Measuring leaf relative water content (RWC) is a reliable and simple way to assess the water status of a leaf without any need for special equipment. Similar to leaf water potential, leaf RWC gives a strong indication of the plant’s response to different environmental conditions; yet RWC has been shown to be a more stable parameter than leaf water potential (Sade et al., 2009; Sade et al., 2012). Although measuring RWC is destructive to the leaf, with proper planning, it need not affect the plant’s behavior. This note will focus on three different model plants which are representative of plants with various leaf shapes (e.g., Arabidopsis, tomato and barley). The technique for measuring RWC is the same for all three of these species (as well as for plants with many other types of leaves).

Relative water content (相对含水量)

Leaf water content (叶片水分含量)

Drought stress (干旱胁迫)

Salt stress (盐胁迫)