poikilohydry

Poikilohydry is the lack of ability (structural or functional mechanism) to maintain and/or regulate water content to achieve homeostasis of cells and tissue connected with quick equilibration of cell/tissue water content to that of the environment. The term is derived from Ancient Greek ποικίλος (poikílos, “spotted or variegate”).

Tolerance to desiccation has been utilized in the Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukaryote kingdoms to take advantage of ecological niches. The tolerance to desiccation is often combined with other abiotic stress factors such as temperature extremes, malnutrition, vitamin imbalances, salinity content, and ultraviolet radiation. Many plants control desiccation tolerance through non-specialized structures such as vegetative tissues or specialized structures such as spores, seeds, and tubers. Desiccation tolerance is distributed among Bryophytes that have no cuticle or stomata, nine Pteridophyte families and ten Angiosperm families, vascular plants that do have a cuticle and stomata.