The Possible Participation of the Mesophyll on Stomatal Opening

Many researchers have been studied with guard cell protoplasts and detached epidermis as they think that properly stabilized protoplasts and detached epidermis retain many of the properties of intact guard cells. However, some studies have shown that stomata in detached epidermis behave differently, both quantitatively and qualitatively, from those in the intact leaf. Stomata in the intact leaf are very sensitive to environmental factors such as light, $CO_2$ and osmotic stress, but stomata in detached epidermis are less sensitive to these factors than those in the intact leaf. The clearest evidence to suggest the different response between detached epidermis and intact leaf obtained from the experiments with heavy metal, cadmium. 3-weeks old Commelina. communis was transferred to and grown in Hoagland solution in the presence or absence of 5 mM $Cd^{2+}$ for 4 days. The application of $Cd^{2+}$ showed about 70% inhibition of stomatal conductance when measured at various light intensity (100-1,000 $\mu$mole $m^{-2}s^{-1}). However, stomata in detached epidermis floated on an incubation medium containing 100 $\mu$M $Cd^{2+}$ opened to a degree of about 8.38 fm, but the stomata treated with no cadmium opened to 3.74 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. These results were unexpected as the intact leaf grown in a Hoagland solution containing cadmium showed very negative physiological responses. These results showed that stomata in detached epidermis and in the intact leaf could respond reversely. Therefore, it is possible that we now misunderstand how stomata open in real natural condition.