Anatomical Adaptations of the Xerophilous Medicinal Plant, Capparis spinosa, to Drought Conditions

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Capparis spinosa is a plant that grows in dry and arid environments. As far as can be ascertained, no comprehensive studies on how the leaf, stem and root structures adapt to drought conditions have been published to date. In this paper, a study into the anatomical adaptations of the leaf, stem and root of C. spinosa to drought environments was conducted using in vitro cultured seedlings as control. The results showed that C. spinosa could change its leaf, stem, and root structures when adapting to drought conditions. The plant growing under drought conditions possessed an enlarged transit region between the stem and root where the xylem and fibro-vascular system had increased in order to enhance water absorption and storage capacity. The leaf, stem and root of C. spinosa under drought conditions were better developed than those under normal in vitro culture conditions. The leaf possessed uniform mesophyll cells and three or four layers of palisade mesophyll cells on both sides of the mature leaves. The stomata were evenly distributed across both sides of the leaf, and they remained open continually during the day throughout the summer growing period, especially those on the lower leaf surface. The xylem in the stem was extremely well developed with wide vessels and much thicker cortical layers. All these characteristics can enhance the adaptability of C. spinosa and enable it to survive in extremely dry and arid areas.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Aytac, Z., "Yield and some morphological characteristics of caper (Capparis Spinosa L.) population cultivated at various slopes in Aegean ecological conditions" 41 : 591-596, 2009

2 Psaras, G.K., "Wood anatomy of Capparis spinosa from an ecological perspective" 20 : 419-429, 1999

3 Stephanou, M., "The effect of season, exposure, enhanced UV-B radiation, and water stress on leaf epicuticular and internal UV-B absorbing capacity of Cistus creticus: A mediterranean field study" 48 : 1977-1985, 1997

4 Kulisic-Bilusic, T., "The anticarcinogenic potential of essential oil and aqueous infusion from caper (Capparis spinosa L.)" 132 : 261-267, 2002

5 Nizar, T., "Protein, lipid, aliphatic and triterpenic alcohol content of caper seeds “Capparis spinosa”" 88 : 265-270, 2011

6 Rhizopoulou, S., "Physiologyical responses of Capparis spinosa L. to drought" 136 : 341-348, 1990

7 Psaras, G.K, "Mesophyll structure during leaf development in Ballota acetabulosa" 131 : 303-309, 1995

8 Rotondi, A., "Leaf xeromorphic adaptations of some plants of a coastal Mediterranean macchia ecosystem" 3 : 25-35, 2003

9 Li, Q., "Leaf epidermal characters of Lonicera japonica and Lonicera confusa and their ecology adaptation" 18 : 103-108, 2007

10 Alvarruiz, A., "Influence of brining and packing conditions on product quality of capers" 55 : 196-198, 1990

11 Parkhurst, D., "Gradients of intercellular CO2 levels across the leaf mesophyll" 86 : 1032-1037, 1988

12 Romeo, V., "Flavour profile of capers (Capparis spinosa L.) from the Eolian Archipelago by HS-SPME/GC-MS" 101 : 1272-1278, 2007

13 Zhao, Z. G., "Fine mapping of S31, a gene responsible for hybrid embryo-sac abortion in rice (Oryza sativa L.)" 226 : 1087-1096, 2007

14 Levizou, E., "Exceptional photosynthetic performance of Capparis spinosa L. under adverse conditions of Mediterranean summer" 42 : 229-235, 2004

15 Rhizopoulou, S., "Development and structure of drought-tolerant leaves of the Mediterranean shrub Capparis spinosa L" 92 : 377-383, 2003

16 Ennajeh, M., "Comparative impacts of water stress on the leaf anatomy of a drought-resistant and a drought-sensitive olive cultivar" 85 : 289-294, 2010

17 Sozzi, G. O., "Caper bush: Botany and horticulture" 27 : 125-188, 2001

18 Zhou, H. F., "Biflavonoids from caper (Capparis spinosa L.) fruits and their effects in inhibiting NF-kappa B activation" 59 : 360-365, 2011

19 Mahmood, Q., "Anatomical studies on water hyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms] under the influence of textile wastewater" 6 : 991-998, 2005

20 Sundberg, M. D, "A comparison of stomatal distribution and length in succulent and non-succulent desert plants" 36 : 53-66, 1986