Botny Reserch Interntionl, (1): 55-60, 009 ISSN 1-3635 IDOSI Publictions, 009 Vrition in Growth of Centell sitic long Different Soil Composition Anjn Devkot nd Prmod Kumr Jh Centrl Deprtment of Botny, Tribhuvn University, Kirtipur, Kthmndu, Nepl Abstrct: The effect of vrition in soil composition on growth vigour of Centell sitic (L) Urb. ws investigted in greenhouse of Centrl Deprtment of Botny, Tribhuvn University,Kthmndu. Vrition in different growth trits of Centell sitic ws investigted using vegettive clone of genome from one popultion in Kirtipur, Kthmndu, Nepl. We chose soil composition type s the tretment fctor to study vrition in growth trits s well s to know the best type of composition of soil for cultivtion purpose. We rised plnts in ech of six soil compositionl type nd exmined n rry of vegettive trits like: number of leves, petiole length, specific lef re, number of primry brnches nd plnt biomss. Most of the observed growth trits demonstrted significnt vrition in response to soil type. The C. sitic plnt cn mximize growth nd yield in hbitt with sndy lom rther thn clyey soil. Key words: Centell sitic Growth trits Soil Composition Vrition INTRODUCTION soil composition nd to identify soil type for cultivtion to obtin high yield. In present pper, we report ptterns Centell sitic (L.) Urbn (Fmily: Apicee) is of vrition in growth trits nd yield of C. sitic in n importnt trditionl medicinl plnt [1]. The plnt is response to chnges in soil composition. ntive to Indi, Chin, Nepl, Indonesi, Sri Lnk, Austrli, Mdgscr nd Southern nd Centrl Afric MATERIALS AND METHODS []. It is found throughout Indi nd Nepl in moist plces up to n ltitude of 00m (tropicl to subtropicl region) Tretment Conditions: A pot culture experiment in nd lso on moist stone wll or other rocky sunny res. completely rndomized design, ws estblished in the It is clonl plnt colonising erly in the bndoned jhum Botnicl Grden, Centrl Deprtment of Botny(CDB), (slsh nd burn griculture) [3].The plnt cn grow in Tribhuvn University, Kthmndu, (85º17.3'E Long; vriety of soils with moist, sndy or clyey lom, rich in 7º40.0'NLt,1350m sl), Nepl. The proportions of cly humus. Observtion of nturl popultions of Centell nd snd vried by thoroughly mixing the fine soil sitic indicted extensive vrition in its growth nd (0% snd) (collected from griculturl lnd) with reproductive trits. horticulturl snd in different proportion. Thus six Results of n extensive survey of popultions of tretments (composition) reflecting grdient of C. sitic indicted significnt effects of site on growth decresing cly contents (%), 100 (S1), 80 (S), 60(S3), trits [4].We investigted the mplitude of vrition in 40 (S4), 0(S5) nd 0(S 6) were prepred (Tble1). The six growth trits with respect to soil type in controlled soil types nlyzed fll under the following texturl environmentl conditions nd choose soil type s the clsses cly, silt, lom soil, sndy lom, sndy soil nd tretment fctor. It is well estblished tht soil texture snd (Tble 1). governs most soil properties [5], including orgnic mtter ccumultion [6], retention nd relese of wter [7] nd Plnt Mteril: Severl plnt cuttings of rndomly the mounts of nutrients in plnt-vilble forms [8]. smpled individul plnts of C. sitic were We hypothesized tht growth trits nd yield of collected from sme popultion from grden of CDB, Centell sitic vried significntly with soil type; TU, Kthmndu. The cuttings of plntlets were more or nd these vritions underlies the dpttion of plnt to less uniform size contining four leved condition; were resource supply. The min objectives of this study were plnted in erthen shllow pots filled with different types to study vrition in growth of C. sitic under different of soil (S1 to S6) in green house. Altogether 300 plnts; Corresponding Author: Anjn Devkot, Centrl Deprtment of Botny, Tribhuvn University, Kirtipur, Kthmndu, Nepl 55
