Master of Science / Department of Biology / Loretta Johnson / Plant epicuticular wax (ECW) isolates internal tissues from harsh external conditions increasing drought tolerance. Beta-diketone-rich ECW reflect light and result in a glaucous phenotype that may ameliorate the thermal environment of the leaf. The overall goal is to characterize the form and function of ECW in two closely related, but phenotypically divergent grasses. [italicized]Andropogon gerardii ssp. [italicized]gerardii, big bluestem, is a non-glaucous, agronomically and ecologically dominant grass in the United States while [italicized]Andropogon gerardii ssp. [italicized]hallii, sand bluestem, is a glaucous subspecies restricted to dry, sandy soils. The objectives are to contrast sand and big bluestem ECW chemistry, morphology, and physiology to determine the distinctions in ECW resulting in the glaucous phenotype and determine the effect this has on leaf optical qualities and permeability. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to examine ECW chemistry and micromorphology. It was hypothesized that beta-diketones and beta-diketone tubules where present only in leaves of sand bluestem and that the ECW was more reflective and abundant and the cuticle was less permeable. Beta-diketones and tubular ECW were absent in big bluestem and common on sand bluestem’s surface, although less than 20% of ECW was beta-diketones. Functional implications of ECW phenotypes were investigated by comparing minimum conductance (G[subscript]min), wax load, reflectance, and transmittance. Reflectance, with and without ECW, and G [subscript]min were measured with an infrared gas analyzer and a spectroradiometer, respectively. Sand bluestem had twice the ECW in mg cm[superscript]2 (P=.01) and three times lower G [subscript]min in ms[superscript]-1 10[superscript]-5 (P=.02). Partial least squares (PLS) models were trained to predict subspecies from reflectance spectra and were able to distinguish the subspecies. These experiments indicate that in comparison to big bluestem, increased reflectance is a property uniquely imparted to sand bluestem by ECW and the presence of beta-diketones determines the distinction. Glaucous crop species have shown higher yield under drought and extreme weather, including drought, is expected to become more common. Therefore, this study of glaucous waxes, may be applied in engineering drought tolerance.

Une nouvelle famille de complexes de difluorure de bore photosensibles est développée. Elle est basée sur des structures moléculaires contenant une unité β-dicétone à conjugaison électronique π.La grande variété de groupements aromatiques et la nature donneur ou accepteur d'électrons des différents substituants permet l'élaboration de systèmes électroniques donneur-accepteur-donneur d'électrons (D1-A-D1) et donneur-accepteur (D2-A).L'absorption électronique de cette famille de molécule se situe dans la partie visible du spectre électromagnétique et une partie du spectre ultraviolet, et est caractérisée par une bande d'absorption π-π* intense avec des coefficients d'absorption molaire supérieurs à 50 000 M-1cm-1.L'émission de fluorescence couvre une plage spectrale qui va du visible au proche infrarouge avec des rendements quantiques de fluorescence en solution relativement élevés pouvant atteindre 62 %.En fin, cette famille de molécule est photochimiquement stable et est, contrairement à d'autres familles de complexes de difluorure de bore, chimiquement très stable en solution.Mots-clés : Difluorure de bore, β-dicétone, matériaux π-conjugués, luminescence, fluorescence stationnaire et résolue dans le temps (TRES), synthèse organique, RMN-19F dynamique, complexes & colorants fluorescents, curcumine & curcuminoide, complexe BF2, photophysique. / A new photosensitive family of boron difluoride complex is developed. It is based on π-conjugated molecular structures containing β-diketonates unit.The wide variety of aromatic groups and the nature of donor or electron acceptor of the different substituents allow the development of electron donor-acceptor-donor (DAD) and donor-acceptor (DA) electronic systems.The electronic absorption of this family of molecules is in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum and a portion of the ultraviolet spectrum, and is characterized by an intense π-π* absorption band with molar absorption coefficient greater than 50 000 M-1.cm-1.The fluorescence emission covers a spectral range going from visible to near infrared, with relatively high fluorescence quantum yields of up to 62 % in solution.This new material family is photochemically stable and, unlike some other families of boron difluoride complexes, chemically very stable in solution.