Abstract: Copper is necessary for the growth and development of plants. However, high concentration of Cu exerts extreme toxic effects, resulting in inhibition of growth and development. In the present communication, results on toxic effects of copper on rooting and sprouting regeneration and growth characteristics of the mulberry cuttings, Morus alba L. are reported under hydroponic culture experiments. In total, 8 concentrations of copper chloride solutions, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.5 mg/l were considered, apart from control, distilled water alone. Distilled water/CuCl2 solutions in the experimental beakers were replaced every alternative day. Regeneration characteristics of rooting and sprouting like rooting %, sprouting %, time (in days) taken for initiation of rooting and sprouting were considered. Growth attributes root of mulberry cuttings, such as root length, number of roots and weight of roots were taken. Also, growth attributes of mulberry cuttings sprouting like shoot length, number of leaves produced, weight of leaves and leaf area were recorded. Using the recorded data, Tolerance Index (TI) and Phytotoxicity variables were evaluated. Macroscopic data were subjected to regression analysis and ANOVA to indicate the statistical authenticity.
Rooting in mulberry cuttings was initiated on day 16 of experimentation under control conditions while the same was delayed under experimental conditions. Rooting was 82% for control cuttings while it increased for initial low concentrations of Cu up to 0.05 mg/l and thereafter, it drastically reduced. Shooting in mulberry was initiated on day 8. No change in shooting initiation time was observed for most of Cu concentrations. All root growth attributes (root length, number of roots and root weight) recorded high values for initial two Cu concentrations (0.025 and 0.050 mg/l) over control mulberry cuttings and there after the attributes decreased. In the case of shoot growth attributes, all the four parameters (shoot length, number of leaves, leaf weight and leaf area) did not show any statistical variations up to 0.25 mg/l Cu concentration compared to control. The last two Cu concentrations (1.0 and 1.5 mg/l) induced neither rooting nor shooting in mulberry cuttings. Tolerance Index (TI) was more for mulberry cutting shooting characters while it was low for mulberry cutting rooting characters. On the contrary, phytotoxicity was less for mulberry cutting sprouting compared to mulberry cutting rooting. From the data, it is clear that the effective concentration for Cu ranged between 0.025 to 0.050 mg/l.
Keywords: mulberry, Morus alba, rooting, sprouting copper, toxicity, effective concentration.
Title: Toxic effect of Copper on rooting and sprouting characteristics of the mulberry (Morus alba L.) cuttings
Author: A. Yerranna, P. Lakshminarayana Reddy, B. Sujatha, S. Sankar Naik
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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