1
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      A Comparative Analysis of the Mechanical Role of Leaf Sheaths of Poaceae, Juncaceae, and Cyperaceae

      1 , 1 , 1
      Journal of Botany
      Hindawi Limited

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Similarities in structural organization of the culm in Poaceae, Juncaceae, and Cyperaceae such as leaf sheaths and the presence of intercalary meristems at every node suggest the same mechanical properties and, accordingly, the same functionality. Meristems are zones of tissue formation, which constitute areas of weakness along the entire culm and provide the basis for rapid shoot elongation. Leaf sheaths clasp the culm preventing the shoot from breaking, ensuring the rigidity to grow erectly and to avoid damage of the meristematic tissue. The mechanical influence of leaf sheaths was investigated in members of Poaceae, Juncaceae, and Cyperaceae in the flowering stage. Mechanical properties of Poa araratica, Bromus erectus, Arrhenatherum elatius(Poaceae), Luzula nivea(Juncaceae), and Carex arctata(Cyperaceae) were determined in three-point bending before and after the removal of leaf sheaths. The presence of leaf sheaths results in smoothing the distribution of flexural rigidity and therefore avoids stress peaks. The achieved maxima of relative contribution of leaf sheaths to entire flexural rigidity ranged from 55% up to 81% for Poaceae, 72% for C. arctata, and 40% for L. nivea. Across the investigated families, the mechanical role of leaf sheaths could be verified as essential for culm stability during development and beyond.

          Related collections

          Most cited references15

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: not found
          • Article: not found

          Lodging effects on high-yielding crops of irrigated semidwarf wheat

            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: not found
            • Article: not found

            Plant Height and the Properties of Some Herbaceous Stems

            K Niklas (1995)
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: not found
              • Article: not found

              Understanding and rreducing lodging in cereals.

                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal of Botany
                Journal of Botany
                Hindawi Limited
                2090-0120
                2090-0139
                2013
                2013
                : 2013
                : 1-6
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Biology, Institute of Botany, Faculty of Science, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
                Article
                10.1155/2013/690549
                e6b9dbb5-6131-419a-a2d5-72a055fcd45c
                © 2013

                http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

                History

                Comments

                Comment on this article