Photosynthetica 2014, 52(3):371-376 | DOI: 10.1007/s11099-014-0040-y

Effects of guttation prevention on photosynthesis and transpiration in leaves of Alchemilla mollis

Y. C. Chen1,2,*, T. C. Lin1, C. E. Martin2
1 Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
2 Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA

The ecophysiological function(s) and consequences of guttation, a phenomenon by which water is exuded by and accumulated as droplets along the leaf margins under high humidity in many plants that grow in wet soil, has been poorly studied and remains largely unknown. Thus, leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence were examined, using two experimental approaches, in Alchemilla mollis plants under conditions that promoted guttation and those that prevented this phenomenon. Although results were variable, depending on the experimental approach, prevention of guttation effected reductions in photosynthesis and transpiration, as well as photochemical activity measured with fluorescence techniques. These findings lend partial support for a previously hypothesized function of guttation: prevention of excess water in leaves, yet they contradict those of several other studies. More work is required in order to adequately understand the function of guttation.

Keywords: chlorophyll fluorescence; gas exchange; hydathodes; leaf morphology; transpiration

Received: August 20, 2013; Accepted: November 8, 2013; Published: September 1, 2014Show citation

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Chen, Y.C., Lin, T.C., & Martin, C.E. (2014). Effects of guttation prevention on photosynthesis and transpiration in leaves of Alchemilla mollis. Photosynthetica, 52(3), 371-376. doi: 10.1007/s11099-014-0040-y.
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