Regresar

Salt-induced changes in roots of two sugar cane (Saccharum sp., poaceae) genotypes

Abstract:

This study intends to identify root structural features associated with salinity tolerance in two genotypes of sugar cane. Plants of 'PR692176' (salt tolerant) and 'V78-1' (salt sensi-tive) were stressed with NaCl or Na<inf>2</inf>SO<inf>4</inf>. Roots segments located at 10 and 50 mm from root tip were fixed and then cross sections of roots were studied using optic microscopy. The ma-jor roots changes were: lateral root initiation closer to the root tip, premature differentiation and a prominent development of endodermal and exodermal Casparian strips, and deposition of suberin in the cell walls of cortex parenchyma cells. In addition, the roots of salt-stressed plants in 'PR692176' showed a higher number of cell in the parenchyma than 'V78-1', sug-gesting a better compartmentation capacity in the former genotype.