Humidity-dependent wound sealing in succulent leaves of Delosperma cooperi – An adaptation to seasonal drought stress

• Olga Speck,
• Mark Schlechtendahl,
• Florian Borm,
• Tim Kampowski and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 175–186, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.20

• vascular bundles, are regarded as paedomorphic tracheids, which are specialised to prevent cell collapse under drought stress and allow for building growth-induced mechanical pre-stresses. Keywords: hydraulics; mechanical pre-stress; paedomorphosis; self-sealing; wide band tracheids; Introduction Over

• potential ecological aspects and paedomorphosis. Results Anatomy Figure 2 shows anatomical details of the succulent leaves of D. cooperi. The leaf shape ranges from oval near the base to round at the apex. Cross-sections reveal a centripetal arrangement of five tissue layers, each having a characteristic

• tension during ontogeny and which are more efficient in supporting the larger adult woody plant body. However, in some species, adult plants remain locked in the production of initial wide-band tracheid in their wood. This can be interpreted as a case of paedomorphosis [12][13]. In leaves of D. cooperi