Mechanisms of shrinkage and the conditions leading to cracking of drying soils are addressed. An elastic formulation of the hydro-mechanical drying problem is presented. It relies on the analogy which can be drawn between the desiccation process and thermo-elasticity. The validity of the analogy is discussed in the light of finite element simulations of air drying experiments on a rectangular s...

An experimental system has been developed which allows the identification of intermediates in the abscisic acid (ABA) signal transduction pathway leading to desiccation tolerance in plants. Desiccation tolerance in callus of the resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum is mediated via the plant hormone ABA, which induces the expression of gene products related to desiccation tolerance. Bas...

The leakage of solutes from foliar tissue is utilized as a dynamic measure of apparent changes in membrane integrity in response to desiccation. It is found that rehydrating leaf discs of cowpea (Vigna sinensis [L.] Endl.) show increasing leakiness in proportion to the extent of prior desiccation, whereas Selaginella lepidophylla Spring., a resurrection plant, does not. The elevated leakage rat...

We show in bryophytes that abscisic acid (ABA) pretreatment of moss (Physcomitrella patens) cells confers desiccation tolerance. In angiosperms, both ABA and the transcriptional regulator ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE 3 (ABI3) are required to protect the seed during desiccation. ABA was not able to protect moss cells in stable deletion lines of ABI3 (DeltaPpabi3). Hence, moss has the same functiona...

The possible role of photorespiration as a general stress protection mechanism, and in C(4) plant metabolism, is controversial. In particular, the potential involvement of photorespiration in the acquisition of desiccation tolerance in 'resurrection' plants is unknown. An investigation was carried out into whether photorespiration is present in leaves of the C(4) resurrection plant Sporobolus s...

Photosynthetic processes in Zostera japonica, an upper intertidal species, were found to be more severely affected by desiccation than Z. marina, a lower intertidal and subtidal species, at comparable levels of tissue water content. The data indicate that photosynthetic responses to desiccation at the level of the individual leaf are insufficient to explain observed patterns of intertidal seagr...

Phenotypic plasticity provides means for adapting to environmental unpredictability. In terms of accelerated development in the face of pond-drying risk, phenotypic plasticity has been demonstrated in many amphibian species, but two issues of evolutionary interest remain unexplored. First, the heritable basis of plastic responses is poorly established. Second, it is not known whether interpopul...

This work describes the course of the experiment aimed to microwave (MW) desiccation of masonry by MW plug-in bar antenna applied to various types of brickwork. Experiment was carried on in the masonry manufactured from solid bricks, modern hollow brick form-pieces THERM and from aerated concrete blocks YTONG. Results of this experiment should determine what type of MW desiccation method is the...