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. 1983 May;72(1):237–244. doi: 10.1104/pp.72.1.237

Sulfur Dioxide Flux into Leaves of Geranium carolinianum L. 1

Evidence for a Nonstomatal or Residual Resistance

George E Taylor Jr 1,2, David T Tingey 1,2
PMCID: PMC1066202  PMID: 16662968

Abstract

The concurrent exchange of SO2 and H2O vapor between the atmosphere and foliage of Geranium carolinianum was investigated using a whole-plant gas exchange chamber. Total leaf flux of SO2 was partitioned into leaf surface and internal fractions. The emission rate of SO2-induced H2S was measured to develop a net leaf budget for atmospherically derived sulfur. Stomatal resistance to SO2 flux was estimated by two techniques: (a) RsSO2′ from SO2 data using analog modeling techniques and (b) RsSO2 from analogy to H2O (i.e. 1.89 RsH2o).

The emission of H2S was positively correlated with the rate of SO2 flux into the leaf interior. An accounting of the simultaneous, bidirectional flux of gaseous sulfur compounds during pollutant exposure showed that sulfur accumulation in the leaf interior of G. carolinianum was 7 to 15% lower than that estimated solely from mass-balance calculations of SO2 flux data (i.e. ignoring H2S emissions).

The esimate of stomatal resistance to pollutant flux from the SO2 data (RsSO2′) was consistently less than the simultaneous estimate derived from analogy to H2O vapor (RsSO2). The resultant of RsSO2′ — RsSO2, which was always negative, is indicative of a residual resistance to SO2 flux into the leaf interior. On a comparative basis, SO2 molecules experienced less pathway resistance to diffusion than effluxing H2O molecules. It is proposed that the SO2:H2O path length ratio is less than unity, as a consequence of the pollutant's high water solubility and unique chemical reactivity in solution. Thus, the diffusive paths for H2O and SO2 in G. carolinianum are not completely synonymous.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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