Anatomical and physiological traits of maize under contrasting water levels and cattail occurrence

Abstract

Maize is an important crop, with genotype BRS-4154, 'Saracura', being tolerant to intermittent flooding. Cattail is an aquatic plant with known radial oxygen loss activity, being widely diffused around the world and highly invasive. We aimed to analyse the interaction of Maize and Cattail under waterlogging and field capacity. The experiment was conducted in pots containing red latosol and nutrient solution in a greenhouse, 10 days after germination, when maize plants reached the average height of 12.5 cm, the sources of variation were introduced, being the presence or absence of Cattail and waterlogged or at field capacity with the conditions being kept by refilling the water lost. The experiment was conducted in a factorial completely randomized design (2 × 2). Growth data were collected fortnightly, 5 times, with dry weight measured on the eightieth day. The analysis of gas exchange, chlorophyll content, and sampling for leaf anatomy was performed monthly, twice, using an infrared gas-exchange analyser and a SPAD unit meter. In the final 5 days of the experiment, the dissolved oxygen in waterlogged pots was measured consecutively and roots were sampled for usual microtechnique procedures. Waterlogging was detrimental however Cattail increased the dissolved oxygen content and benefitted maize showing no competition.