Plant Stomata

DEDICATION: A tribute to Professor and Director Luis Serrano, to be installed at the Center for Genomic Research, Barcelona, Spain.

The beautiful stomata of plant leaves are the nostrils of the plant and are very dynamic structures, opening and closing to allow the exchange of gas and moisture across the leaf, and number about 300/mm2. Water leaving the stomata is converted into vapor taking the latent heat and thereby causing the reduction in leaf temperature, keeping the plant from overheating. The influx of carbon dioxide through the stomata drive the marvelous process of photosynthesis when the plant eats delicious photons from Alpha Centauri.