Scientists have discovered how plants create networks of air channels -- the lungs of the leaf -- to transport carbon dioxide (CO2) to their cells.Botanists have known since the 19th century that leaves have pores -- called stomata -- and contain an intricate internal network of air channels. But until now it wasn't understood how those channels form in the right places in order to provide a steady flow of CO2 to every plant cell.The new study, led by scientists at the University of Sheffield's Institute for Sustainable Food and published in Nature Communications, used genetic manipulation techniques to reveal that the more stomata a leaf has, the more airspace it forms. The channels act like bronchioles -- the tiny passages that carry air to the exchange surfaces of human and animal lungs.In collaboration with colleagues at the University of Nottingham and Lancaster University, they showed that the movement of CO2through the pores most likely determines the shape and scale of the air channel network.The discovery marks a major step forward in our understanding of the internal structure of a leaf, and how the function of tissues can influence how they develop -- which could have ramifications beyond plant biology, in fields such as evolutionary biology.The study also shows that wheat plants have been bred by generations of people to have fewer pores on their leaves and fewer air channels, which makes their leaves more dense and allows them to be grown with less water.This new insight highlights the potential for scientists to make staple crops like wheat even more water-efficient by altering the internal structure of their leaves. This approach is being pioneered by other scientists at the Institute for Sustainable Food, who have developed climate-ready rice and wheat which can survive extreme drought conditions. (Source: Agriculture and Food News, ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com)
Stomata in leaf (stock image). Photo Credit:constantincornel / Adobe Stock