Tble 1: Soil texturl clss nd chrcteristics Soil type Texturl clss -3 Bulk density (g cm ) Soil N (%) Orgnic crbon (%) S1 Cly (0 % snd) 1.55 0.5 4.5 S Silt (0% snd) 1.4 0. 4. S3 Lom soil (40% snd) 1.35 0.19 3.8 S4 Sndy lom (60%snd) 1.05 0.1 3.58 S5 Sndy soil (80% snd) 0.99 0.09 1.31 S6 Snd (100% snd) 0.88 0.008 0.05 fifty plnts for ech tretment were plnted seprtely for Soil Anlysis: Air-dried soil smples (n =5), brought experiment. Plnting ws done in October 007 nd equl seprtely for ech soil type for nlysis. Orgnic C ws mount of wter ws provided for irrigtion purpose for determined by the Wlkley Blck rpid titrtion method ech tretment. All pots nd tretments were rotted ech nd totl N by the micro-kjeldhl method [1]. week to counter ny positionl effects of pots within tretments. Sttisticl Anlysis: The significnce of the difference between the men of mesured ttributes mong the soil Growth Mesurement: Dt on yield nd morphologicl type ws nlyzed by one wy nlysis of vrince trits were recorded in April 008. Forty plnts per (ANOVA).The mount of vrition in the prmeters in repliction, selected rndomly, were used for the response to the tretments ws ssessed by clculting observtions. Twenty quntittive trits pertining to the coefficient of vrition (CV) computed s the stndrd plnt morphology nd yield were mesured. devition of the men vlues in ech of the six soil types Ninety mture leves per tretment were mesured divided by the overll men of the six tretment mens for lef length (LL), lef width (LW), petiole length (PL), [13].The tretment types were lso compred by multiple lef re (LA), dry weight of lef (LDW) nd specific lef rnge tests (Duncn Homogeneity test). Sttisticl re (SLA). Petiole length, length nd width of leves Pckge for Socil Science (SPSS, version, 11.5, 00) ws were mesured in fresh leves. Then these leves were used for ll sttisticl nlysis. oven dried (60ºC, 48 h) nd mss of ech lef ws weighed in electric blnce (0.001g). Length nd width RESULTS AND DISCUSSION of leves were mesured nd multiplied by conversion fctor following Zobel et l. (1987) [9] for determintion Soil Texture nd Fertility: In the present study, cly of lef re. SLA ws clculted s the rtio of lef re content ws significntly relted to orgnic C (r = 0.88, nd dry mss. P <0.001) nd totl N (r = 0.85, P <0.001). Studies hve Lef nitrogen (N) content ws determined by reported tht, in soils with reltively high cly content, modified microkjeldhl method following the procedure the stbilizing complexes re resistnt to microbiologicl described by Horneck nd Miller [10]. Lef N content ws decomposition [14]. Furthermore, nerobic conditions in determined in twenty smples from ech tretment. fine-textured soils cn increse denitrifiction losses Chlorophyll, Chlorophyll b nd totl chlorophyll content [8, 15] nd reduce minerliztion of orgnic N [16]. ws determined following the method of Arnon (1949) [11] Therefore, despite high orgnic C nd totl N, the mount in five smples from ech repliction. of plnt-vilble N would be lower in cly-rich soils. Number of nodes (NND) occurring long ech Snd would lso be low in fertility becuse of smll totl primry brnch were noted. Internodl lengths (IND) were N. Thus, the sndy lom (S4) would be expected to be the lso mesured on primry brnches rising from mture most fertile soil. rosettes. The dimeter of mture lef rosette (DR) indicted its spred nd number of leves (NLN) nd Morphologicl Trits nd Dry Mss: All the mesured primry brnches (NBN) rising from it ws lso scored. trits of leves vried significntly with soil type, Inflorescences were mesured for flower pedicel however, the differences ws only mrginl for lef dry length (FPL) nd totl number of flowers per mture weight nd lef re (Tble ). Among the lef trits, the rosette. Fresh (FHY) nd dry (DHY) herb yields per extent of vrition ws the highest in lef dry weight repliction were obtined fter hrvest nd moisture (CV=1.48, Tble ) nd lowest in totl chlorophyll content content (MC) clculted. (CV=0.043).Averge number of leves ws 4.15 per rmet. 56
