International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences (IJSRES), 1 (12), pp. 372-376, 2013 Available online at http://www.ijsrpub.

com/ijsres ISSN: 2322-4983; 2013 IJSRPUB http://dx.doi.org/10.12983/ijsres-2013-p372-376

Full Length Research Paper Upland Rice Root Parameters and Their Relationship on Utilizing Different Levels of Applied Zinc
Golnaz Sharifianpour1*, Zaharah A. Rahman1, Cek Fauziah Ishak1, Mohamed Hanafi1, Nafiseh Alifar1, Ahmad Sharifkhani2
1

Land Management Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia 2 Institute Tropical Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia *Corresponding Author: Golnaz.sharifianpour@yahoo.com
Received 27 September 2013; Accepted 23 November 2013

Abstract. Global efforts are under way to improve the Zn concentrations in rice to increase Zn in diets. Zinc uptake in relation to morphological root parameters among 7 upland rice varieties was studied by conducting a solution culture experiment using modified Yoshida solution in Agriculture Faculty of University Putra Malaysia. Five zinc levels were developed by the addition of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30 mgL-1 ZnSO4. Seedlings were harvested in week 4. Zn uptake in roots of upland rice showed significant differences among all varieties. Zn uptake significantly increased at all rates. Other root parameters (length, average diameter, surface area, volume, and number of root tips) did not show any significant differences in 0 to 20 mg ZnL-1, but they decreased significantly in 30 mg ZnL-1 in 4th week of observation. Key words: Zinc, Rice, Root Morphology, Zn Uptake

1. INTRODUCTION Zinc is essential for the normal healthy growth and reproduction of plants. The normal concentration of this element is 25 to 150 mg kg-1 in plants. Deficiencies of Zn are usually associated with concentrations of less than 20 mg kg-1, and toxicities will occur when the Zn leaf concentration exceeds 400 mg L-1 (Tisdale et al., 1993). Cultivars differ in their ability to take up Zn, which may be caused by differences in zinc translocation and utilization, differential accumulation of nutrients that interact with Zn and differences in plant roots to exploit for soil Zn (Tisdale et al., 1993). Rice, the main staple food of Asia, is inherently very low in Zn and its high consumption relative to other foods contributes to high incidence of Zn deficiency in human populations in Asia (Gibson et al., 2007; Stein et al., 2007). Rice yield and growth are very sensitive to Zn and its an important plant nutrient for plant vigor after N and P. Upland rice is water saving rice production system depending on irrigation water management and anticipated yield (Wang et al., 2009). Upland rice needs to have a deeper rooting and a higher root length and density than lowland rice cultivars because of the limited water availability under aerobic as compared to flooded conditions (Matsuo et al., 2010). The primary source of Zn for rice plants is trough root uptake (Welch and Graham, 2002), To increase Zn uptake by roots, the Zn

availability in the rhizosphere must be increased (Welch and Shuman, 1995). Some researchers reported that under nutrientdeficient conditions, plants tend to alter their root size and morphology for efficient nutrient acquisition. Enhanced root growth under Zn deficiency, both in length and number of roots, has been associated with Zn-deficiency tolerance of lowland rice genotypes. In addition researchers showed moderate Zn deficiency enhanced both root length and the number of total root tips to a greater extent in a Zn-deficiency-tolerant genotype than in a susceptible one, but severe Zn deficiency reduced root growth in both the genotypes compared with Zn-sufficient conditions (Chen et al., 2009). Most recent studies in rice suggest that among numerous other mechanisms, Zn uptake is most important. However, there has been a little critical appraisal of root traits. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different rates of Zinc on root morphological traits among different upland rice genotypes in Malaysia. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seeds of seven upland varieties (Table 1) were collected from different parts of Malaysia. This study was conducted at Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia from April to May 2012. Five treatments of different Zinc concentrations (0, 5, 10, 20 and 30 mg L-1) were applied on the seven upland rice varieties (ZnSO4.7H2O as source of Zn was

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applied). Experimental units were grown in Yoshida solution culture (Yoshida, 1981) in growth chamber and pH was daily adjusted on 5.5. Plants were irrigated twice a day and seedlings harvested in 4th week. The roots that developed after 28 days were scanned using WinRHIZO root scanning software.

