The Leaf: A Platform for Performing Photosynthesis

William W. Adams III, a Professor at the University of Colorado, has pursued a lifelong passion for leaves. An investigation of the heterophyllous leaves (trichome-covered, atmospheric juvenile versus glabrous, tank-forming adult leaves) of an epiphytic bromeliad was followed by PhD research on photosynthesis and photoinhibition of plants with crassulacean acid metabolism. After postdoctoral work into leaf senescence, pollution impacts on leaves, and photosynthesis and photoprotection in leaves, cladodes, and lichens, he moved to Colorado in 1989. During the intervening years, he, his wife and colleague (Prof. Barbara Demmig-Adams), and their students explored the regulation and ecophysiology of photosynthesis, photoprotection, and photoinhibition of numerous species under controlled conditions and in many habitats including the understory of sunfleck-dappled forests, arid and desert landscapes, grasslands, and montane and subalpine forests. More recently, they discovered significant relationships between foliar phloem and xylem architecture (underlying capacities to load and export sugars and distribute water within the leaf), photosynthesis, and transpiration that vary among species and exhibit acclimatory adjustment to environmental growth conditions. The Leaf represents the renewal of ties between William and Ichiro that were initiated during their PhD and postdoctoral work, respectively, at the Australian National University in the mid-1980s. Ichiro Terashima began his study on the light environment within individual leaves and its effect on leaf photosynthesis with Prof. Toshiro Saeki, miniaturizing his supervisor's study at the leaf canopy scale to the individual leaf scale. He subsequently conducted an eco-devo study examining effects of light direction on differentiation of palisade and spongy tissues in bifacial leaves with Prof. Noboru Hara, a plant anatomist. He then moved to the Australian National University and studied effects of light and nitrogen nutrition on leaf photosynthesis, patchy leaf photosynthesis in abscisic acid-treated leaves, and photoinhibition, followed by a position in Prof. Sakae Katoh's laboratory at the University of Tokyo. He became a full professor at Osaka University in 1997, and moved back to the University of Tokyo in 2006. With his colleagues and students, he has studied the influences of 1) green light in leaf photosynthesis, 2) mesophyll tissue in stomatal responses to environmental conditions, 3) soil dryness, high CO2 and ABA application on mesophyll conductance, 4) fluctuating light on photosynthesis, and 5) systemic signals such as sugars, hormones, peptides etc. on leaf development and senescence.

Chapter 1. A Consideration of Leaf Shape Evolution in the Context of the Primary Function of the Leaf as a Photosynthetic Organ.- Chapter 2. Leaf Vasculature and the Upper Limit of Photosynthesis.- Chapter 3. Export of Photosynthates from the Leaf.- Chapter 4. Leaf Water Transport:  A Core System in the Evolution and Physiology of Photosynthesis.- Chapter 5. Leaf Anatomy and Function.- Chapter 6. Coordination Between Photosynthesis and Stomatal Behavior.- Chapter 7. CO2 Diffusion Inside Photosynthetic Organs.- Chapter 8. Molecular Mechanisms Affecting Cell Wall Properties and Leaf Architecture.- Chapter 9. Significance of C4 Leaf Structure at the Tissue and Cellular Levels.- Chapter 10. Functional Anatomical Traits of the Photosynthetic Organs of Plants with Crassulacean Acid Metabolism.- Chapter 11. Structural and Functional Characteristics, Tradeoffs and Win-Wins by Leaves Photosynthesizing in Aquatic Environments.- Chapter 12. Leaf Photosynthesis of Upland and Lowland Crops Grown under Moisture-Rich Conditions.- Chapter 13. Photosynthesis in Poor Nutrient Soils, in Compacted Soils, and under Drought.- Chapter 14. The Role of Leaf Movements for Optimizing Photosynthesis in Relation to Environmental Variation.- Chapter 15. Photosynthetic and Photosynthesis-Related Responses of Japanese Native Trees to CO2:  Results from Phytotrons, Open-Top Chambers, Natural CO2 Springs,and Free-Air CO2 Enrichment.- Chapter 16. The Leaf Economics Spectrum and its Underlying Physiological and Anatomical Principles.- Chapter 17. Leaf Photosynthesis Integrated Over Time.- Chapter 18. Photosynthetic Modulation in Response to Plant Activity and Environment.