Theoretical and Experimental Plant Physiology 

About: Theoretical and Experimental Plant Physiology is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Photosynthesis & Stomatal conductance. It has an ISSN identifier of 2197-0025. Over the lifetime, 308 publications have been published receiving 3460 citations.

Caatinga, the Brazilian dry tropical forest: can it tolerate climate changes?

Abstract: Our review focuses on the projections of climate change in the Brazilian semiarid region, the Caatinga, based on recent publications about global climate change and biology. We found several vulnerable points in the initial estimates, the main one being that the data were collected and analyzed without a multidisciplinary knowledge. This review discusses several studies that show the current knowledge in many semiarid regions around the world. Some of these studies argue for the increase in vegetation greenness responses even under severe and prolonged drought, based on the high resilience the Caatinga native species show under severe drought conditions over the years. Additionally, we include in this review recent data produced by our group on key ecophysiological variables under drought conditions. We also show successful examples of deforested areas recovery in the semiarid region of the Central America. It is critical that the recovery of semiarid areas is coupled with the implementation of socio-environmental policies, engaging the local population and providing subsidies for life wealth improvement. These are key aspects for a long-term recovery and conservation of the Brazilian dry tropical forest.

Cerrado vegetation and global change: the role of functional types, resource availability and disturbance in regulating plant community responses to rising CO2 levels and climate warming

Abstract: The cerrado is the most extensive savanna ecosystem of South America and a biodiversity hotspot, harboring a diverse flora (>7,000 species) with high levels of endemism. More than 50 % of the cerrado’s approximately 2 million km2 has been converted into pasture and agricultural lands and it is uncertain how the remaining areas will respond to increasing pressures from land use and climate change. Interactions between disturbance regime and resource (water and nutrient) availability are known to determine the distribution of the various plant communities, of contrasting structure and composition, which coexist in the region. We discuss how fire, nutrients and species traits regulate plant community responses to rising CO2 and global warming, exploring constraints to forest expansion into savanna environments. We describe how climate change will likely reverse a natural process of forest expansion, observed in the region over the past few millennia, accelerating tree cover loss through feedbacks involving fire and resource limitation, and counteracting expected CO2 stimulation effects. These involve changes in fundamental processes occurring above and below ground, which will probably also impact species performance, distribution and biodiversity patterns. We propose a conceptual framework for predicting changes on vegetation structure, highlighting the need for mechanistic models to accurately simulate vegetation dynamics under climate change scenarios. We conclude by explaining why an effective research agenda must necessarily include mitigation efforts, aimed at minimizing impacts of land clearing through enforced conservation and restoration policies in natural and managed ecosystems.

Plant physiology as affected by humified organic matter

Abstract: Since the beginning of Human civilization, the soil organic matter has been used as plant growth promoter and/or regulator. Indeed, early in plant science history, even before the auxin concept has been established, the term "auximones" was coined to describe plant growth promoting humic acids derived from peat. Despite of this, until the end of the 20 th century, humic substances remained as some of the most neglected environment signals in plant physiology research. However, this scenario has changed in last decade with the discovery that the major systems of energy transduction of the plant cell membranes, the proton pumps, can be tightly orchestrated by humic substances just as elicited by a hormonal signaling. Differential activations of both plasma membrane (PM H + -ATPase) and vacuolar pumps (V-ATPase and H + -PPase) are modulated by humic substances triggering ion signatures related to specific patterns of plant growth and development. Phytohormones have been found to be associated with this humus bioactivity, and nitric oxide acting as a second messenger in a signaling pathway in which plants can sense the soil environment to cope with specific conditions. In this review, we discuss some of the most influential data available in literature, which have shaped this underexplored interface between the chemistry of the organic matter and the plant physiology. The key role of organic matter in the sustainable agriculture will also be highlighted from a biochemical perspective of the plant cell responses to biofertilization, specially in tropical environments.

The influence of grapevine rootstocks on scion growth and drought resistance

Abstract: Grapes are a widely cultivated and economically important crop. Climate change is increasing the focus and investment on the development of more drought resistant varieties. However, markets often dictate specific grape varieties that can be grown and sold. Thus growers are increasingly interested in conferring particular traits of interest (e.g., drought tolerance) through grafting onto rootstocks. A major goal is to develop rootstocks that can influence scion growth and productivity under drought; particularly those that can increase water conservation through reducing the need for irrigation while ameliorating negative impacts on yields. Growers and scientists recognize that rootstocks have a profound influence on vine physiology (e.g., stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, water status), productivity (e.g., growth, fruit yields, fruit composition), and drought resistance. The challenge is to better understand the exact mechanisms through which rootstocks manifest these effects and thus build the knowledge necessary to drive the development of rootstocks with predictable effects on the scion. The aim of this review is to explore our current understanding of the mechanisms by which grapevine rootstocks influence scion growth and stress response; specifically focused on the integration of vine growth and productivity under water deficit.

Grapevine adaptations to water stress: new perspectives about soil/plant interactions

Abstract: Grapevine adaptations to water-stress are described, by focusing on soil/root interactions and root-to-shoot signaling to control both plant water relations and fruit ripening process. Root response to drought, tolerance of available rootstock germoplasm, mechanisms of embolism formation and repair in root, aquaporin control of plant water relations, and abscisic acid biosynthesis and delivery are highlighted, by reviewing recent insights coming from either (eco)physiological literature or viticultural assays addressing vineyard-soil relationships.