Anatomical and Trait Analyses Reveal a Silicon-Carbon Trade-Off in the Epidermis of Sedges.

ABSTRACT: In recent years, the detection of numerous negative correlations between silicon (Si) and carbon (C)-based compounds in plants has suggested trade-offs between different stress resistance and/or mechanical support strategies. However, nearly all studies have involved whole-leaf analysis, and it is unclear how the trade-off operates mechanistically, at the cellular level. Here we combined leaf trait measurements and microscopic analyses (electron microscopy with elemental X-ray mapping and X-ray microtomography) of 17 species from a high-Si family: Cyperaceae. Accumulation of Si was strongly negatively correlated with C-based compounds, particularly tannins. Our microscopical investigations showed that the accumulation of phenolics and deposition of silica were mutually exclusive in the out

SUBMITTER: de Tombeur F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11788955 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature