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Plant Physiol, July 2000, Vol. 123, pp. 1015-1020
Bordered Pit Structure and Vessel Wall Surface Properties.
Implications for Embolism Repair1
Maciej Andrzej
Zwieniecki* and
Noel Michele
Holbrook
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard
University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
The idea that embolized xylem vessels can be refilled while
adjacent vessels remain under tension is difficult to accept if the
cavitated vessels remain hydraulically connected to vessels under
tension. A mechanism by which embolized conduits could be hydraulically
isolated from adjacent conduits requires the existence of a non-zero
contact angle and a flared opening into the bordered pit chamber such
that a convex air-water interface forms at the entrance into the pit
chamber. We measured the contact angle and pit chamber geometry for six
species. The contact angle measured in the vessel lumen ranged between
42° to 55°, whereas the opening into the pit chamber ranged between
144° and 157°. If the surface properties within the pit chamber are
similar to those in the lumen, a convex meniscus will form at the
flared opening into the pit chamber. The maximum pressure difference
between water in the lumen and gas in the pit chamber that could be
stabilized by this interface was calculated to be within the range of
0.07 to 0.30 MPa.
1
This work was supported by grants from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (National Research Initiative Competitive
Grants Program grant no. 98-35100-6081) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
*
Corresponding author; e-mail mzwienie{at}oeb.harvard.edu; fax
617-496-5854.
© 2000 American Society of Plant Physiologists
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