Plant cells in the context of climate change

• Main Author: Marcelo Rubens Machado
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto de Tecnologia do Paraná (Tecpar) 2014-02-01
• Series: Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Global warming; Stomata; Climate change biology; Plant cell; Waxes
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-89132014000100018&lng=en&tlng=en

Global warming and its origins triggered the beginning to considerable discussion in the last century. Studies of climate models presented in multidisciplinary scientific reports suggest that anthropogenic activities, particularly the emission of gases from the greenhouse effect, are greatly responsible for the current climate changes. The increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) atmospheric concentration has been in discussion in the news, scientific meetings and in public policy debates in several countries. Apart from its impact on global warming, the rising atmospheric CO2 has alerted the scientific community to the need to investigate any morpho-physiological alterations in the plants, given their direct influence on photosynthesis. This article aims to discuss cellular aspects related to plant growth, their behavior of cuticular waxes and the responses of the stomatal development arising from the chemical change to the atmosphere, which are the causes of serious concern and discussion.