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Fanourakis, Dimitrios

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  • Cultivar differences in the stomatal characteristics of cut roses grown at high relative humidity
    Publication . Fanourakis, D.; Tapia, A.; Heuvelink, E.; Carvalho, S. M. P.
    High relative air humidity (RH>85%) during cultivation is known to reduce the vase life of cut roses, but the magnitude of such effect is cultivar dependent. The reasons behind this genotypic variation are not yet known. In this study, the stomatal density and stomatal responses to two closing stimuli (i.e. desiccation and abscisic acid (ABA) application) were evaluated using detached fully expanded leaves of two contrasting rose cultivars in their sensitivity to high RH (‘Frisco’ and ‘Prophyta’) which were grown at moderate (60%) and high (90%) RH. High RH significantly increased the stomatal density in both cultivars, but the effect was stronger in the tolerant cultivar (14% increase for ‘Frisco’, 8% increase for ‘Prophyta’). ‘Frisco’ also showed a higher stomatal density at moderate RH (53 stomata/mm2) as compared to the sensitive cultivar (43 stomata/mm2). Moreover, high RH decreased the speed and the degree to which stomata responded to different closing stimuli in both cultivars, resulting in higher transpiration rates. This effect was more pronounced in the sensitive cultivar. It was concluded that the tolerance to high RH during cultivation is related to more responsive stomata, while the stomatal density is apparently an irrelevant character. Furthermore, this study showed that the rose guard cell dimensions are not representative for the pore dimensions.
  • Root-to-shoot ABA signaling does not contribute to genotypic variation in stomatal functioning induced by high relative air humidity
    Publication . Carvalho, Dália R. A.; Fanourakis, Dimitrios; Correia, Maria J.; Monteiro, José A.; Araújo-Alves, José Pedro L.; Vasconcelos, Marta W.; Almeida, Domingos P. F.; Heuvelink, Ep; Carvalho, Susana M. P.
    High relative air humidity (RH 85%) during leaf expansion hampers stomatal responsiveness to closing stimuli, a genotype-dependent effect. Genotypes with reduced stomatal closure in response to closing stimuli (i.e., sensitive genotypes) show low bulk leaf abscisic acid concentration ([ABA]). We hypothesized that the amount of ABA produced in the roots and delivered with the transpiration stream to the leaves is a critical step for a proper stomatal functioning in high RH-grown plants. Ten genotypes from a cut rose tetraploid population were grown at moderate (62%) or high (89%) RH. Stomatal anatomy and responsiveness to desiccation or ABA feeding were evaluated. Root and leaf petiole xylem sap [ABA] were quantified, and ABA delivery rate from root-to-shoot was estimated. High RH reduced stomatal responsiveness to both closing stimuli in the sensitive genotypes, whereas it had a nonsignificant effect in the tolerant ones. Estimates of [ABA] in root xylem sap at transpirational flow rate were not related to the genotypic differences in the sensitivity to high RH. However, high RH increased this concentration irrespective of the genotype, probably due to a reduced dilution of the [ABA] in the xylem sap as a result of a lower transpiration rate compared to moderate RH-grown plants. Leaf petiole xylem sap [ABA] was neither related to the genotypic differences in the sensitivity to high RH nor it was affected by RH. We concluded that genotypic differences in the stomatal sensitivity to high RH cannot be explained by changes in the [ABA] delivered with the transpiration stream from the roots to the leaves