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Hydraulic redistribution: limitations for plants in saline soils

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 18:00 authored by Bazihizina, N, Veneklaas, EJ, Barrett-Lennard, EG, Colmer, TD
Hydraulic redistribution (HR), the movement of water from wet to dry patches in the soil via roots, occurs in different ecosystems and plant species. By extension of the principle that HR is driven by gradients in soil water potential, HR has been proposed to occur for plants in saline soils. Despite the inherent spatial patchiness and salinity gradients in these soils, the lack of direct evidence of HR in response to osmotic gradients prompted us to ask the question: are there physical or physiological constraints to HR for plants in saline environments? We propose that build-up of ions in the root xylem sap and in the leaf apoplast, with the latter resulting in a large predawn disequilibrium of water potential in shoots compared with roots and soil, would both impede HR. We present a conceptual model that illustrates how processes in root systems in heterogeneous salinity with water potential gradients, even if equal to those in non-saline soils, will experience a dampened magnitude of water potential gradients in the soil–plant continuum, minimizing or preventing HR. Finally, we provide an outlook for understanding the relevance of HR for plants in saline environments by addressing key research questions on plant salinity tolerance

History

Publication title

Plant, Cell and Environment

Volume

40

Issue

10

Pagination

2437-2446

ISSN

0140-7791

Department/School

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Place of publication

9600 Garsington Rd, Oxford, England, Oxon, Ox4 2Dg

Rights statement

Copyright 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences

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