Abstract Detail

Lightning Talks – Germinating Ideas

Light induced changes in leaf shape and epidermal cells in three Quercus species.

Light induced changes in leaf shape and epidermal cells in three Quercus species Tanmayi Patharkar1, Jenn Wagner1, Lenny Kouwenburg2 1Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Valley Life Sciences Building #3140, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, 2Department Of Geology, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605, United States Plant traits are often sensitive to environmental conditions including temperature, precipitation, atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and light level. When grown under warm and wet conditions, leaves tend to be larger and have entire margins. However, when grown under cooler and drier conditions, leaves tend to be smaller with serrated margins. Paleobotanists use environmental sensitive plant traits to infer the environment in which the leaf grew; this kind of information can be used to help understand global warming in earth’s past, present, and future. In 2008, an experiment was conducted to study how differences in light level affect leaf size, shape, stomatal and epidermal cell patterning, and other leaf traits. This experiment used growth chambers to maintain controlled settings for growth of Quercus chrysolepis, Quercus kelloggii, and Quercus robur. For each species, five plants were grown under high light levels and another five plants were grown under low light levels. The growth chambers controlled for water availability, CO2 levels, low and high light levels, temperature, and day length. The data being collected are leaf length, leaf width, petiole width, smallest polygon area, leaf area, leaf mass per area (LMA), number of teeth, number of major secondary veins, undulation index (UI), stomatal density (SD), stomatal index (SI), cell area, stomatal characteristics (including guard-cell width, guard-cell length, and pore length), and isotope composition (δ13C, δ15N). Preliminary data suggest higher LMA, lower UI, and higher SD values for all species grown under higher light levels. Understanding the response of leaf traits to environmental conditions such as light, temperature, precipitation, and CO2 concentration is crucial for strengthening current and building new paleobotany proxies.

1 - University of California, Berkeley, 1815 Spruce Street, Berkeley, California, 94709, USA

Keywords:
Epidermal morphology
paleobotany
leaf mass per area
stomtal index
light regulation.

Presentation Type: Germinating Ideas Lightning Talk
Number: LT2019
Abstract ID:981
Candidate for Awards:None