Long-Distance Signal Transmission in Trees - Communication in Plants: Neuronal Aspects of Plant Life - page 336

2,000 nM during the season. The peak xylem sap ABA concentration found
by Perks et al. (2002) during a period of severe drought (600 µmol m −3 )was
ofthesameorderofmagnitudeaspreviouslyreportedinmaturetreesof
other conifer species (Wartinger et al. 1990; Triboulot et al. 1996; Sturm et
al. 1998), but no significant increase in ABA flux was recorded. Fluxes of
ABA remained between 10 and 100 pmol m −2 s −1 in the work of Augé et al.
(2000). Sap flow velocities recorded on a 41 year-old Pinus by Perks et al.
(2002) are similar to those reported for mature conifer trees of other species
(130 cm day −1 at 1 m and 240 cm day −1 at 9 m in water-stressed plants): data
from Milburn (1979) for Pinus equatetoarateof86cmday −1 and data from
Köstner et al. (1996) for P. s y l v e s t r i s equatetoarateof204cmday −1 .During
the period of severe drought, Perks et al. (2002) estimated that the time
takenforasignaltotravelfromtherootstothecrownincreasedtomore
than 6 weeks. These data support the conclusion of Schulze (1991) that
"in conifers a root signal transported in the xylem may be too slow to be
effective".
23.2.3
ABA and Xylem Sap pH
Some authors have suggested that g in herbaceous plants might be regulated
by xylem sap pH (Thompson et al. 1997; Wilkinson and Davies 1997) or
that stomatal sensitivity to ABA concentration might be modified by xylem
sap pH (Jia and Zhang 1997; Zhang et al. 1997): pH gradients in the leaf
control ABA distribution in the leaf and ABA concentration at guard cells,
and thereby influence stomatal aperture. Results in trees cannot support
this hypothesis, as stronger correlations of g with ABA concentration than
with pH of xylem sap have been observed by Loewenstein and Pallardy
(1998a,b). Augé et al. (2000) also found no significant association of g
values with xylem sap pH.
23.3
Hydraulic Signals
Hydraulic pressure signals are propagating changes in water pressure in-
side plant tissues (Malone 1996). Plant tissues have plenty of hydraulic
connections mainly composed of xylem, and they also provide a pathway
for long-distance transmission of hydraulic signals (for an extensive review
on hydraulic architecture of trees see Cruiziat et al. 2002). Pressure waves
can be relatively quick and fast, as they can diffuse through the plant at the
speed of sound (1,500 m s −1 in water), but, to be physiologically important,