AN ANATOMICAL STUDY OF COPPER DEFICIENT WHEAT

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Abstract
Copper deficient and normal wheat var. Kenya was grown in the field and in sand culture. An anatomical investigation of the stem was undertaken and the third internode was studied in detail. The thickness of the epidermal cell wall, the width of the epidermal cell, the thickening of the hypodermal cell walls, the width of the hypodermal layer, the area of the epidermis and hypodermis, the area of lignified hypodermis and the area of unlignified hypodermis were measured in populations of controls and copper deficient plants and were then analysed statistically. The characteristics of the vascular bundles could not be analysed due to their great variability. Results showed that copper deficient wheat was considerably less lignified than the controls; that epidermal and hypodermal cell walls were significantly decreased in thickness, but that the area of the hypodermis remained unchanged. A test to determine the rigidity of wheat stems was devised. Copper deficient stems were significantly less rigid than controls. The copper concentration of the deficient plants studied did not appear to differ in the two treatments, but the total copper content of copper sufficient plants is appreciably higher than that of deficient ones.