Mistletoes have higher hydraulic safety but lower efficiency in xylem traits than their hosts.

Publisher: Wiley on behalf of New Phytologist Trust Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9882884 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1469-8137 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 0028646X NLM ISO Abbreviation: New Phytol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Oxford : Wiley on behalf of New Phytologist Trust
Original Publication: London, New York [etc.] Academic Press.

Xylem*/physiology ; Xylem*/anatomy & histology ; Water*/physiology; Quantitative Trait, Heritable ; China ; Plant Transpiration/physiology ; Wood/physiology

Both mistletoes and their hosts are challenged by increasing drought, highlighting the necessity of understanding their comparative hydraulic properties. The high transpiration of mistletoes requires efficient water transport, while high xylem tensions demand strong embolism resistance, representing a hydraulic paradox. This study, conducted across four environments with different aridity indices in Yunnan, China, examined the xylem traits of 119 mistletoe-host species pairs. Mistletoes showed lower water use efficiency, indicating a more aggressive water use. They also showed lower hydraulic efficiency (lower vessel diameter and theoretical hydraulic conductivity) but higher safety (lower vulnerability index and higher conduit wall reinforcement, vessel grouping index, and wood density) compared with their hosts, supporting the trade-off between efficiency and safety. Environmental variation across sites significantly affected xylem trait comparisons between mistletoes and hosts. Additionally, the xylem traits of mistletoes were strongly influenced by host water supply efficiency. The overall xylem trait relationships in mistletoes and hosts were different. These findings stress the impact of host and site on the hydraulic traits of mistletoes, and suggest that mistletoes may achieve high transpiration by maintaining high stomatal conductance under low water potentials. This study illuminates the distinctive adaptation strategies of mistletoes due to their parasitic lifestyle.
(© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.)

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32301308 the National Natural Science Foundation of China; 32171507 the National Natural Science Foundation of China; 31870385 the National Natural Science Foundation of China; 202401AT070230 the Yunnan Fundamental Research Projects; the 14th Five-Year Plan of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, CAS

Keywords: conservative water use strategy; hemiparasitic plants; host quality hypothesis; hydraulic architecture; trade‐off between hydraulic efficiency and safety

059QF0KO0R (Water)

Date Created: 20241114 Date Completed: 20241218 Latest Revision: 20241218

20241219

10.1111/nph.20257

39538365