Effects of Ascorbic, Citric, and Humic Acids on Maize Stem and Leaf Anatomy

Authors

  • Jazran Jard Kadhum Ministry of Education, Babylon Education, Vocational Education, Babylon, Iraq.
  • Jalal Hameed Hamza Department of Field Crops, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8694-6873
  • Muazaz Azeez Hasan Department of Field Crops, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq & Department of Biology, College of Pure Sciences-Ibn Al-Haiytham, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8872-1894
  • Maythem Al-Amery Department of Biology, College of Science for Women, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
  • William Serson Pennsylvania State University. 2809 Saucon Valley Rd, Center Valley, PA 18034, United States https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7464-6718
  • Mahmoud F Seleiman Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
  • Martin Battaglia Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5999-3367
  • Hail Z Rihan School of Biological and Marine Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6164-2686

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21123/bsj.2024.10020

Keywords:

Foliar nutrition, Growth regulators, Plant anatomy, Seed soaking, Zea mays L

Abstract

In the spring seasons of 2019 and 2020, a field experiment was conducted to investigate potential changes in the internal tissues of maize stems and leaves following seed soaking and foliar nutrition applications with some acids. A randomized complete block design in a split-plot arrangement with three replications was applied. The main plots were designated for foliar nutrition, which included the application of ascorbic acid (AA) and citric acid (CA) at a concentration of 100 mg L-1, as well as humic acid (HA) at a concentration of 1 ml L-1. Distilled water was used as a control. Sub-plots were assigned for seed soaking with the same treatments. The results of the cross-section analysis of the stem revealed variations in the size of vascular bundles among different treatments when compared to the control treatment. Notably, foliar nutrition with CA demonstrated superior results, with measurements of 144.6 µm in 2019 and 112.4 µm in 2020. Seeds soaked in CA and HA also outperformed other treatments, resulting in measurements of 144.7 µm in 2019 and 111.8 µm in 2020, respectively. Furthermore, there was an interaction between foliar nutrition with CA and seed soaking with distilled water demonstrated superior results in 2019, measuring 185.7 µm. In 2020, the treatment involving foliar nutrition with CA and seeds soaking with HA exceeded all other treatments, resulting in 147.9 µm. It is important to note that the treatments had limited impact on the epidermis of the plant's leaves, with only minor effects observed. For instance, treatments with AA and CA caused some distortion in the shapes of certain stomata on the upper epidermis when compared to the control treatment. Treatments with AA and HA resulted in an increase in the size of ordinary epidermal cells, with straighter cell walls, whereas in the control treatment, cell walls were typically wavy. Additionally, there was an increase and expansion in the size of cork and silica cells in the treated plants. This study will provide a better understanding of the anatomical modifications that occur in leaves and stems during periods of stress in the maize growing season.

References

Al-Hadithy AH, Motlag KH, Sharaf ME, Hashim LQ. Using of Rustumiya sewage water for irrigation:1- its effect on some soil properties and corn growth. Baghdad Sci J. 2011; 8(1): 313-318. https://doi.org/10.21123/bsj.2011.8.1.313-318

Raheef SH. The effect of chemical and biological treatments on improving the nutritive value of corn cobs and wild reed. Baghdad Sci J. 2024; 4(3): 369-374. https://doi.org/10.21123/bsj.2007.4.3.369-374

Kadhim JJ, Hamza JH. Effect of seeds soaking and vegetative parts nutrition with acids of ascorbic, citric and humic on maize growth. Iraqi J Agric Sci. 2021; 52(5): 1207–1218. https://doi.org/10.36103/ijas.v52i5.1458

Al-Maliki RJ, Abed NY. Use of GGE-Biplot technology to study the genetic-environmental interaction of the maize. Plant Arch. 2019; 19(1): 1797-1803.

Hasan MA, Al-Taweel SK, Alamrani HA, Al-Baldawi MHK, Hamza JH. Anatomical and physiological traits of broad bean (Vicia faba L.) seedling affected by salicylic acid and salt stress. Indian J Agric Res. 2018; 52(4): 368–373. https://doi.org/10.18805/IJARe.A-343

Shihab MO, Hamza JH. Seed priming of sorghum cultivars by gibberellic and salicylic acids to improve seedling growth under irrigation with saline water. J Plant Nutr. 2020; 43(13): 1951-1967. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2020.1766066

Hassan SS, Gharib SA, Abdulla SMS, Ahmad KR. Bread wheat varieties germination under influence of temperature regimes under lab conditions. Kufa J Agric Sci. 2020; 12(2): 54-64. https://doi.org/10.36077/kjas/2020/120206

Mohamed AB, El-Banna MF, Farouk S, Khafagy MA. The role of grain priming and its duration on wheat germination and seedling growth. J Plant Prod. 2019; 10(4): 343-349. https://doi.org/10.21608/jpp.2019.36267

Tounekti T, Mahdhi M, Al-faifi Z, Khemira H. Priming improves germination and seed reserve utilization, growth, antioxidant responses and membrane stability at early seedling stage of Saudi sorghum varieties under drought stress. Not Bot Horti Agrobo. 2020; 48(2): 938-953. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha48211841

