FOLIAR APPLICATION OF ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR DUST ON GROWTH, STOMATA AND LEAF BIOCHEMISTRY IN CE

CRESCIMENTO, ESTÔMATOS E
BIOQUÍMICA FOLIAR DE CERTAS
LEGUMINOSAS EXPOSTAS À POEIRA
DE PRECIPITADOR ELETROSTÁTICO
RESUMO- A aplicação foliar de poeira de precipitador
eletrostático (EPS) não causou danos ao crescimento e
a produção econômica das plantas de V. radiata, V.
mungo, V. catjung, Cajanus cajan e Glycine max. Não
foram constatadas anormalidades nos estomatos nem
clorose nas plantas expostas. Dos elementos
analisados (Cu, Fe, Na, K, Ca, Mn, Mg, Pb e Zn) a
absorção específica foi maior para o Fe, K, Ca e Mg. A
absorção de Fe foi particularmente maior em Vigna
mungo e Vigna catjung. A absorção e biomagnificação
dos elementos minerais nas diversas plantas
estudadas foram diferentes. Em V. catjung, a
biomagnificação de elementos especícos como o Fe,
Ca e Mg foi observada. Os níveis de compostos
nitrogenados assim como os de sacarose e amido não
foram afetados nas plantas tratadas com EPS, um
indicativo da não interferência destas partículas no
metabolismo do nitrogênio e na redução fotossintética
do CO2.
Termos adicionais para indexação:
biomagnificação, Cajanus cajan, estresse, fatores
epidermicos, Glycine max, pigmentos
cloroplastídicos, Vigna catjung, Vigna mungo, Vigna
radiata.
INTRODUCTION
Air pollution has become a serious problem in
recent times due to rapid growth of thermal power
stations, cement factories, steel and coal industries.
As the growth of industries is increasing, the rate of
pollution in the atmosphere is also increasincreasing
steadily deteriorating the quality of air, water and
agriculturally fertile lands by action of gaseous
pollutants and particulate pollutants. In comparison to
gaseous pollutants, many of which are readily
recognized as being the cause of injury to various
types of vegetation through both field as well as
simulation studies, relatively little is known and limited
studies have been carried out on the effects of
particulate pollutants on vegetation (Darley, 1966
Krishnamurthy & Rajachidambaram, 1986 Lerman,
1972; Lerman & Darley, 1975; Prasad & Inamdar, 1990
Prasad et al., 1991 Saralabai & Vivekanandan, 1992,
1995 a,b; Singh & Rao, 1978). Most of the research
done hitherto was on the effects of the dust on leaves,
twigs and flowers and ecomonic productivity.
Therefore, the objective of the present study is to find
out the influence of the dust on growth, stomata and
leaf biochemistry of certain legume crops such as
Vigna radiata, Vigna mungo, Vigna catjung, Cajanus
cajan and Glycine max most popularly grown in
Tamilnadu, India.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present simulation study was conducted in the
university botanical garden in open conditions to
understand precisely the effects of soil application of
ESP dust from gaseous kiln exhausts pollutants (N2
>C02 >02 >S02 >NO >NO2 >CO >H2S) that operate at
the location of the cement factory. The ESP dust
directly collected from the electrostatic precipitator
(ESPT of the Tamilnadu Cements Corporation Limited
(TANCEM), Ariyalur Cements Works, Ariyalur, India
was used in all experiments.
Seeds of Vigna radiata, V. mungo, V.catjung,
Cajanus cajan and Glycine max were collected from
the National Pulses Research Centre, Vamban, India
and fifteen healthy seeds were sown in earthern pots
(200mm of depth and 190mm of diameter) containing
the garden soil. The garden soil used was red sandy
loam with the following soil nutrients: N (10.36 g/kg), P
(0.62 g/kg), K (0.88 g/kg), total organic matter of
3.12% and total organic carbon of 1.99%. The soil had
a bulk density of 0.62 kg/L and water holding capacity
of 21.87% with percentage pore space of 36.67. The
seedlings were grown under natural photoperiod (261
Watts/m2) with day and night temperatures of 28-32 ºC
and 22-25 ºC, respectively. After germination, the
seedlings were thinned down to 10/pot to permit
healthy growth of the seedlings. When the seedlings
attained 7-day of growth, foliar application of the dust
(10 g/pot) was resorted to at 2-day intervals till
maturity using a hand sprayer. Agrobotanical
characters were analysed in both 50 and 80 day old
plants and the yield parameters when the plants were
120 days old.
Elemental analyses of leaves were carried out after
digesting the sample with triple acid mixture (10ml of
concentrated nitric acid, 4 ml of perchloric acid and 1
ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid using atomic
absorption spectrophotometer. Free amino acids, total
sugars, phenols, proteins, starch, sucrose, SH
compounds, free proline, nitrate and nitrite and
nitrogen were quantified by following the methods of
Troll & Canan, (1953), Dubois et al., (1956), Swain &
Hillis, (1959), Lowry et al., (1951), Mc Cready et al.,
(1950), Van Handel, (1968), De kok et al., (1983),
Bates et al., (1973), Wolley et al., (1960) and Umbriet
et al., (1972) respectively. The transportable form of
N-compounds like total ureides, allantoin and allantoic
acid were determined by following the method of
Vogels & Vander Drift (1970).
Healthy, fresh and fully mature leaves of the 3rd
node from the top were collected from the 80-day old
control and treated plants and processed for scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) (Hitachi, S-50). The upper
leaf surfaces were viewed after coating with gold
(100A thickness). The impressions of the upper and
lower epidermis of fresh leaves were taken in the
cellulose acetate film (125 mm thickness, Agar
Scientific Ltd., England) by flooding acetone on both
the leaf and film surfaces and pressing them together.