Anatomy of the main stem of soybean plants submitted to the removal of the stem apical meristem

Guilherme Jórdan Souza Véras,Éder Matsuo,Silvana Costa Ferreira,Jaqueline Dias-Pereira,Mirlem Goncalves Rocha

doi:10.33158/asb.r137.v8.2022

Guilherme Jórdan Souza Véras, Éder Matsuo + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.33158/asb.r137.v8.2022

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Abstract

Some plant species allow the cutting of the apical meristem in order to assist activities of genetic improvement programs, among them is the soybean. The objective was to verify if the removal of the apical meristem of soybean plants induces any alteration in the stem anatomy, since it was verified that the removal of the apical meristem reduces the need for tutoring of the plants cultivated under greenhouse conditions. The experiment was conducted with plants of the BRSMG 752S cultivar and the treatments consisted of sections of the hypocotyl region of plants that had undergone apical meristem removal at the V2 development stage and of plants without apical meristem removal. The permanent slides were processed following the usual methodologies in plant anatomy. Descriptions and measurements of anatomical tissues were made for comparison between treatments. Plants with removal presented epidermis as a covering tissue until 20 days after the V2 development stage, while plants without removal of the apical meristem presented it until 30 days after V2. Periderm was observed only in plants with removal, and this feature was not evident in plants without removal until 30 days after V2. There was formation of secondary vascular tissues in the collections 30 days after removal (V2 stage). Thus, we conclude that the removal of the apical meristem accelerates the secondary development in hypocotyls of soybean plants grown under greenhouse conditions.

Highlights

Soybean in Brazil is grown on 38.502 million hectares with a total production of 135.409 million tons in the 2020/2021 crop year, resulting in an average productivity of 3,517 kg/ha (Ferreira et al, 2020; Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária [EMBRAPA], 2021)
The cultivation of soybeans under greenhouse conditions is different from field cultivation, and in some cases may require tutoring of the plants (Tancredi, Sediyama, Reis, Cecon, & Teixeira, 2006)
The removal of the apical meristem influences the growth of soy plants, reducing the number of nodes of the main stem, the plant height and the insertion height of the first pod, especially when performed at 25 cm of height (Tancredi et al, 2006)

Summary

Introduction

Anatomy of the main stem of soybean plants...Soybean in Brazil is grown on 38.502 million hectares with a total production of 135.409 million tons in the 2020/2021 crop year, resulting in an average productivity of 3,517 kg/ha (Ferreira et al, 2020; Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária [EMBRAPA], 2021). A technique that favors the conduction in high populations of plants in breeding programs increasing the possibility of working in limited areas, such as in a greenhouse, is the removal of the apical meristem of the plants (Toledo, Tancredi, Sediyama, Ribeiro Junior, & Reis, 2009). In this sense, the removal of the apical meristem influences the growth of soy plants, reducing the number of nodes of the main stem, the plant height and the insertion height of the first pod, especially when performed at 25 cm of height (Tancredi et al, 2006). The increase in diameter of the stem of soy plants is interesting, because the stem becomes more robust and can develop a greater amount of side branches making the plants more tolerant to lodging (Dias, Lisboa, Ferreira, & Rocha, 2021)

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