Global warming reduces water availability, exposing plants to more pronounced wet/dry cycles during their lifetime. Under these circumstances, epiphytic bromeliads can be more responsive due to their lack of contact with soil and high dependence on atmospheric water, especially in the case of juvenile individuals, which lose water more intensely than conspecific adults. In this study, we hypothesized that juvenile plants of Acanthostachys strobilacea (Schult. & Schult.f.) Klotzsch would exhibit rapid metabolic defense mechanisms to tolerate the leaf water loss caused by short-term water withholding (i.e. mild to moderate stress). We exposed plants to an 8-day water restriction and assessed their enzymatic antioxidant capacity and carbohydrate content. At 4 days of water restriction, A. strobilacea plants showed starch mobilization and increased the soluble carbohydrate content. After 8 days, carbohydrate reserves were depleted and the antioxidant enzyme activity was stimulated. Our results demonstrated that juvenile epiphytic bromeliads exhibit rapid metabolic adjustments to short-term water deficiency, which might be crucial for their survival in the face of the expected intensification of drought.

中文翻译：

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附生凤梨科植物的幼体表现出碳水化合物含量和抗氧化能力的快速变化，以应对水分的扣留

全球变暖减少了水的可利用性，使植物在其一生中处于更明显的湿/干循环中。在这种情况下，附生凤梨科动物由于与土壤的缺乏接触和对大气水的高度依赖性而可能具有更好的响应能力，特别是在少年人的情况下，它们比同种成年人更易失水。在这项研究中，我们假设刺槐（Acanthostachys strobilacea）的幼株（Schult。＆Schult.f。）Klotzsch将表现出快速的代谢防御机制，以忍受短期缺水（即轻度到中度胁迫）引起的叶片水分流失。我们将植物暴露于8天的水分限制下，并评估了其酶促抗氧化能力和碳水化合物含量。禁水4天后，星光藻植物显示出淀粉动员并增加了可溶性碳水化合物含量。8天后，碳水化合物储备被耗尽并且抗氧化酶活性被刺激。我们的结果表明，幼附生凤梨科动物对短期缺水表现出快速的代谢调节，面对预期的干旱加剧，这可能对其生存至关重要。