[Effects of water deficit at seedling stage on maize root development and anatomical structure]

A pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of water deficit at seedling stage on the root development and anatomical structure of maize. Four treatments were installed, i.e., 75%-85% of field capacity (control), 65%-75% of field capacity (light deficit), 55%-65% of field capacity (moderate deficit), and 45%-55% of field capacity (heavy deficit). Drought stress inhibited the plant growth. With increasing drought stress, the root length, diameter, and total biomass reduced, while the root vigor, root/shoot ratio, and root apex polysaccharide content increased. Under moderate water deficit, the branch root hair length, root hair density, and total length of root hair reached to the maximum. Anatomical observation showed that the decrease of root diameter was mainly due to the decrease of root central cylinder area and of root vessel diameter. No significant difference was observed in the root vessel number among the treatments, but the root vessel wall became irregular under water deficit. The increase of root apex polysaccharide content mainly occurred in the epidermal cells and pileorhiza cells. In epidermis cells, the polysaccharide was mainly in dissociation, while in pileorhiza cells, polysaccharide was mainly as starch grains. In sum, under water deficit, maize root could alter its vessel structure, increase the polysaccharide content in epidermal cells and pileorhiza cells, and expand the total surface area of root hair to enhance the water-absorbing ability of hair root, and to strengthen the drought resistance of maize. However, with the increase of water deficit, root hair didn't have unrestrictive growth, while in adverse, its growth was inhibited or damaged under severe drought.