Abstract
To investigate the effects of quarries emissions on the leaf morpho-anatomy of Romi, Nabali and K18 olive cultivars in Taffouh village (Palestine), one set of olive cultivars of two-years old was cultivated close to quarries while the control set was cultivated almost 4 km from quarries. The morphology of six month-old leaves was examined. Leaf segments were fixed in compound fixative of formaldehyde, acetic acid and 70% ethanol (FAA). The segments were then embedded in Paraplast plus and 5 m thick sections were stained with safranin and fast green. A reduction in trichome density was evident for the three cultivars in response to exposure to quarries emission, with high density in the abaxial epidermis. Moreover, the abaxial epidermis of the three cultivars possessed elaborated and well-developed trichomes. The leaves of Romi cultivar exhibit increase in all leaf components except the adaxial epidermis while Nabali cultivar exhibited a reduction in all leaf components. Nevertheless, K18 cultivar exhibited a reduction only in palisade and spongy layers due to exposure to quarries pollutions. In conclusion, quarries emissions led to condensed palisade and spongy cells in all cultivars. In addition, Romi cultivar showed a variegated increase in all morpho-anatomical parameters concomitant with increased sclerophylly of leaves following their exposure to quarries emissions. This cultivar proved to be the most resistant to quarries stress which implies it is well suited for olive production. Key words: Adaptation, leaf anatomy, Olea europea, olive, quarries stress, trichome.
Highlights
Olive (Olea europaea L), a member of Oleaceae family, is an evergreen Mediterranean tree capable of living for more than a thousand years (Bacelar et al, 2004; Tangu, 2014)
On contrast, there was a variegated reduction in trichome density for all cultivars grown under the impact of quarries emissions, mainly for adaxial epidermis
K18 shows a high fluctuation in trichome density reduction with significant reduction (p < 0.05) in adaxial epidermis trichomes (46.93%) and the lowest reduction percentage (7.44%) in abaxial epidermis
Summary
Olive (Olea europaea L), a member of Oleaceae family, is an evergreen Mediterranean tree capable of living for more than a thousand years (Bacelar et al, 2004; Tangu, 2014). The olive leaf has an average life span of about three years. Leaves of different cultivars are of different morphology. The length varied from 4 to 10 and the width from 1 to 3 cm (Ennajeh et al, 2010). The olive tree has been taken as the symbol of peace, fertility, strength, and purity and it played an enormous role in ancient civilizations (Kiritsakis, 1989, Kiritsakis and Min 1991). The most ancient evidence of edible olive cultivation has been found in Syria, Palestine and Crete, 5000-6000
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