Tble : Lef chrcters of Centell sitic in different soil texturl type. For ech prmeter significnt difference between men mong different sites re indicted by different letters (Duncn homogeneity test, á = 0.05). F nd P vlues were obtined by one wy nlysis of vrince (ANOVA) Attributes 0%snd (S1) 0%snd(S) 40% snd(s3) 60%snd(S4) 80%snd(S5) 100%snd(S6) Men CV F vlue P vlue b Petiole length (cm)* 11.51±4.77bc 1.54±6.83c 1.69±4.95c 1.38±3.57c 9.16±.88b 8.±.5 10.9±4.6 0.4 3.604 0.005 Lef length(cm)*.36±0.6 3.1±1.0.6±0.6.5±0.33.49±0.34.6±0.38.56±0.61 0.3 6. 0.000 Lef width(cm) 4.36±0.47 4.41±3.3b 4.4±0.93 6.13±0.6 4.01±0.64 4.03±0.75 4.6±1.53 0.33 4.64 0.001 Dry wt of lef(g)* 0.081±0.03 0.083±0.041 0.07±0.045 0.05±0.0 0.11±0.4b 0.09±0.09 0.09±0.1 1.33.5 0.034 Lef Are(cm )* 10.16±.03 18.73±0b 19.84±5.43 14.63±.94 1.3±7.5b 13.6±0.17 16.81±4.91 1.48.6 0.054 SLA(cm / g)* 17.13±63.19 34.86±19.5c 83.58±70.7b 9.±43.69 193.55±34.87 151.33±56.34 186.99±96.36 0.51 3.68 0.004 Lef N (%) ^ 1.69±0.31.11± 0.18.1±0.107.16±0.0.195 1.65±0.1 1.6±0.18 1.6±0.057 0.4 67.55 0.000 # Smple size(n) for ech tretment: *n=90 n=5 ^ n=0;b Bold number indictes significnt difference mong the men, ± Stndrd devition, CV= Coefficient of Vrince Tble 3: Growth trits nd yield of Centell sitic in different soil texturl group. For ech prmeter significnt difference between men mong the sites re indicted by different letters (Duncn homogeneity test, á = 0.05). F nd P vlues were obtined by one wy nlysis of vrince (ANOVA) Attributes 0%snd(S1) 0%snd(S) 40% snd(s3) 60%snd(S4) 80%snd(S5) 100%snd(S6) Men CV F vlue P vlue b Rosette dim(cm) 1.4±.13d 15.8±3.33c 18.18±3.15d 19.5±.9c 13.5±1.86b 10.5±3.03 14.6±3.6 0.4 17.19 0.000 No. of leves 3.66±.5 4.31±.8 3.5±0.55 5.9±0.8 4.65±0.5 3.65±0.4 4.5±1.54 0.36 1.499 0.197 Number of pri.brnch.73±1.33b 3±0.96b.87±1.5b.76±1b.7±0.9b 1.85±0.7.6±1.09 0.41.86 0.018 Number of nodes 4.66±3.4 3.43±1.6 4.93±3.43 4.94±.16 5.05±.01 4.7±1.6 4.64±.37 0.51 1.05 0.39 Length of internode(cm) 11.81±1.69.14±45.04 1.8±1.93 11.77±1.44 10.79±1.89 9.3±1.5 1.79±17.74 0.13 1.1 0.357 Peduncle length(cm) 1.85±4.5 1.9±0.795 1.89±0.54 1.87±0.74 1.85±0.58 1.5±0.51 1.8±00.6 0.33 0.393 0.393 Number of flower per node 9.1±.18 1.6±3.95b 18.4±4.7b 1±4.13b 1.7±3.6b 15.16±3.88b 15.17±3.89 0.5 1.75 0.131 Moisture content of plnt 73.45±1. 7.61±3.5b 74.4±1.1 71.55±.1b 64.7±1.b3 43.75±1.b 66.74±.15 0.03 1.36 0.000 Smple size(n) for ech tretment: n=40 ;b Bold number indictes significnt difference mong the men, ± Stndrd devition, CV=Coefficient of Vrince Fig. 1: Effect of soil texture on root length of individul plnt There ws no significnt difference in lef number mong the tretments (Tble 3). Dimeter of rosette nd root length of plnts vried significntly (p<0.001) mong tretments with longest (18.9cm) root found in S6 type of soil (i.e. pure snd; Fig1). In present study, plnts hd reltively low SLA if grown on snd s well s on soils with excessively high cly content. Plnts grown t low nutrient vilbility show decrese in SLA [17, 18] prtly s result of the ccumultion of non-structurl crbohydrtes or secondry compounds such s lignin or other phenolics [19]. Greter SLA vlues indicte more Fig. : Effect of soil texture on dry mss of individul plnt lef surfce per unit biomss nd, thus, more re vilble for photosynthesis [0], which compenstes for lower lef re in plnts, s found in this study for plnts grown in 40% cly (S4). Growth of root ws lso ffected significntly with soil type. Under extreme wter stress; the roots more esily penetrted the loose-dry soil tretment, s supported by the observed root depth. More mcropores llowed root penetrtion nd soil prticles were more esily pushed side in the loose tretment due to higher porosity, possibly providing greter ccess to the little wter vilble nd promoting production s result. Low nutrient supply results in n incresed root length 57
