Photosynthetica 2023, 61(2):225-235 | DOI: 10.32615/ps.2023.017

Variation in leaf mesophyll anatomy of fern species imposes significant effects on leaf gas exchange, light capture, and leaf hydraulic conductance

S. FUJII1, K. NISHIDA1, T.K. AKITSU2, A. KUME3, Y.T. HANBA1
1 Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, 606-8585 Kyoto, Japan
2 Earth Observation Research Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 2-1-1 Sengen, 305-8505 Tsukuba, Japan
3 Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, 819-0395 Fukuoka, Japan

The mesophyll anatomical traits are essential factors for efficient light capture, CO2 diffusion, and hydraulics in leaves. At the same time, leaf hydraulics are governed by the xylem anatomical traits. Thus, simultaneous analyses of the mesophyll and xylem anatomy will clarify the links among light capture, CO2 capture, and water use. However, such simultaneous analyses have been scarcely performed, particularly on non-seed plants. Using seven fern species, we first showed that fern species with a large mesophyll thickness had a high photosynthetic rate related to high light capture, high drought tolerance, and low leaf hydraulic conductance. The chloroplast surface area (Sc) per mesophyll thickness significantly decreased with an increase in mesophyll thickness, which may increase light diffusion and absorption efficiency in each chloroplast. The photosynthetic rate per Sc was almost constant with mesophyll thickness, which suggests that ferns enhance their light capture ability via the regulation of chloroplast density.

Additional key words: bryophyte; fern; leaf water relations; light absorptance; mesophyll anatomy; stomatal conductance.

Received: February 5, 2023; Revised: March 26, 2023; Accepted: April 13, 2023; Prepublished online: May 4, 2023; Published: June 6, 2023  Show citation

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FUJII, S., NISHIDA, K., AKITSU, T.K., KUME, A., & HANBA, Y.T. (2023). Variation in leaf mesophyll anatomy of fern species imposes significant effects on leaf gas exchange, light capture, and leaf hydraulic conductance. Photosynthetica, 61(SPECIAL ISSUE 2023/1), 225-235. doi: 10.32615/ps.2023.017
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