Bulliform cell
Bulliform cells or motor cells are large, bubble-shaped
History
The first discussion of bulliform cells occurred in 1909 in the revised and expanded version of the Plantesamfund (Oecology of Plants) written by botanist Eugenius Warming for an English audience. One of the features he investigated was the phenomenon of leaf rolling in the Poaceae and Cyperaceae families and how he noticed the bulliform cells, which he termed "hinge-cells", were on the epidermal layer of the leaf tissue, but deeper than the epidermal cells themselves and capable of folding distortion along with the leaf.[1]
In the early 1990s, it was suggested by Fahn and Cutler that, at least in grasses, bulliform cells developed as a form of xerophytic adaptation. This was supported by evidence from decades earlier that showed that bulliform cells had larger development in species that lived in a desert ecosystem with a need to control water and salt levels.[1]
Mechanism
During drought, the loss of water through
Folded leaves offer less exposure to sunlight, so they are heated less thus reducing evaporation and conserving the remaining water in the plant. Bulliform cells occur on the leaves of a wide variety of monocotyledon families but are probably best known in grasses.[3]
It is unclear if this mechanism applies in all monocots, however, or whether other components such as fibers are the pieces controlling the folding and unfolding of the leaf. What is observed is that the
References
- ^ ISBN 3319057294.
- ISBN 0716710072.
- ISBN 0-697-28623-1
- ISBN 1108017312.