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Science 17 November 1995:
Vol. 270. no. 5239, pp. 1193 - 1194
DOI: 10.1126/science.270.5239.1193
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Reports

Negative Xylem Pressures in Plants: A Test of the Balancing Pressure Technique

N. Michele Holbrook (1) (2),  Michael J. Burns,  Christopher B. Field

Xylem tension was experimentally imposed by centrifugal force to assess the stability of negative pressures within the xylem and the estimation of those pressures with a pressure chamber. Balancing pressure measurements of leaves attached to a spinning branch at the axis of rotation closely agreed with tensions calculated from the rotational velocity. This agreement demonstrates that the xylem is capable of sustaining large negative pressures and directly validates the balancing pressure technique.


N. M. Holbrook, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
M. J. Burns, Conductus, Incorporated, 969 West Maude Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086, USA.
C. B. Field, Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
(1) Present address: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
(2) To whom correspondence should be addressed.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)