ABSTRACT

This chapter examines what strategies have been developed by plants to cope with severe water loss. Before describe the different cellular adaptations, define the parameters of water loss and give a brief survey of plants that can withstand water loss. The severest form of water loss is desiccation. Desiccation-tolerant species are widespread and occur in plant, animal, and bacterial systems. Cellular membranes are one of the primary sites of desiccation injury. The deoxyribonucleic acids of desiccation-intolerant and tolerant cells of certain plant embryos and pollen have different biochemical and physical characteristics. Because gaseous exchange does not occur in the dehydrated plant in the same way as photosynthesis, respiration usually declines with decreasing water content. Desiccation results in the production of damaging active oxygen species that react with cellular components and lead to severe changes in molecules.