This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Longstreth, D. J. Articles by Nobel, P. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Longstreth, D. J. Articles by Nobel, P. S. Agricola Articles by Longstreth, D. J. Articles by Nobel, P. S.

Articles

Salinity Effects on Leaf Anatomy

Consequences for Photosynthesis ¹

^a Department of Biology and Division of Environmental Biology of the Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024

Increasing salinity led to substantially higher ratios of mesophyll surface area to leaf area (A^mes/A) for Phaseolus vulgaris and Gossypium hirsutum and a smaller increase for Atriplex patula, a salt-tolerant species. The increase in internal surface for CO₂ absorption did not lead to higher CO₂ uptake rates, since the CO₂ resistance expressed on the basis of mesophyll cell wall area (r_cell) increased even more with salinity. The differences among species in the sensitivity of photosynthesis to salinity in part reflect the different A^mes/A and r_cell responses.