If a have a nutritional treatment that reduces the epidermal and stomatal density without changing the stomatal index (SI), and this nutritional treatment promotes bigger and thicker leaves... Why SI is unvariable? Is this parameter explaining something about leaf ontogenesis?
Thank you!
When all epidermal cell types (guard cells included) are bigger in the same proportion, you have a reduction in epidermal or stomatal density (number of cells per unit area) whereas the stomatal index (percentage number of stomata as compared to all the epidermal cells in a unit area of leaf) remains equal. No developmental processes are affected there...
I wonder whether you can utilize photosynthetic capacity to explain this. High carbon assimilation capacity (resulted from your nutritional treatment) might have promoted development and growth in general? In my opinion, you could use carbon dioxide response (or ACI) curve and/or light response curve to elucidate the change in photosynthetic capacity. This is an intriguing question to me, too. Just a thought of mine for you to consider if you agree.
Of course Xinzhi Ni, I'm grateful of your answer. However, and given the leaf anatomical results obtained, my question was more directed towards a possible ontogeny of stomata (i mean, if there may be changes in stomatal initiation during the development of the leaf, for example) than a possible explanation of how it might affect photosynthesis. In response to what you propose, we demostrated that this nutritional treatment and its control showed the same net photosynthetic rate and the difference is seen on stomatal conductance. Thank you very much :-)
Thank you very much Jose M. Colmenero, given that SI is unvariable I also expected that there weren't a differential developmental process, but It's interesting to find out what experts can tell. Two head are better than one!
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