TY  - JOUR
AU  - Yang, Pingfei
AU  - Zheng, Zhihong
AU  - Zou, Chen
AU  - Peng, Zhujing
AU  - Wu, Mingkai
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
TI  - Dual-Layer Adaptation Mechanisms of the Karst Obligate-CAM Epiphytic Dendrobium Loddigesii
JO  - Journal of Plant Electrobiology
T2  - Journal of Plant Electrobiology
JF  - Journal of Plant Electrobiology
VL  - 1
IS  - 2
SP  - 153
EP  - 164
DO  - 10.62762/JPE.2026.265468
UR  - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JPE.2026.265468
KW  - Dendrobium loddigesii
KW  - electrophysiological dynamics
KW  - dual-layer adaptation model
KW  - structure-function decoupling
KW  - metabolic chassis
KW  - source-sink relationship
AB  - Obligate crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants survive karst drought through daytime stomatal closure, which limits water loss but suspends gas exchange, raising the question of how intracellular metabolism continues under closed stomata. Using a reintroduced population of the orchid \textit{Dendrobium loddigesii} shaped by 15 years of natural selection, we combined a two-season (January and April) between-population comparison with concurrent within-plant comparisons of different-aged leaves, and quantified leaf electrophysiology using an extended Hodgkin-Huxley model. Intracellular water transport rate (WTR) was highly conserved across seasons and leaf ages (overall mean \WTRall, within-group CV $\le$ \WTRcvMax%), suggesting an evolutionarily conserved ``metabolic chassis trait'' that may safeguard basal metabolism. In spring, the effective thickness of overwintered leaves decreased by \dDrop% (Welch's $t$-test, $p\dWelchPeq$), whereas intrinsic physiological resistance (IR) declined non-significantly (\IRDrop%; $p\IRWelchPeq$). Measured IR was \PLratio% of the value extrapolated from a winter power-law thickness-IR model and lay \PLposition{} its 95% prediction interval, a tentative indication of structure-function decoupling. Young leaves varied among individuals in IR (CV \IRcvSY%), some adopting a ``low-resistance, high-flux'' strategy, consistent with risk-spreading across heterogeneous microhabitats. We propose a two-tier adaptation model of ``conserved chassis homeostasis + plastic functional regulation'' for epiphytic CAM plants, extending the static structure-function view of the plant economics spectrum, and introduce an individual-level storage-water exchange coordination index (SWCI) and a group-level source-sink transition response index (SSTRI) as descriptive tools for orchid conservation and karst restoration.
SN  - 3071-6268
PB  - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge
LA  - English
ER  - 

@article{Yang2026DualLayer,
  author = {Pingfei Yang and Zhihong Zheng and Chen Zou and Zhujing Peng and Mingkai Wu},
  title = {Dual-Layer Adaptation Mechanisms of the Karst Obligate-CAM Epiphytic Dendrobium Loddigesii},
  journal = {Journal of Plant Electrobiology},
  year = {2026},
  volume = {1},
  number = {2},
  pages = {153-164},
  doi = {10.62762/JPE.2026.265468},
  url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JPE.2026.265468},
  abstract = {Obligate crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants survive karst drought through daytime stomatal closure, which limits water loss but suspends gas exchange, raising the question of how intracellular metabolism continues under closed stomata. Using a reintroduced population of the orchid \textit{Dendrobium loddigesii} shaped by 15 years of natural selection, we combined a two-season (January and April) between-population comparison with concurrent within-plant comparisons of different-aged leaves, and quantified leaf electrophysiology using an extended Hodgkin-Huxley model. Intracellular water transport rate (WTR) was highly conserved across seasons and leaf ages (overall mean \WTRall, within-group CV \$\le\$ \WTRcvMax\%), suggesting an evolutionarily conserved ``metabolic chassis trait'' that may safeguard basal metabolism. In spring, the effective thickness of overwintered leaves decreased by \dDrop\% (Welch's \$t\$-test, \$p\dWelchPeq\$), whereas intrinsic physiological resistance (IR) declined non-significantly (\IRDrop\%; \$p\IRWelchPeq\$). Measured IR was \PLratio\% of the value extrapolated from a winter power-law thickness-IR model and lay \PLposition{} its 95\% prediction interval, a tentative indication of structure-function decoupling. Young leaves varied among individuals in IR (CV \IRcvSY\%), some adopting a ``low-resistance, high-flux'' strategy, consistent with risk-spreading across heterogeneous microhabitats. We propose a two-tier adaptation model of ``conserved chassis homeostasis + plastic functional regulation'' for epiphytic CAM plants, extending the static structure-function view of the plant economics spectrum, and introduce an individual-level storage-water exchange coordination index (SWCI) and a group-level source-sink transition response index (SSTRI) as descriptive tools for orchid conservation and karst restoration.},
  keywords = {Dendrobium loddigesii, electrophysiological dynamics, dual-layer adaptation model, structure-function decoupling, metabolic chassis, source-sink relationship},
  issn = {3071-6268},
  publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}