苗期水分亏缺对玉米根系发育及解剖结构的影响

利用盆栽试验,研究了不同水分亏缺土壤含水量分别为田间持水量的75%～85%(对照)、65%～75%(轻度)、55%～65%(中度)、45%～55%(重度)]对玉米苗期根系发育及解剖结构的影响.结果表明:干旱抑制了植株生长,随着水分亏缺程度的加重,根系长度缩短、根直径变细、总生物量降低;而根系活力、根冠比、根尖多糖含量均增加;侧根根毛长度、根毛密度、根毛总长度在中度水分亏缺条件下达到最大.组织切片观察结果表明,根直径变细主要是由于根的中柱面积减小、导管直径缩小所致,不同水分亏缺处理间导管的数量差异不大,但水分亏缺使导管壁变得不规整.根尖多糖含量的增加主要表现在表皮细胞和根冠细胞内,在表皮细胞内多糖主要以游离形式分布,在根冠细胞内主要以淀粉粒形式分布.总之,在水分亏缺条件下,玉米通过改变导管结构、增加表皮细胞与根冠细胞内多糖的含量及扩大根毛总表面积,来调节根系对水分的吸收能力,增强玉米植株的抗旱性,但根毛并不随着亏缺程度的加重而无限制的增长,在过度干旱条件下,根毛会受到抑制或损伤.

Effects of water deficit at seedling stage on maize root development and anatomical structure

A pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of water deficit at seedling stage on the root development and anatomical structure of maize. Four treatments were installed, i.e., 75%-85% of field capacity (control), 65%-75% of field capacity (light deficit), 55%-65% of field capacity (moderate deficit), and 45%-55% of field capacity (heavy deficit). Drought stress inhibited the plant growth. With increasing drought stress, the root length, diameter, and total biomass reduced, while the root vigor, root/shoot ratio, and root apex polysaccharide content increased. Under moderate water deficit, the branch root hair length, root hair density, and total length of root hair reached to the maximum. Anatomical observation showed that the decrease of root diameter was mainly due to the decrease of root central cylinder area and of root vessel diameter. No significant difference was observed in the root vessel number among the treatments, but the root vessel wall became irregular under water deficit. The increase of root apex polysaccharide content mainly occurred in the epidermal cells and pileorhiza cells. In epidermis cells, the polysaccharide was mainly in dissociation, while in pileorhiza cells, polysaccharide was mainly as starch grains. In sum, under water deficit, maize root could alter its vessel structure, increase the polysaccharide content in epidermal cells and pileorhiza cells, and expand the total surface area of root hair to enhance the water-absorbing ability of hair root, and to strengthen the drought resistance of maize. However, with the increase of water deficit, root hair didn't have unrestrictive growth, while in adverse, its growth was inhibited or damaged under severe drought.