Fig. 3: Effect of soil texture on chlorophyll content of lef of C. sitic rtio [1, ]. Thus the longest root length in snd ws Further, indequte contct of roots with soil in corse ttributed by low nutrient nd wter supply. Under rid textured soil i.e. in snd; could limit the uptke of wter nd stressed condition, overll plnt growth ws reduced nd nutrients [9], which in turn, ppers to reduce the s result of both biochemicl disruptions nd reduced growth rte nd yield of C. sitic. On the other hnd, cell enlrgement, which in turn led to reduced lef comprtively high yield nd growth vigour observed in expnsion nd totl lef re nd therefore reduced whole sndy lom (S, S3 nd S4) type tretments would enble plnt photosynthesis. Tht is the reson for low vlue of the plnt to pre-empt growth resources. growth trit dt nd low yield in pure snd. Further, indequte contct of roots with the soil in Lef Nutrient nd Chlorophyll Content: Lef N content snds could limit the uptke of wter nd nutrients, which rnged from 1.46 to.11 %( verge 1.6%) (Tble ). in turn, ppers to reduce the growth rtes in C. sitic. Soil texturl type hd significnt influence (p<0.001) on Sultn nd Bzzz [3, 4, 5] studied vrition in growth the lef N of Centell sitic. Chlorophyll content trits in Polygonum persicri in response to light, rnged from 3.5 t soil with no cly (S6) type to moisture nd nutrient content of soil nd they found 13.17mg/g t 40% cly (S4 type) soil (verge 8.37 mg/g) mrked morphologicl vrition in lef, stem, root nd (Fig 3).Chlorophyll b content lso rnged from.01 t S6 fruit nd in structures relted to reproductive support type to 7.88 mg/g t 60 % cly (S3 type) soil. There ws following chnges in soil moisture [4]. significnt difference (p<0.001) in chlorophyll nd b Dry mss of plnt ws differed significntly mong content mong the tretments. Lef N nd chlorophyll the soil type (p=0.035). It ws higher in sndy lom content ws the lest in plnts grown in pure snd (S4 type) of soil (Fig ).Sndy lom soil with medium (Tble ). Lowest vlue of lef N (1.6%) nd chlorophyll bulk density my hve fcilitted high biomss (6.3mg/g) content of C. sitic grown in pure snd ws production. Compred to low nd high bulk densities, the due to poor nutrient (0.001% N) nd less moisture content medium bulk density my provide longer retention of in tht soil. The decrese of chlorophyll content in plnts wter in the soil nd increse vilble wter to plnt due growing in snd my be ssocited with nd most to the higher proportion of mesopores. Uptke of wter probbly relted to the decrese of plnts wter content nd nutrients my lso be improved by better root-soil (43.75%). The decrese of chlorophyll content is contct [6]. In contrst to tht soil hving high (S1, 100% highly relted to the decrese of wter content in plnt cly) nd very low bulk density did not fvor the growth leves [30, 31]. Higher vlue of lef N (.16%) nd totl of plnts resulting low yield. Siemens et l [7] reported chlorophyll content (5.48mg/g; Fig 3) of C. sitic plnt tht limited resources (e.g. soil nutrients, wter, ir) cn grown in 40% cly ws due to sufficient mount of ir, directly inhibit the rte of growth. According to Bzzz nutrient nd wter. [8], vilbility of soil resources, especilly nutrients, In conclusion there ws significnt vrition in mny criticlly influenced plnt growth. Hence, comprtively vegettive trits nd yield of C. sitic long different low biomss exhibited on cly-rich soils (S1 tretment) soil compositionl type. The results lso suggest tht suggests tht C. sitic hd slower growth rtes under C. sitic cn mximize growth nd yield in hbitt with soil hving low vilble nutrient nd ir due to sndy lom type of soil rther thn cly. This informtion compctness of soil prticles. i.e high bulk density. cn be used in plnning cultivtion of the plnt. 58
