Dynamics of Epidermal Wax Content of Leaves in Barley

In order to understand the relationship between the leaf layer of epicuticular wax and plant drought resistance,the paper studied the variation of epicuticular wax content in flag leaf and layer of flag leaf of four barley varieties,using split-plot experiment design,from flagging stage to the mature stage.The results showed that,the epicuticular wax content of barley leaves increased and then decreased with plant growth under the condition of drought stress.The variation of epicuticular wax content of leaves exhibited similar tendency,but the drought-tolerant variety had larger variation extent than the drought-sensitive variety.The epicuticular wax of leaves in drought-tolerant variety changed obviously at the early stage of drought stress,which speculated that the rapid increase of epicuticular wax might be one of plant responses to environmental stress.