Princess Karen R. Comiling 1.

PMA Homework 3

July 23, 2013

Mechanism of Stomatal action Stomata are openings in the epidermis, each bounded by two guard cells, which by changes in shape bring about the opening and closing of the pore. Stomatal opening is regulated by ABA or abscisic acid. In the presence of not enough water, ABA is triggered to close the stomata. ABA absent mutants are always wilty and short because they loose too much water due to not being able to regualte the opening and closing of their stomata. The pore is bordered by a pair of specialized parenchyma cells known as guard cells that are responsible for regulating the size of the opening. Stomata open when guard cells take up water, leading the cells to bow outward. When the cells lose water, they become more flacid and collapse inward, thus decreasing the size of the opening. Guard cells open due to an uptake of potassium ions (K+). The concentration of K+ in open guard cells far exceeds that in the surrounding cells. The K+ is accumulated in the guard cells from neighboring cells. The K+ moves across the guard plasma membrane through membrane potential that is brought about by proton pumps. To take up water (and for stomata to open), the guard cells actively pump out H+, resulting in a membrane potential that allows K+ to enter the cell. As the K+ accumulates in the guard cell, the water potential inside the cell decreases, resulting in the movement of water into the cell through osmosis. The increased water results in more turgid cells, causing the cells to bow outward. When water and K + enter the guard cell they are stored within the cell's vacuoles. When the K+ ions move back out of the cell, water also moves out, causing the cells to become more flaccid. When this occurs, the guard cells lose their bowed structure, closing the stomata opening. Because water enters through aquaporins in the cell, they also play an important role in the swelling and shrinking of guard cells. 2. Mechanisms of cell pattering in the epidermis Two proposed mechanisms have received the greatest attention: the cell lineage mechanism and the lateral inhibition mechanism. The cell lineage mechanism relies on a highly ordered series of cell divisions, usually asymmetric, that automatically result in different categories of cells. The ultimate fate of each of these cells can be predicted by its position in the lineage. The lateral inhibition mechanism does not rely on cell lineage but rather on interactions, or signaling, between developing epidermal cells to determine the fate of each cell. A third mechanism, the cell cycledependent mechanism, proposes that stomatal patterning is coupled to the cell cycle (Charlton, 1990; Croxdale, 2000). References: Evert, R. 2003. Esaus Plant Anatomy. 3rd Edition. John Wiley and Sons. New Jersey. 211-253 pp. http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iv/plant-water-relations/stomatalmechanism.php http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2818333?uid=3738824&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid =4&sid=21102172969373