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Anatomical Changes in the Shoot Tip of Wheat After Exposure to Drought Stress 1
Author(s) -
Ridley Esther J.,
Todd Glenn W.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1971.0011183x001100040002x
Subject(s) - biology , apex (geometry) , drought stress , shoot , meristem , cultivar , plasmolysis , botany , agronomy , horticulture , cell wall
Shoot apices of 3 to 4‐week‐old winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings of cultivars ‘Ponca’ and ‘Cheyenne’ were examined and described anatomically before and after exposure to drought stress. Drought caused the following changes: thickened cell walls in apical and subapical regions, abundant peri‐ and anti‐clinal divisions with granulation and absence of protoplasts of some cells in the sub‐apical region, plasmolysis of some cells, lack of distinct zonation, and increased lateral bud formation. Apex length in both cultivars was comparable in controls but length more than doubled in Cheyenne with drought stress while drought‐susceptible Ponca changed very little. The distance between the apex tip and the first differentiated procambial cells was greatest in control Cheyenne and decreased with drought to less than onehalf in plants droughted 8 days. This distance to procambium decreased in Ponca with slight drought, then increased with additional drought stress. It is suggested that several of these changes may be responsible for the eventual death of the plant from severe drought.