Biology subjects

Bravo, L. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Bravo, L. A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Drivers of thermal tolerance breadth of plants across contrasting biomes: do mean or seasonality in climate indices matter more?

O_LIThe climate variability hypothesis (CVH) predicts that species from environments with more variable temperatures should have wider thermal tolerance breadth. This hypothesis has not yet been tested thoroughly across diverse plants. Here, we asked how local climate predictors (including precipitation, mean and extreme temperatures and thermal variability) are associated with species physiological thermal limits. C_LIO_LIMeasures of lower (Tcrit-cold) and upper (Tcrit-hot) photosystem II thermal tolerance thresholds were used to determine thermal tolerance breadth (TTB), along with ice nucleation temperature (Tnucleation, freezing tolerance) of 69 plant species sampled from the field across three contrasting biomes: alpine, desert and coastal temperate rainforest. C_LIO_LIAll measured thermal tolerance metrics (Tcrit-cold, Tnucleation, Tcrit-hot and TTB) differed among biomes. Notably, desert species had the most cold and heat tolerant leaves, and therefore the widest TTB, whereas species in alpine and temperate biomes had similar TTB. For plants in all biomes, TTB exceeded the thermal range of their local climate. C_LIO_LIOverall, two Principal Component axes of local climate drivers explained substantial variation in all tolerance metrics. Extreme hot, dry climates improved freezing and heat tolerance. High thermal variability and low minimum temperatures also improved freezing tolerance but were unrelated to heat tolerance or TTB. Species explained a significant amount of variation among all metrics, but this was not due to phylogenetic relatedness. We discuss how the remaining variation could be due to microclimate-driven plasticity, leaf traits or thermoregulatory mechanisms. C_LIO_LISynthesis. Our results provide partial support for the climate variability hypothesis in plants: photosystem thermal tolerance breadth was greatest in more thermally variable biomes. This relationship was largely driven by cold tolerance, with variation in heat tolerance explained better by mean and extreme temperatures. Therefore, we conclude that the CVH alone is not sufficient to explain variation in plant thermal tolerance, with many other aspects of climate, environment and biology being potentially important drivers. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

A high-throughput method for measuring critical thermal limits of leaves by chlorophyll imaging fluorescence

Plant thermal tolerance is a crucial research area as the climate warms and extreme weather events become more frequent. Leaves exposed to temperature extremes have inhibited photosynthesis and will accumulate damage to photosystem II (PSII) if tolerance thresholds are exceeded. Temperature-dependent changes in basal chlorophyll fluorescence (T-F0) can be used to identify the critical temperature at which PSII is inhibited. We developed and tested a high-throughput method for measuring the critical temperatures for PSII at low (CTMIN) and high (CTMAX) temperatures using a Maxi-Imaging fluorimeter and a thermoelectric Peltier plate heating/cooling system. We examined how experimental conditions: wet vs dry surfaces for leaves and heating/cooling rate, affect CTMIN and CTMAX across four species. CTMAX estimates were not different whether measured on wet or dry surfaces, but leaves were apparently less cold tolerant when on wet surfaces. Heating/cooling rate had a strong effect on both CTMAX and CTMIN that was species-specific. We discuss potential mechanisms for these results and recommend settings for researchers to use when measuring T-F0. The approach that we demonstrated here allows the high-throughput measurement of a valuable ecophysiological parameter that estimates the critical temperature thresholds of leaf photosynthetic performance in response to thermal extremes.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2017

The transcriptional dynamics of two filmy ferns from Hymenophyllaceae with different niche preferences unravel key aspects of their desiccation tolerance and vertical distribution along host trees

Ferns from the Hymenophyllaceae family are one of the main components of the epiphytic species diversity in the Chilean temperate rain forest. Having membranous fronds of a single layer of cells, they show a poikilohydric strategy most typical from bryophytes. Although Hymenophyllaceae species shows the ability to tolerate desiccation, there are interspecific differences in their water loss kinetic. Counter-intuitively, those species that have rapid desiccation kinetic are able to reach higher host height and tolerate higher light exposure and vapor pressure deficit. Therefore, what are the mechanisms (constitutive and/or induced) responsible of the desiccation tolerance in this fern family? As this primitive fern family is closely related with mosses, it can be hypothesized that desiccation tolerance in this particular group would be associated with constitutive features rather than induced responses during dehydration. However, the inter-specific differences in water loss and vertical distribution would be associated to different degrees of induction either within the dehydration or rehydration phases. We applied an ecophysiological transcriptomic approach to study the dynamic of gene expression in two species of filmy ferns with contrasting desiccation kinetics and vertical distribution on the host tree. Our analysis identified commonalities and differences in gene regulation, and key genes correlated with the fronds hydration state, providing the patterns of gene expression responding to microenvironmental signals and behind the physiology of their resurrection strategy

plant biology↗