Resurrection Plants: The Puzzle of Surviving Extreme Vegetative Desiccation

Tolerance to near complete desiccation of vegetative organs is a widespread capability in bryophytes and is also shared by a small group of vascular plants known as resurrection plants. To date more than 300 species, belonging to pteridophytes and angiosperms, have been identified that possess this kind of desiccation-tolerance. The vegetative desiccation-tolerance of resurrection plants is an inductive process displayed only under environmental stress with or without the involvement of abscisic acid as molecular signal. The different problems associated with desiccation encountered by resurrection plants render the employment of many interacting mechanisms necessary. Preservation of cell order and correct structure of membranes and macromolecules is underpinned by the synthesis of large amounts of sugars, amino acids, and small polypeptides such as late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins and dehydrins. Some of these compatible solutes, such as sucrose and LEA proteins, are also involved in cytoplasm vitrification, which occurs during the last phase of desiccation. Mechanical damage due to vacuole shrinkage in dehydrating cells is avoided by cell wall folding or by replacing the water in vacuoles with nonaqueous substances. Oxidative stress, due to enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) especially by chloroplasts, is minimized through two different strategies. The homoiochlorophyllous resurrection plants, which conserve chloroplasts with chlorophylls and thylakoids upon drying, fold leaf blades and synthesize anthocyanins, as both sunscreens and free radical scavengers, and additionally increase the activity of antioxidant systems in cells. In contrast, the chloroplasts in poikilochlorophyllous species degrade chlorophylls and thylakoid membranes yielding desiccoplasts that are devoid of any internal structures. These adaptive mechanisms preserve cells from damage by desiccation and allow them to resume vital functions once rehydrated. Even if based mainly on cell protection during drying, the vegetative desiccation-tolerance of resurrection plants also relies on systems of cell recovery and repair upon rehydration. However, most of these systems are prepared during cell dehydration.