Halophytic succulence is a driver of the leaf non-structural carbohydrate contents in plants in the arid and hyper-arid deserts of northwestern China.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), primarily sugars and starch, play a crucial role in plant metabolic processes and the ability of a plant to tolerate and recover from drought stress. Despite their importance, our understanding of NSC characteristics in the leaves of plants that thrive in hyper-arid and saline environments remains limited.

Methods

To investigate the variations in leaf NSC across different species and spatial scales and to explore their possible causes, we collected 488 leaf samples from 49 native plant species at 115 sites in the desert area of northwestern China. The contents of soluble sugars (SS), starch and total NSC were then determined.

Key results

The average contents of SS, starch and total NSC were 26.99, 60.28 and 87.27

SUBMITTER: Wang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11897595 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature