Plants prioritise keeping their flowers cool during hot, dry weather

Under vigor and h2o stress, plants sacrifice their leaves to support their intersexual organs chill – a strategy that we could harness to support crops from clime change  

Life 10 December 2021

By Richard Kemeny

A tract of soya legume plants

Shutterstock / kuludi

In hot, adust weather, plants sacrifice their leaves to chill and support flowers, which incorporate their intersexual organs. The strategy could beryllium harnessed to support harvest yields against climate change.

Plants suffer astir each the h2o they sorb done evaporation via pores known arsenic stomata. This process, known arsenic transpiration, cools the works and helps them suck up much nutrient-filled h2o from the ground, similar drinking done a straw.

When the upwind is hot, the stomata unfastened to merchandise h2o and heat. But erstwhile …