MORPHOLOGICAL, ANATOMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON Senna occidentalis (L.) Link PLANTS GROWN UNDER STRESS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF SALINITY IN IRRIGATION WATER | ||||
| Journal of Plant Production | ||||
| Article 17, Volume 32, Issue 10, October 2007, Page 8301-8314 PDF (784.59 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jpp.2007.220909 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
| Faten M. Reda, | ||||
| Department of Forestry and Woody Trees, Horticulture Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| The current investigation was carried out at the wire green -house of Agricultural Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt during the two growing seasons of 2005 and 2006 in order to investigate the effect of different levels of salinity in irrigation water (0, 2000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 ppm) on plant survival, vegetative growth, stem anatomy, photosynthetic pigments and proline contents in leaves of coffee senna (Senna occidentalis (L.) Link). Results obtained could be summarized in the following: 1- The relatively low used concentration of 2000 ppm salinized water as well as the first median concentration of 4000 ppm salinized water showed no significant effect on the percentage of plant survival of coffee senna in both studied seasons. By contrast, the tested second median concentration of 6000 ppm salinized water as well as the relatively high used concentration of 8000 ppm salinized water reduced significantly the percentage of plant survival of coffee senna in both studied seasons with significant difference between these two used concentrations. 2- The adopted concentration of 2000 ppm salinized water had no significant effect on all investigated morphological characters of vegetative growth (plant height, diameter of the main stem, number of branches/plant, fresh and dry weights of leafless shoot/plant, number of developed leaves / plant and fresh and dry weights of leaves/plant) of coffee senna plant in both studied seasons. On the other hand, the other tested concentrations of salinized water (4000, 6000 and 8000 ppm) induced significant decreases in all investigated morphological characters of vegetative growth of coffee senna plant in both studied seasons and the rate of reduction increased proportionally with increasing salt concentration in irrigation water and expressed its maximum with salinity level of 8000 ppm. 3- The effect of 6000 ppm salinized water on stem anatomy of coffee senna was investigated. It is clear that the decrease in stem diameter of coffee senna plant due to salinity stress could be attributed mainly to the prominent decrease in all included tissues. The thickness of cortex, fibrous tissue, phloem tissue, xylem tissue and pith diameter were decreased by 5.1, 39.7, 44.4, 39.1, and 21.0% less than the control; respectively. 4- The assigned low concentration of 2000 ppm artificial salinized water showed no significant effect on chloroplast pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids) in leaves of coffee senna plants aged eight months. By contrast, the other tested concentrations of salinized water (4000, 6000 and 8000 ppm) decreased significantly chloroplast pigments and the rate of reduction increased steadily as salinity level increased reached its maximum at salinity level of 8000 ppm. 5- The relatively low used concentration of 2000 ppm salinized water had no significant effect on free proline content in leaves of coffee senna plants eight months old. On the other hand, increasing salinity level more than 2000 ppm induced significant increase in proline content and the rate of promotion increased proportionally with increasing salt concentration in irrigation water and expressed its maximum with salinity level of 8000 ppm. 6- It could be stated that coffee senna plants can grow well under salinity level of 2000 ppm without significant negative effect on the percentage of plant survival and their morphological characters of vegetative growth. Moreover, coffee senna could tolerate salinity up to 8000 ppm but with significant reduction in vegetative growth attributes. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Coffee senna; Senna occidentalis (L.) Link; Cassia occidentalis L; Salinity; Vegetative Growth; Stem Anatomy; Physiology | ||||
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