Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2020, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (3): 277-286.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2019.0117

• Research Articles • Previous Articles    

Geographical provenance variation of leaf anatomical structure of Caryopteris mongholica and its significance in response to environmental changes

JI Ruo-Xuan,YU Xiao,CHANG Yuan,SHEN Chao,BAI Xue-Qia,XIA Xin-Li,YIN Wei-Lun,LIU Chao()   

  1. National Engineering Laboratory of Tree Breeding, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
  • Received:2019-05-18 Accepted:2020-01-29 Online:2020-03-20 Published:2020-03-26
  • Contact: Chao LIU
  • Supported by:
    National Science and Technology Major Project for Water Pollution Control and Treatment(2017ZX07101002);National Natural Science Foundation of China(31600484);National Natural Science Foundation of China(31770649)

Abstract:

Aims The genetic variation caused by long-term adaptation to the environment has significant influence on plant’s growth and development. Leaves serve as the most important and sensitive organs to environmental changes. Understanding the adaptive variation of leaf anatomical structure in different environments is the basis for exploring the adaptation of plants to the environment.
Methods Common garden experiment is an effective method to study the effects of genetic and environmental factors on plant growth and metabolism. In this study, the influence of environmental gradients was eliminated by using the common garden experiment. Then we analyzed anatomical structures of leaves and its driving factors of Caryopteris mongholica from seven different provenances by using conventional paraffin section, multiple comparisons, correlation analysis, and general linear model analysis method.
Important findings Caryopteris mongholica from seven provenances had typical isolateral leaves, with no differentiation of spongy tissue, and the upper epidermal cell was thicker than the lower epidermal cell. Meanwhile, the upper palisade tissue was thicker than the lower palisade tissue. There was a significant autocorrelation among anatomical parameters of leaves, and there were important differences among the anatomical structures of leaves from different provenances. With increasing mean annual temperature of provenances, the thickness of the leaves and palisade also showed an increasing trend, and the largest thickness of the upper palisade tissues, lower palisade tissues and leaf thickness were in the leaves of Alxa Left Banner, Nei Mongol, indicating a stronger resistance to drought. The latitude, longitude, temperature and precipitation of different provenances had significant effects on the index of anatomical structure, with the explanatory power from 34.09% to 81.43%. The common garden experiment showed that the genetic variation driven by climate was one of the major factors that caused the difference in anatomical structure of leaves from different provenances.

Key words: Caryopteris mongholica, common garden, leaf, anatomical structure, provenance, genetic variation