Genome size as a predictor of guard cell length in Arabidopsis thaliana is independent of environmental conditions

Barry H. Lomax, University of Sheffield
F. Ian Woodward, University of Sheffield
Ilia J. Leitch, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens
Charles A. Knight, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Janice A. Lake, University of Sheffield

Article comments

Copyright © 2009 Blackwell Publishing. The definitive version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02700.x.

Abstract

• The recent discovery of a strong positive relationship between angiosperm genome size and stomatal guard cell length (GCL) opens the possibility of using plant fossil guard cell size as a proxy for changes in angiosperm genome size over periods of environmental change.
• The responses of GCL to environmental stimuli are currently unknown and may obscure this predictive relationship.
• Here, we investigated the effects of environmental variables (atmospheric CO₂, drought, relative humidity, irradiance, ultraviolet radiation and pathogen attack) on GCL in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to quantify environmentally induced variation.
• GCL responded to all variables tested, but the changes incurred did not significantly impinge on the predictive capability of the relationship.