Baig Z, Khan N, Sahar S, Sattar S, Zehra R. Effects of seed priming with ascorbic acid to mitigate salinity stress on three wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars. Acta Ecologica Sinica. 2021; 41(5): 491-498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chnaes.2021.08.010

Dembélé S. Zougmoré RB. Coulibaly A. Lamers JP. Tetteh JP. Accelerating seed germination and juvenile growth of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) to manage climate variability through hydro-priming. Atmosphere. 2021; 12(4): 419. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12040419

Hamza JH. Ali MKM. Effect of seed soaking with GA3 on emergence and seedling growth of corn under salt stress. Iraqi J Agric Sci. 2017; 48(3): 650–659. https://doi.org/10.36103/ijas.v48i3.377

Al-rawi ASM, Hussain AM. esponse of soaking with (acadian) on seed vigor of wheat under salt stress. IJMRCP. 2023; 15(1): 184-192. http://dx.doi.org/10.28936/jmracpc15.1.2023.(16)

Saudi AH, Al-Rawi ASM. Effect of seed priming duration with bio-stimulator (appetizer) on germination characteristics and seedling emergence of sorghum. IOP Conf Ser: Earth Environ Sci. 2023; 1262 (52023): 0520344. http://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1262/5/052034

Cardarelli M, Woo SL, Rouphael Y, Colla G. Seed treatments with microorganisms can have a biostimulant effect by influencing germination and seedling growth of crops. Plants. 2022; 11(3):259. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11030259

Al-Omairi AA, Al-Hilfy IH. Effect of soaking maize seeds with selenium and chitosan on improving germination, vigour and viability of seed and seedling. IOP Conf Ser: Earth Environ Sci. 2021; 904(2021): 012075. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/904/1/012075

Al-Khafajy MJ, Majeed HA, Mutlag NA, Cheyed SH. Wheat seed deterioration stimulated by plant extracts. Bionatura. 2022; 7(4): 15. http://dx.doi.org/10.21931/RB/2022.07.04.15

Yildirim C, Yildirim MB, Aydinoğlu B. The effects of gibberellic acid (GA3) treatments on germination and seedling development of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor L. Moench] seeds at different salt concentrations. Turk J Agric Res. 2022; 9(3): 323-333. https://doi.org/10.19159/tutad.1128902

Dehnavi AR, Zahedi M, Ludwiczak A, Perez SC, Piernik A. Effect of salinity on seed germination and seedling development of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) genotypes. Agronomy. 2020; 10(6): 859. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10060859

Musa DD, Muhammad FT, Bala AS. Effect of aqueous plant extracts and inorganic fertilizer on the germination, growth and development of maize (Zea mays). Fudma J Sci. 2023; 7(5): 266-269. https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2023-0705-2022

Dawood AAR, Rasheed AA. Effect of seed treatment and seed size on seed vigor, field emergence and grain yield of sorghum. Iraqi J Agric Sci. 2015; 46(3): 350-361. https://www.iasj.net/iasj/article/101091

Dhakal P, Subedi R, Influence of mannitol priming on maize seeds under induced water stress. J Agri Crops. 2020; 6(3): 27-31. https://doi.org/10.32861/jac.63.27.31

Pinheiro CL, Araújo HTN, Brito SF, Maia MS, Viana JS, Filho SM. Seed priming and tolerance to salt and water stress in divergent grain sorghum genotypes. Am J Plant Sci. 2018; 9(4): 606-616. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2018.94047

Zhang K, Wang G, Bao M, Wang L, Xie X. Exogenous application of ascorbic acid mitigates cadmium toxicity and uptake in Maize (Zea mays L.). Environ Sci Pollut Res. 2019; 26: 19261-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05265-0

Asl HHN, Vash FF, Roshdi M, Mir Shekari B, Gaffari M. The effect of exogenous application of salicylic acid and ascorbic acid on forage quality and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) under water deficit conditions. Plant Soil Environ. 2024; 70(3): 142-53. https://doi.org/10.17221/181/2023-PSE

Mohamad SM, Darwish MM, Shahed HM, Abu-Shosha AM. Spraying maize with salicylic and ascorbic acids to improve physiological traits and productivity under water stress conditions. J Plant Prod. 2023; 14(5): 233-243. https://dx.doi.org/10.21608/jpp.2023.201140.1229

Loutfy N, Azooz M, Abou-Alhamd MF. Exogenously-applied salicylic acid and ascorbic acid modulate some physiological traits and antioxidative defense system in Zea mays L. seedlings under drought stress. Egypt J Bot. 2020; 60(1): 313-24. https://dx.doi.org/10.21608/ejbo.2020.20077.1400

Tahjib-Ul-Arif M, Zahan MI, Karim MM, Imran S, Hunter CT, Islam MS, et al. Citric acid-mediated abiotic stress tolerance in plants. Int J Mol Sci. 2021; 22(13): 7235. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22137235

Santos SR, Silva EB, Alleoni LRF, Grazziotti PH. Citric acid influence on soil phosphorus availability, J Plant Nut. 2017; 40(15): 2138-2145. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2016.1270312

