Abstract:

This paper briefly reviewed the long-distant water transportation and the association with plant drought and cold resistance. Vessels in plant xylem widely emerged cavitation and emblism when being subjected to drought and low temperature, which reflects to some degree plant drought or cold ressistance capacity. As for the resistance, capacity of recovering from vessel emblism plays an important role. A modified bubble manometer was employed to investigate root pressure of 52 bamboo species in spring of 2007, in Nanjing, China. The result showed the almost all species produced root pressure, which indicated that the root pressure exerted important influence on recovery of low temperature-induced emblism in winter. Additionally, in this study, an own-installed low temperature apparatus was used to locally treat bamboo culm and the responses of stomatal conductance and assimilation were monitored with a Li-6400 gas exchange system. All three species of bamboos immediately responded to a -10 ℃ treatment, suggesting that vessel cavitation would be a commen response to low temperature. Integration of root pressures and response of stomatal conductance and assimilation to low temperature reflected the cold resistance of the bamboo species.

Key words: bamboo, root pressure, vessel emblism, low temperature