Universität zu Köln

Contreras, Sergio ORCID: 0000-0001-7192-6810, Landahur, Manlio, Garcia, Karla, Latorre, Claudio ORCID: 0000-0003-4708-7599, Reyers, Mark, Rethemeyer, Janet and Jaeschke, Andrea ORCID: 0000-0003-2518-2739 (2022). Leaf wax composition and distribution of Tillandsia landbeckii reflects moisture gradient across the hyperarid Atacama Desert. Plant Syst. Evol., 308 (1). WIEN: SPRINGER WIEN. ISSN 1615-6110

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Abstract

In the hyperarid Atacama Desert, water availability plays a crucial role in allowing plant survival. Along with scant rainfall, marine advective fog frequently occurs along the coastal escarpment fueling isolated mono-specific patches of Tillandsia vegetation. In this study, we investigate the lipid biomarker composition of the bromeliad Tillandsia landbeckii (CAM plant) to assess structural adaptations at the molecular level as a response to extremely arid conditions. We analyzed long-chain n-alkanes and fatty acids in living specimens (n = 59) collected from the main Tillandsia dune ecosystems across a 350 km coastal transect. We found that the leaf wax composition was dominated by n-alkanes with concentrations (total average 160.8 +/- 91.4 mu g/g) up to three times higher than fatty acids (66.7 +/- 40.7 mu g/g), likely as an adaptation to the hyperarid environment. Significant differences were found in leaf wax distribution (Average Chain Length [ACL] and Carbon Preference Index [CPI]) in the northern zone relative to the central and southern zones. We found strong negative correlations between fatty acid CPI and n-alkane ACL with precipitation and surface evaporation pointing at fine-scale adaptations to low moisture availability along the coastal transect. Moreover, our data indicate that the predominance of n-alkanes is reflecting the function of the wax in preventing water loss from the leaves. The hyperarid conditions and good preservation potential of both n-alkanes and fatty acids make them ideal tracers to study late Holocene climate change in the Atacama Desert.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Contreras, Sergio UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-7192-6810 UNSPECIFIED Landahur, Manlio UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Garcia, Karla UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Latorre, Claudio UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-4708-7599 UNSPECIFIED Reyers, Mark UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Rethemeyer, Janet UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Jaeschke, Andrea UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-2518-2739 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-682587
DOI:	10.1007/s00606-021-01800-0
Journal or Publication Title:	Plant Syst. Evol.
Volume:	308
Number:	1
Date:	2022
Publisher:	SPRINGER WIEN
Place of Publication:	WIEN
ISSN:	1615-6110
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language N-ALKANE DISTRIBUTIONS; ARAUCARIA-ARAUCANA; EPICUTICULAR WAX; CUTICLE LIPIDS; DELTA-D; PLANTS; BIOSYNTHESIS; BROMELIACEAE; COASTAL; FOG Multiple languages Plant Sciences; Evolutionary Biology Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/68258