Kekere Otitoloju

Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Marine Science, 2016, Vol. 6, No. 47   doi: 10.5376/ijms.2016.06.0047
Received: 28 May, 2016    Accepted: 08 Aug., 2016    Published: 08 Aug., 2016

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Kekere O., 2016, Salt-induced Modifications in the Vegetative Anatomy of Bottonweed and Peruvian Spikesedge, International Journal of Marine Science, 6(47): 1-12 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2016.06.0047)

Leaf, stem and root anatomy of bottonweed (Diodia maritima Thonn.) and Peruvian spikesedge (Kyllinga peruviana Lam.) irrigated with 0 (control), 70, 140, 280 and 560 mM NaCl solutions were examined under the microscope in a screen house study at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria. D. maritima did not survive beyond 280 mM and stomata were present only on the abaxial leaf surface in both plants. Salinity decreased leaf stomatal density significantly in D. maritima but increased it at 70-140 mM and sharply decreased it at 280-560 mM in K. peruviana. The number of stomata per leaf declined significantly at 140-280 mM in D. maritima but increased significantly at all salt levels in K. peruviana. Spongy cell proportion increased under salt in the plants but significant only in K. peruviana. Palisade and spongy cell diameters were improved by salt treatment with a significant difference at 140-280 mM in D. maritima and at all salinity levels in K. peruviana. Salinity increased stem diameter, percentage stele, pith and cross sectional area significantly at 70-140 mM in D. maritima but decreased the parameters in K. peruviana except at 280 mM. In the root, the diameter, cross sectional area and percentage cortex were reduced in D. maritima but increased in K. peruviana under salt treatment except at 560 mM for stem diameter and at 280-560 mM for cross sectional area and percentage cortex.  The anatomical modifications varied considerably in strand plants with implications on their adaptation for survival in the strandline.

Strandline; Salinity; Anatomy; Adaptation