Epidermal conductance, stomatal density and stomatal size among genotypes of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench

Abstract. The ability of a plant to survive severe water deficits depends on its ability to restrict water loss through the leaf epidermis after stomata attain minimum aperture. At this stage, the rate of water loss is regulated by the epidermal conductance (g c ). Low g c would be a useful selection criterion to identify genotypes with enhanced survival capability. Consequently, variation in g c among Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench genotypes was evaluated. Since there is little conclusive evidence linking g c with leaf waxiness, alternative hypotheses relating g c to stomatal trails were also examined. Epidermal conductance varied from 6.3 to 17.6mmol m −2 s −1 among sorghum genotypes. It was unrelated to stomatal pore length which varied with genotype and to pore depth which was similar for all genotypes measured. However, g c , increased with increasing stomatal density. This indicates that stomatal density plays a direct role in water loss even at very low conductances. The association of low stomatal density with low g c is consistent with the hypothesis that at the smallest stomata aperture, water loss from the epidermis above guard cell teichodes becomes a significant source of leaf water loss. Since low g c is directly related to crop survival under severe water deficits, it is recommended that genotypes with low g c . be selected using the selection criterion of stomatal density.