Effect of water stress on root meristems in woody and herbaceous plants during the first stage of development |
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Authors: | Chiatante D Di Iorio A Maiuro L Scippa SG |
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Institution: | (1) Dipartimento di Scienze Animali, Vegetali e dell'Ambiente, Università degli Studi del Molise, Campobasso, Italy FAX No |
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Abstract: | We investigated the effect of water stress on the root system architecture of pine saplings and pea seedlings during the first
stage of development. Attention was focused on meristematic tissue situated at the root tip because of the leading role played
by the tissue in the planning of root system architecture. The data showed that both species are extremely sensitive and that
plants arrest their growth immediately during water stress treatment. When stress treatment was not intense, both species
recovered growth but presented modifications in the root system architecture. In pine saplings, the modification in root system
architecture was the consequence of fine root meristems not recovering from water stress. The saplings survived by producing
new lateral meristems from the cortical tannin zone above the fine root tip. In the case of pea seedlings, the meristematic
tissues in the primary root arrested proliferation during water stress although they recovered when the event occurred during
the first hours of germination. The response was different when water stress was enforced on older seedlings. In this case,
root meristems never completely recovered their proliferation despite the increase in proline content observed in the cells.
The modification of root system architecture in pea seedlings depended on the arrest of primary root elongation and the formation
of new root laterals. As regards the primary roots, water stress treatment induced along the axis the formation of irregular
‘swellings’ in the cortical zone above the meristematic zone. Anatomical investigations suggested that such swellings may
have derived from the changes in elongation direction of derivatives. The formation of new laterals was observed in hydroponic
cultures when water stress treatment was enforced slowly and prolonged for a long time. The production of new lateral meristems
may have been a similar response of woody and herbaceous plants to water stress conditions. It is not known whether these
new meristems present characteristics of resistance to water stress.
This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | elongation meristems Pinus nigra Pisum sativum root water stress |
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