Anatomical and morphological modifications in response to flooding by six Cerrado tree species

Adilson Serafim de Oliveira,Dalva Graciano-Ribeiro,Augusto César Franco,Cristiane Silva Ferreira

doi:10.1590/0102-33062014abb0035

Adilson Serafim de Oliveira, Dalva Graciano-Ribeiro + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-33062014abb0035

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Abstract

Wetlands are common in the Cerrado (Brazilian savannas) biome, however flooding of these wetlands impairs growth and development of most plants. We evaluated flood tolerance of typical Cerrado trees. Seedlings of Aspidosperma macrocarpon (Apocynaceae), Tabebuia rosea (Bignoniaceae), Handroanthus chrysotrichus (Bignoniaceae), Myracrodruon urundeuva (Anacardiaceae), Kielmeyera coriacea (Calophyllaceae) and Copaifera langsdorffii (Fabaceae) were flooded up to the stem base for 30 days. Stems with cortical cracks, secondary aerenchyma and hypertrophic lenticels were observed in flooded plants of M. urundeuva,H. chrysotrichus and T. rosea while adventitious roots were formed in flooded plants of T. rosea and H. chrysotrichus. However, only T. rosea developed aerenchyma in the root cortex. K. coriacea and A. macrocarpon were the most sensitive to flooding, showing a decrease in survival and necrosis of the leaves and roots. C. langsdorffii and M. urundeuva were less sensitive to flooding, although reductions in root biomass and symptoms of necrosis of the roots were noticeable in flooded seedlings. Flooded M. urundeuva seedlings also had a decrease in total leaf area, leaf biomass, total biomass and in stem growth. Flooding affected root development and reduced stem growth of H. chrysotrichus with symptoms of necrosis of the leaves and roots. T. rosea was the only species where symptoms of injury from flooding were not evident.

Highlights

Soil water saturation negatively affects growth and development of most terrestrial plants and lead to plant death (Kozlowski 1997; Visser et al 2003)
When individual species were examined the effects of flooding were significant for C. langsdorffii, H. chrysotrichus and M. urundeuva (Fig. 1A-D)
H. chrysotrichus and C. langsdorffii had a significant reduction in root biomass in flooded plants, while leaf, root and total dry mass of M. urundeuva significantly decreased in response to flooding

Summary

Introduction

Soil water saturation negatively affects growth and development of most terrestrial plants and lead to plant death (Kozlowski 1997; Visser et al 2003). Flooding may induce multiple physiological dysfunctions in plants, such as inhibition of photosynthesis and transport of carbohydrates, reduced absorption of nutrients (due to root death and loss of mycorrhiza in plants with these associations) and hormonal changes such as increase in ethylene (He et al 1996; Kozlowski 1997) and abscisic acid (ABA) (Benschop et al 2005; Chen et al 2010) concentrations or decrease in cytokinin biosynthesis (Zhang et al 2000). The root system is strongly affected, as evidenced, among other aspects, by the reduction in biomass, length and diameter of the main roots (Arruda & Calbo 2004; Pisicchio et al 2010), changes in cell membrane permeability and damage to root cells by the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (Kozlowski 1997; Rawyler et al 2002)

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