When in flooded soil, soybean, Glycine max, produces aerenchyma and hypertrophic stem lenticels. Shimamura et al. (pp. 277–284) investigate the oxygen dynamics in these tissues and find that hypertrophic lenticels on the stem of soybean, just above the water surface, are entry points for O2, and these connect to aerenchyma and enable O2 transport into roots in flooded soil. Stems that develop aerenchyma thus serve as ‘snorkels’ that enable O2 movement from air to the submerged roots.
Edited by
One email a week, from the nonprofit Annals of Botany Company. Unsubscribe any time.
annals-of-botany
Longer cones and a clockwise spiral lead to tighter seed packing in a Jurassic conifer
Growth & Development
A new method reveals that developing barley seeds run their own form of photosynthesis, distinct from the familiar process in leaves.
Growth & Development
New research shows that the seeds of Butia capitata use seasonal temperature cues to weaken their protective barriers, ensuring germination happens when the rainy season gives seedlings the best chance to survive.
The nonprofit plant magazine
Lab science. Citizen science. Your source for plant science.