Ali J, Mahmood T, Hayat K, Afridi MS, Ali F, Chaudhary HJ. Phytoextraction of Cr by maize (Zea mays L.): the role of plant growth promoting endophyte and citric acid under polluted soil. Arch Environ Prot. 2018; 44(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.24425/119705

Martinez-Pacheco MM, Flores-Garcia A, Venegas-Gonzalez E, Cepeda-Villegas MA. Effect of citric acid on the proteolytic activity of Zea mays L. Ciênc Agrotec. 2011; 35(5): 908-915. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-70542011000500007

da Silva MSRA, Dos Santos BMS, da Silva CSRA, da Silva CSRA, Antunes LFS, Dos Santos RM, et al. Humic substances in combination with plant growth-promoting bacteria as an alternative for sustainable agriculture. Front Microbiol. 2021; 12: 719653. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.719653

García AC, Castro TAT, Santos LA, Tavares OCH, Castro RN, Berbara RLL, et al. Structure–property–function relationship of humic substances in modulating the root growth of plants: A Review. J Environ Quality. 2019; 48: 1622-1632 https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2019.01.0027

Kaya C, Akram NA, Ashraf M, Sonmez O. Exogenous application of humic acid mitigates salinity stress in maize (Zea mays L.) plants by improving some key physico-biochemical attributes. Cereal Res Comm. 2018; 46(1): 67-78. https://doi.org/10.1556/0806.45.2017.064

Bijanzadeh E, Naderi R, Egan TP. Exogenous application of humic acid and salicylic acid to alleviate seedling drought stress in two corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids. J Plant Nut. 2019; 42(13): 1483-1495. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2019.1617312

Abdulameer OQ, Ahmed SH. Role of humic acid in improving growth characters of corn under water stress. Iraqi J Agric Sci. 2019; 50(1):

Steel RGD, Torrie JH, Dicky DA. Principles and procedures of statistics, a biometrical approach. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw Hill Inc Book Co; 1997. p. 666.

Jawad AH, Laila IM. Growth and nitrogen using efficiency for several genotypes of maize (Zea mays L.). Plant Arch. 2019; 19(Supplement 2): 11-18.

Lux A, Morita S, Abe J, Ito K. An improved method for clearing and staining free-hand sections and whole–mount samples. Ann Bot. 2005; 96(6): 989-996. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mci266

Al-Hadeethi MA. Anatomical and palynological study of Myrtus communis L. Diyala J Pure Sci. 2016; 12(4): 1-15.

Al-Hadeethi MA, Al-Taie AT, Ali JK. Anatomical study of Combretum indicum (L.) DeFilipps cultivated in Iraq. Sys Rev Pharm. 2020; 11(8): 736-741.

Al-essawi HKS, Abed NY. Genetic behavior of panicum (Panicum maximum L.) under different sowing dates in Iraq. Plant Arch. 2020; 20(1): 791-797.

Evert RF. Esau’s plant anatomy, meristems, cells, and tissues of the plant body: Their structure, function, and development. 3rd ed. New Jersey, USA: Wiley Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken; 2006. p. 601

Geitmann A. Seeing clearly -plant anatomy through Katherine Esau's microscopy lens. J Microsc. 2023; 291: 92-104. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13179

Crang R, Lyons-Sobaski S, Wise R. Plant anatomy: a concept-based approach to the structure of seed plants. Switzerland: Springer; 2018. p. 725.

Beck CB. An introduction to plant structure and development: plant anatomy for the twenty-first century. UK: Cambridge University Press; 2010. p. 433.

Campilho A, Nieminen K, Ragni L. The development of the periderm: the final frontier between a plant and its environment. Curr Opinion Plant Bio. 2020; 35: 10-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2019.08.008

Khan A. Plant anatomy and physiology. India: Gyan Publishing House, 2002. p. 334.

Bezrutczyk M, A1 Zöllner NR, Al Kruse CPS, A1 Hartwig T, A1 Lautwein T, A1 Köhrer K, et al. Evidence for phloem loading via the abaxial bundle sheath cells in maize leaves. Plant Cell. 2021; 33(3): 531-547. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koaa055

McCubbin TJ, Braun DM. Phloem anatomy and function as shaped by the cell wall. J Plant Physiol. 2021; 266: 153526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2021.153526

Abood NM, Hasan MA, Saleh BH. Effect the foliar spraying of humiforte on three cultivated varieties Sorghum bicolor L. by studying the anatomical characteristics of stem. J Pharm Biol Sci. 2017; 12(5): 91-99.

Hasan MA, Al-Taweel SK, Hamza JH, Jewad WM. Effect of seed weight on stem anatomical characters in white lupine (Lupinus albus L.) cultivars. Indian J Agric Res. 2018; 52(6): 666-670. http://dx.doi.org/10.18805/IJARe.A-352

Downloads

Issue

Section

article

How to Cite

1.
Effects of Ascorbic, Citric, and Humic Acids on Maize Stem and Leaf Anatomy. Baghdad Sci.J [Internet]. [cited 2024 Oct. 9];22(4). Available from: https://bsj.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/BSJ/article/view/10020