After series of experiments being conducted over years, scientists have gained a deeper understanding of plant physiology and their water necessities. The time the plants would take in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, they would lose a huge amount of water. This water was considered to be vital for them because it makes up their dry plant matter besides hydration to it. Well, in a new study the scientists have discovered a long-hidden secret that may help in making plants to survive even after using the less water.

HIGHLIGHTS
During photosynthesis the plants would lose a huge amount of water
Plants require around 300 grams of water simply to produce one gram of dry mass
Despite drop in humidity level in leaves photosynthesis do not stop or slow down

Plants would require around 300 grams of water simply to produce one gram of dry mass. This would be because plants source water from the soil through the roots that would then end up evaporating within the atmosphere from the leaves.

Well, the leaves would have microscopic valves referred to as stomata which would open for taking in carbon dioxide that would be needed for plant growth and photosynthesis. Once these pores would get opened up, the moist internal tissue of the leaves would get exposed to the dry air outside. This would then provide a suggestion that water vapour would diffuse out whenever the stomata were open.

Researchers have long believed that the stomata would control the amount of water which would escape the leaves. This stemmed from the belief that the air within a leaf would be saturated while the air outside was comparatively drier. But recently, after conducting experiments over the past fifteen years, researchers have found proof against the idea.

Therefore, they have noted that once the humidity level would drop outside the leaf, the relative humidity in the air space within it would also witness a decline that was generally as low as 80 percent. However, it was absolutely observed that despite the drop in humidity level within the leaves, the photosynthesis would not stop or slowed down.

This had indicated that the speed of water loss from the plants wasn't affected by the rise within the evaporative demand of the outside air. Hence, if the plants were found to be controlling the water loss through stomata, one would have witnessed the photosynthesis getting stopped or slowing down. The study had suggested that plants would definitely control the water loss from their leaves while absorbing carbon dioxide and keeping the stomata open. The findings which were published in Nature Plants, pointed towards a possibility that the plants would be using special water-gating proteins referred to as aquaporins to regulate the movement of water in them.

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