Ionic interactions between precipitation and leaf cuticles

Abstract

This work showed that cuticular permea- tion and ion exchange between precipita- tion and the leaf apoplast do not occur at biologically significant rates. Instead, ion exchange processes with the leaf cuticle surface dominate. Electrophysiology stu- dies showed that significant diffusion potentials can arise across cuticles and these can have a significant effect on ionic flux. Furthermore, ionic permeability in cuticles varied with both ionic strength and cuticle structure.