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Effect of Drought Stress on Anatomical Structure and Chloroplast Ultrastructure in Leaves of Sugarcane

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Abstract

In order to provide a reference for investigating the mechanism of drought resistance in sugarcane, variations of chlorophyll content and chloroplast ultrastructure in sugarcane leaves were analyzed. The present research was conducted using sugarcane cultivars, strongly drought-resistant F172 and weakly drought-resistant YL6, as plant materials in pot experiment under controlled greenhouse condition. At elongation stage, the plants were provided different degrees of drought stress: (1) mild drought with 65–70 % of the soil water capacity; (2) moderate drought with 45–65 % of the soil water content; (3) severe drought with 25–45 % of soil water capacity and; (4) control with 70 % of soil water capacity. Chlorophyll content in leaves was measured, and variations of green leaves number and chloroplast ultrastructure were observed. It was found that the green leaves of sugarcane and chlorophyll content were significantly reduced in the process of drought stress. Upper and lower cuticle thickness was getting thickened during drought stress, but the thickness of lower epidermal cuticle of YL6 variety was reduced under severe drought condition. Ultrastructure observation showed that, in most cases, the chloroplasts were close to the cell wall and well arranged, and the chloroplast thylakoids were orderly arranged in the chloroplasts. With the ongoing of drought stress, plasmosis occurred, the chloroplasts moved closer to the center of the cell, and turned gradually from long oval to nearly round, and starch grains increased. Under severe drought conditions, F172 still maintained integrity of the chloroplast structure while the chloroplast in YL6 were severely deformed and became blurred in shape.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program),(2013AA102604), International Cooperation Program project of China (2013DFA31600), Guangxi Funds for Bagui Scholars and Distinguished Visiting Experts, Guangxi Natural Science Fund (2011GXNSFF018002, 2012GXNSFDA053011), Guangxi R & D Program project (GKC1123008-1), Science and Technology Development Foundation of Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2011YT01), Guangxi Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Genetic Improvement Grant (12-K-03-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agriculture, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    Feng-Juan Zhang, Kun-Kun Zhang, Cheng-Zhong Du, Jian Li, Yong-Xiu Xing, Li-Tao Yang & Yang-Rui Li

  2. Sugarcane Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences-Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biotechnology and Genetic Improvement (Guangxi), Ministry of Agriculture, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Genetic Improvement, Nanning, 530007, China

    Yong-Xiu Xing, Li-Tao Yang & Yang-Rui Li

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  1. Feng-Juan Zhang
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  2. Kun-Kun Zhang
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  3. Cheng-Zhong Du
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  4. Jian Li
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  5. Yong-Xiu Xing
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  6. Li-Tao Yang
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Correspondence to Li-Tao Yang or Yang-Rui Li.

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Zhang, FJ., Zhang, KK., Du, CZ. et al. Effect of Drought Stress on Anatomical Structure and Chloroplast Ultrastructure in Leaves of Sugarcane. Sugar Tech 17, 41–48 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-014-0337-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-014-0337-y

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