Abstract
Plants incorporate inorganic materials (biominerals), such as silica, into their various components. Plants belonging to the order Poales, like rice plants and turfgrasses, show comparatively high rates of silicon accumulation, mainly in the form of silica bodies. This work aims to determine the shapes and roles of these silica bodies by microscopic observation and optical simulation. We have previously found convex silica bodies on the leaves of rice plants and hot-season turfgrasses (adapted to hot-seasons). These silica bodies enabled light reflection and ensured reduction of the photonic density of states, which presumably prevented the leaves from overheating, as suggested by theoretical optical analyses. The silica bodies have been considered to have the functions of reinforcement of the plant body. The present work deals with cold-season turfgrasses, which were found to have markedly different silica bodies, cuboids with a concave top surface. They presumably acted as small windows for introducing light into the tissues, including the vascular bundles in the leaves. The area of the silica bodies was calculated to be about 5% of the total surface area of epidermis, which limits the thermal radiation of the silica bodies. We found that the light signal introduced through the silica bodies diffused in the organs even reaching the vascular bundles, the physiological functions of this phenomena remain as future problems. Light signal in this case is not related with energy which heat the plant but sensing outer circumstances to respond to them.
Highlights
Living organisms utilize inorganic materials, such as silicon and calcium, in their components
We studied leaves of turfgrasses using microscopy and discovered that their silica bodies had a cuboid shape, with a concave-top surface, in contrast to the convex silica bodies of hot-season turfgrasses like leaf of Korai
We developed a system for passing light through silica bodies to determine their functions
Summary
Living organisms utilize inorganic materials (biominerals), such as silicon and calcium, in their components. Silica imparts useful optical properties to plants. We have reported analyses of silica bodies of plants belonging to the order Poales, like the rice plant and turfgrasses. On the leaves of the rice plant are found convex silica bodies[1], whose function is to impart certain optical properties to the plant, such as reflection of light and reduction of the photonic density of states. These properties presumably prevent the leaves of the rice plant from being heated above ∼20 °C1. Silica structures deposited in epidermal cells of plant leaves were reported to reduce the heat load of the leaves[11]
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