Pneumatic Method to Measure Plant Xylem Embolism

Abstract

Embolism, the formation of air bubbles in the plant water transport system, has a major impact on plant water relations. Embolism formation in the water transport system of plants disrupts plant water transport capacity, impairing plant functioning and triggering plant mortality. Measuring embolism with traditional hydraulic methods is both time-consuming and requires large amounts of plant material. While the stem hydraulic methods measure loss of xylem hydraulic conductance due to embolism formation, the pneumatic method directly quantifies the amount of emboli inside the xylem as changes in xylem air content. The pneumatic method is an easy and fast (8+ embolism curves per day) method to measure plant embolism requiring minimal plant material. Here, we provide detailed descriptions and recent technical improvements on the pneumatic method.

Keywords: Embolism resistance; Hydraulic failure; Plant drought stress; Plant pneumatics.