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Originally published in Science Express on 25 January 2001
Science 9 February 2001:
Vol. 291. no. 5506, pp. 1059 - 1062
DOI: 10.1126/science.1057175
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Reports

Hydrogel Control of Xylem Hydraulic Resistance in Plants

Maciej A. Zwieniecki,* Peter J. Melcher, N. Michele Holbrook

Increasing concentrations of ions flowing through the xylem of plants produce rapid, substantial, and reversible decreases in hydraulic resistance. Changes in hydraulic resistance in response to solution ion concentration, pH, and nonpolar solvents are consistent with this process being mediated by hydrogels. The effect is localized to intervessel bordered pits, suggesting that microchannels in the pit membranes are altered by the swelling and deswelling of pectins, which are known hydrogels. The existence of an ion-mediated response breaks the long-held paradigm of the xylem as a system of inert pipes and suggests a mechanism by which plants may regulate their internal flow regime.

Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mzwienie{at}oeb.harvard.edu

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