2023 journal article

Carbon gain is coordinated with enhanced stomatal conductance and hydraulic architecture in coffee plants acclimated to elevated [CO2]: The interplay with irradiance supply

Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 204, 108145.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that Ca is a central player in coffee physiology increasing carbon gain through a close association between stomatal function and an improved hydraulic architecture under HL conditions. (via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
2. Zero Hunger (Web of Science)
6. Clean Water and Sanitation (OpenAlex)
13. Climate Action (Web of Science)
15. Life on Land (Web of Science)
Source: ORCID
Added: October 31, 2023

We recently demonstrated that, under elevated [CO2] (eCa), coffee (Coffea arabica L.) plants grown at high light (HL), but not at low light (LL), display higher stomatal conductance (gs) than at ambient [CO2] (aCa). We then hypothesized that the enhanced gs at eCa/HL, if sustained at the long-term, would lead to adjustments in hydraulic architecture. To test this hypothesis, potted plants of coffee were grown in open-top chambers for 12 months under HL or LL (ca. 9 or 1 mol photons m-2 day-1, respectively); these light treatments were combined with two [CO2] levels (ca. 437 or 705 μmol mol-1, respectively). Under eCa/HL, increased gs was closely accompanied by increases in branch and leaf hydraulic conductances, suggesting a coordinated response between liquid- and vapor-phase water flows throughout the plant. Still under HL, eCa also resulted in increased Huber value (sapwood area-to-total leaf area), sapwood area-to-stem diameter, and root mass-to-total leaf area, thus further improving the water supply to the leaves. Our results demonstrate that Ca is a central player in coffee physiology increasing carbon gain through a close association between stomatal function and an improved hydraulic architecture under HL conditions.