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Leaf wax composition and distribution of Tillandsia landbeckii refects moisture gradient across the hyperarid Atacama Desert
Dr. Contreras-Quintana, Sergio 
Facultad de Ciencias 
Landahur, Manlio
García, Karla
Latorre, Claudio
Reyers, Mark
Rethemeyer, Janet
Jaeschke, Andrea
10.1007/s00606-021-01800-0
Plant Systematics and Evolution
2022
In the hyperarid Atacama Desert, water availability plays a crucial role in allowing plant survival. Along with scant rainfall, marine advective fog frequently occurs along the coastal escarpment fueling isolated mono-specifc patches of Tillandsia vegetation. In this study, we investigate the lipid biomarker composition of the bromeliad Tillandsia landbeckii (CAM plant) to assess structural adaptations at the molecular level as a response to extremely arid conditions. We analyzed long-chain n-alkanes and fatty acids in living specimens (n=59) collected from the main Tillandsia dune ecosystems across a 350 km coastal transect. We found that the leaf wax composition was dominated by n-alkanes with concentrations (total average 160.8±91.4 µg/g) up to three times higher than fatty acids (66.7±40.7 µg/g), likely as an adaptation to the hyperarid environment. Signifcant diferences were found in leaf wax distribution (Average Chain Length [ACL] and Carbon Preference Index [CPI]) in the northern zone relative to the central and southern zones. We found strong negative correlations between fatty acid CPI and n-alkane ACL with precipitation and surface evaporation pointing at fne-scale adaptations to low moisture availability along the coastal transect. Moreover, our data indicate that the predominance of n-alkanes is refecting the function of the wax in preventing water loss from the leaves. The hyperarid conditions and good preservation potential of both n-alkanes and fatty acids make them ideal tracers to study late Holocene climate change in the Atacama Desert.
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Atacama desert
Fatty acids
Fog ecosystems
Leaf-wax
n-alkanes
Tillandsia landbeckii
Ciencias biológicas
Biotecnología agrícola
Historial de mejoras
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