers or by following displacements of marks along the growing leaves. Both variables displayed spatial variations along the leaf and positively correlated within the elongating zone. Values peaked at mid-distance of this zone, where the response of turgor to evaporative demand was further dissected. High evaporative demand decreased both LER and turgor for at least 5 h, with dose-effect linear relations. This was observed in five genotypes with appreciable differences in turgor maintenance among genotypes. In contrast, the depressing effects of evaporative demand on both turgor and LER disappeared when the soil was saturated, thereby opposing a negligible resistance to water flow at the soil,root interface. These results suggest that the response of LER to evaporative demand has a hydraulic origin, enhanced by the resistance to water flux at the soil,root interface. They also suggest that turgor is not completely maintained under high evaporative demand, and may therefore contribute to the reductions in LER observed in non-saturated soils. [source]


The determination of membrane transport parameters with the cell pressure probe: theory suggests that unstirred layers have significant impact

PLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 12 2005
MELVIN T. TYREE
ABSTRACT A simulation model was written to compute the time-kinetics of turgor pressure, P, change in Chara corallina during cell pressure probe experiments. The model allowed for the contribution of a membrane plus zero, one, or two unstirred layers of any desired thickness. The hypothesis that a cell with an unstirred layer is a composite membrane that will follow the same kind of kinetics with or without unstirred layers was tested. Typical ,osmotic pulse' experiments yield biphasic curves with minimum or maximum pressures, Pmin(max), at time tmin(max) and a solute exponential decay with halftime . These observed data were then used to compute composite membrane properties, namely the parameters Lp = the hydraulic conductance, , = reflection coefficient and Ps = solute permeability using theoretical equations. Using the simulation model, it was possible to fit an experimental data set to the same values of Pmin(max), tmin(max) and incorporating different, likely values of unstirred layer thickness, where each thickness requires a unique set of plasmalemma membrane values of Lp, , and Ps. We conclude that it is not possible to compute plasmalemma membrane properties from cell pressure probe experiments without independent knowledge of the unstirred layer thickness. [source]


Remote monitoring of leaf turgor pressure of grapevines subjected to different irrigation treatments using the leaf patch clamp pressure probe

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF GRAPE AND WINE RESEARCH, Issue 3 2010
S. RÜGER
Abstract Background and Aims:, Effects of four irrigation treatments on leaf turgor pressure of grapevines were studied using the novel leaf patch clamp pressure (LPCP) probe. Data were correlated with yield and yield components. Methods and Results:, The LPCP probe measures leaf water status by monitoring the attenuation of an external pressure applied magnetically to a leaf patch. The output pressure signals, Pp, are inversely correlated with cell turgor pressure. Measurements showed that changes in transpiration and stomatal conductance induced by environmental parameters were reflected nearly immediately in Pp. Ongoing non-irrigation resulted in a continuous increase of Pp, in the occurrence of stomatal oscillations and in an increased turgor pressure recovery phase during afternoon. Interestingly, analysis of the numerous diurnal Pp data sets showed that east-directed leaves responded more sensitively to water stress than west-directed leaves. Conclusions:, For the cultivar and conditions used in this study, the probe data as well as the yield data support irrigation on a 3-day basis with relatively small amounts of water. Significance of the Study:, The results show that the LPCP probe is a user-friendly, high precision instrument for online-monitoring of leaf turgor pressure in dependency on changes in microclimate and irrigation, thus helping growers to increase yield while simultaneously saving water. [source]


Oxidative gating of water channels (aquaporins) in corn roots

PLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 4 2006
QING YE
ABSTRACT An oxidative gating of water channels (aquaporins: AQPs) was observed in roots of corn seedlings as already found for the green alga Chara corallina. In the presence of 35 m m hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) , a precursor of hydroxyl radicals (*OH) , half times of water flow (as measured with the aid of pressure probes) increased at the level of both entire roots and individual cortical cells by factors of three and nine, respectively. This indicated decreases in the hydrostatic hydraulic conductivity of roots (Lphr) and of cells (Lph) by the same factors. Unlike other stresses, the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) had no ameliorative effect either on root Lphr or on cell Lph when AQPs were inhibited by oxidative stress. Closure of AQPs reduced the permeability of acetone by factors of two in roots and 1.5 in cells. This indicated that AQPs were not ideally selective for water but allowed the passage of the organic solute acetone. In the presence of H2O2, channel closure caused anomalous (negative) osmosis at both the root and the cell level. This was interpreted by the fact that in the case of the rapidly permeating solute acetone, channel closure caused the solute to move faster than the water and the reflection coefficient (,s) reversed its sign. When H2O2 was removed from the medium, the effects were reversible, again at both the root and the cell level. The results provide evidence of oxidative gating of AQPs, which leads on to inhibition of water uptake by the roots. Possible mechanisms of the oxidative gating of AQPs induced by H2O2 (*OH) are discussed. [source]