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Prtil finncil support for this reserch from University Grnts Commission, Nepl is thnkfully cknowledged. We re thnkful to Dr Rm Kilsh Ydv nd Mr. Bhrt Bbu Shresth, Centrl Deprtment of Botny, Tribhuvn University, for their help in sttisticl nlysis. REFERENCES 1. Devkot, A. nd P.K Jh, 008. Biology nd medicinl chrcteristics of Centell sitic. In Medicinl Plnts in Nepl: An Anthology of Contemporry Reserch. Eds. Jh PK,. Krmchry SB, Chettri MK., Thp CB nd Shresth BB. Ecologicl Society (ECOS): Kthmndu, pp: 68-80.. Press, J.R., K.K. Shresth nd D.A. Sutton, 000. Annotted Checklist of the Flowering Plnts of Nepl. The Nturl History Museum, London nd Centrl Deprtment of Botny, Tribhuvn University, Kthmndu, Nepl. 3. Wnkr, B. nd R.S. Tripthi, 1993. Popultion dynmics of Centell sitic (Linn.) Urb., clonl herbceous perennil, in jhum fllows of two different ges. Tropicl Ecology, 34: 35-43. 4. Devkot A nd P.K. Jh, 008 b. Growth performnce nd nutrient sttus of Centell sitic (L.) Urbn in different lnd uses of Kthmndu vlley, Nepl. Interntionl Journl of Ecology nd Environmentl Sciences. (in press). 5. Rmde, F., 1981. Ecology of Nturl Resources. Wiley nd Sons, Chichester, UK. 6. Hssink, J., 1996. Preservtion of plnt residues in soils differing in unsturted protective cpcity. Soil Science Society of Americ Journl, 60: 487-491. 7. Hook, P.B. nd I.C. Burke, 000. Biogeochemistry in short grss lndscpe: Control by topogrphy, soil texture nd microclimte. Ecology, 81: 686-703. 8. Brdy, N.C., 1990. The Nture nd Properties of Soils. 10th edn. McMilln, New York, USA. 9. Zobel, D.B. P.K Jh, M.J. Behn nd U.K.R. Ydv, 1987. A Prcticl Mnul for Ecology. Kthmndu: Rtn book Distributor. 10. Horneck, D.A. nd R.O. Miller, 1988. Determintion of totl nitrogen in plnt tissue. pp: 75-83. In: Hnd Book of Reference Methods for Plnt Anlysis. Eds.TP Klr. CRC Press, USA. 11. Arnon, D.I., 1949. Copper enzymes in isolted chloroplsts, polyphenol oxidse in Bet vulgris L. Plnt Physiology, 4: 1-15. 1. Jckson, M.L., 1958. Soil Chemicl Anlysis. Prentice Hll, NJ, USA. 13. Schlichting, C.D. nd D.A. Levin, 1986. Phenotypic plsticity: n evolving plnt chrcter. Biologicl Journl of the Linnen Society, 9: 37-47. 14. Stevenson, F.J., 1986. Cycles of Soils. Wiley, New York, USA. 15. Hnsen, S., J.E. Mehlum nd L.R. Bkken, 1993. NO nd CH 4.fluxes in soil influenced by fertiliztion nd trctor trffic. Soil Biology nd Biochemistry, 5: 61-630. 16. Eijsckers, H. nd A.J.B Zehnder, 1990. Litter decomposition: Russin mtriochk doll. Biogeochemistry, 11: 153-174. 17. Sge, R.F. nd R.W. Percy, 1987. The nitrogen use efficiency of C3 nd C4 plnts. II. Lef nitrogen effects on the gs exchnge chrcteristics of Chenopodium lbum nd Amrnthus retro.exus (L.). Plnt Physiology, 84: 959-963. 18. Cunninghm, S.A., B. Summerhyes nd M. Westoby, 1999. Evolutionry divergences in lef structure nd chemistry, compring rinfll nd soil nutrient grdients. Ecology, 69: 569-588. 19. Wring, R.H, A.J.S. Mcdonld, S. Lrsson, T. Ericsson, A. Wiren nd E. Arwidsson, 1985. Differences in chemicl composition of plnts grown t constnt reltive growth rtes with stble minerl nutrition. Oecologi, 66: 157-160. 0. Lmbers, H. nd H. Poorter, 199. Inherent vrition in growth rte between higher plnts: serch for physiologicl cuses nd ecologicl consequences. Advnces in Ecologicl Reserch, 3: 188-61. 1. Boot, R.G.A. nd K.C. Den Dubbelden, 1990. Effects of nitrogen supply on growth, lloction nd gs exchnge chrcteristics of two perennil grsses from inlnd dunes. Oecologi, 85: 115-11.. Ryser nd H. Lmbers, 1995. Root nd lef ttributes ccounting for the performnce of fst- nd slowgrowing grsses t different nutrient supply. Plnt nd Soil, 170: 51-65. 3. Sultn, S.E. nd F.A. Bzzz, 1993. Phenotypic plsticity in Polygonum persicri.i. Diversity nd uniformity in genotypic norms of rection to light. Evolution, 47: 1009-1031. 4. Sultn, S.E. nd F.A. Bzzz, 1993b. Phenotypic plsticity in Polygonum persicri.ii. Diversity nd uniformity in genotypic norms of rection to light. Evolution, 47: 103-1049. 5. Sultn, S.E. nd F.A Bzzz, 1993c. Phenotypic plsticity in Polygonum persicri.iii. Diversity nd uniformity in genotypic norms of rection to light. Evolution, 47: 1050-1071. 59
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