TITLE:
Effect of Acid Treatment on Root Architecture in Seedlings of Malus hupehensis var. pingyiensis
AUTHORS:
Zhao Zhang, Weiguo Fan, Hongqiang Yang, Jinxu Chen, Jinwei Dong, Kejie Han, Pengfei Li, Li Wang
KEYWORDS:
Malus hupehensis var. pingyiensis, Acid Treatment, Fractal Dimension, Root Architecture
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.8 No.10,
October
13,
2017
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of acid treatment on root
morphology and architecture in seedlings of Malus hupehensis var. pingyiensis. The rootstock seedlings were cultured in 1/2 Hoagland nutrient solutions
of different pH (pH 4, pH 4.5, pH 5 and pH 6), respectively. The parameters
of root architecture were measured in the day 4, 8 and 12 with the professional
WinRHIZO 2007. Compared with the control (pH 6), the treatments significantly
decreased the fractal dimension, length, diameter, surface area and
volume of roots in day 8 and 12, and they kept decreasing followed the increase
of the acidity and treatment time. The growth of lateral roots was more
susceptible to acid treatment than taproots. In addition, the acid treatment
mainly inhibited the growth of rootlets, significantly decreased the proportion
of rootlets that changed the composition of roots, and then simplified the
space structure of roots.