MORPHO – ANATOMICAL RESPONSE OF SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM

ABSTRACT

Lead (Pb), one of the most important heavy metals, has achieved considerable importance as a powerful soil pollutant which leads to loss in yield and food scarcity. Drought has also been found to cause food scarcity in the world today. This study was carried out in order to determine the effect of lead pollution and drought stress on the growth of Solanum lycoperscicum. This study was carried out in the premises of the Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Science, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The seed of Solanum lycoperscicum plant was obtained from National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan, Oyo State. Solanum lycoperscicum seed variety used is Roma VF. The lead nitrate treatments consisted of control and three treatments (30mg/l, 50mg/l and 100mg/l) in four replicate respectively, the drought regimes consisted of control and three regimes (2 days, 3 days and 4 days) in five replicate respectively. Percent germination study was determined 15 days after planting, the value obtained showed the seed were of good quality. Data for growth parameters (stem height, stem girth and number of leaves) of a selected plant were collected every 2 weeks for 10 weeks. Anatomical analysis was carried out 5, 7 and 9 weeks after planting respectively. The experiment lasted for 12 weeks. The anatomical analysis carried out revealed that lead had no effect on the stem of S. lycoperscicum plant, but had negative effect on the root. Lead was also observed to negatively affect plant growth at very high concentration, but at low concentration of 30mg/l, it was observed that lead improved growth of the plant. From the anatomical analysis, it was observed that drought stress greatly affected the stem (caused death to the cells to the stem) of S. lycoperscicum and had little or no effect on the root.