Root parameters, such as volume, surface area, average diameter, length and number of root tips were recorded. Dry-matter weights and root Zn content were determined. This study was repeated three times and conducted by RCBD. The data obtained were subjected to ANOVA using the SAS 9.2 version.

Table 1: Sign and name of varieties

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sign V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 Name of Var. Bertih Tenom Kesum Sintuk Polut wangi Hita Nabawan State of origin Pahang Sabah Pahang Pahang Pahang Pahang Sabah

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Seeds of seven upland varieties (Table 1) were collected from different parts of Malaysia. This study was conducted at Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia from April to May 2012. Five treatments of different Zinc concentrations (0, 5, 10, 20 and 30 mg L-1) were applied on the seven upland rice varieties (ZnSO4.7H2O as source of Zn was applied). Experimental units were grown in Yoshida solution culture (Yoshida, 1981) in growth chamber
Rice variety V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 0 5 (mg ZnL-1) 0.023 d 0.033 d 0.016 d 0.013 c 0.027 d 0.010 d 0.011 d

and pH was daily adjusted on 5.5. Plants were irrigated twice a day and seedlings harvested in 4th week. The roots that developed after 28 days were scanned using WinRHIZO root scanning software. Root parameters, such as volume, surface area, average diameter, length and number of root tips were recorded. Dry-matter weights and root Zn content were determined. This study was repeated three times and conducted by RCBD. The data obtained were subjected to ANOVA using the SAS 9.2 version.

Table 2: Zn uptake in roots of rice varieties at different rate of zinc applied @ (mg plant-1)
10 (mg ZnL-1) 0.040 c 0.043 c 0.044 c 0.047 b 0.036 c 0.021 c 0.011 c 20 (mg ZnL-1) 0.091 b 0.060 b 0.056 b 0.059 a 0.049 b 0.045 b 0.031 b 30 (mg ZnL-1) 0.103 a 0.102 a 0.071 a 0.059 a 0.056 a 0.056 a 0.040 a

0.006 e 0.008 e 0.010 e 0.013 c 0.012 e 0.008 e 0.008 e

@Means in a column with the same letters are not significantly different at 5% level

Table 3: Root lengths of varieties in different rate of zinc@

Variety V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 0 136.293 d 172.610 d 164.627 d 190.647 b 224.317 d 226.967 c 225.987 d 5(mgL-1) 181.100 c 293.317 a 226.317 b 197.760 b 289.010 a 233.250 c 244.390 c Length (mm) 10(mgL-1) 200.390 b 235.353 b 253.027 a 207.650 b 270.990 b 271.333 a 282.637 a 20(mgL-1) 222.723 a 235.390 b 253.060 a 235.557 a 264.300 b 275.250 a 264.957 b 30(mgL-1) 140.057 d 216.353 c 214.990 c 196.573 b 238.277 c 247.787 b 195.007 e

@Means in a column with the same letters are not significantly different at 5% level

High level of Zinc showed severe phytotoxic effects rice and significantly inhibited its growth by interfering with certain important metabolic process were also observed by (Alam et al., 2002) and (Ebbs

and Kochian, 1998).As clearly seen in the Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6, the effects of application of different rates of zinc on root surface area, number of root tips, and volume, followed the same trend as root

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length. The effects of application of different rates of zinc on average root diameter showed that this root

parameter didnt have any significant differences between all rates in most of the varieties (Table 7).
Root surface areas(cm2) 10(mgL-1) 20(mgL-1) 32.000 ab 31.133 b 33.453 b 37.910 a 41.963 b 44.450 a 41.560 a 34.900 a 34.570 b 40.380 a 38.577 a 40.327 bc 41.900 a 44.733 a

Table 4: Root surface area of varieties at different rate of zinc@

Variety V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 0 25.127 c 30.643 b 26.970 c 31.333 b 36.243 c 34.960 b 30.717 c 5(mgL ) 31.117 ab 47.640 a 34.950 b 32.473 b 46.783 a 32.073 b 34.433 b
-1

30(mgL-1) 28.347 bc 34.183 b 31.327 bc 31.737 b 35.153 c 40.193 a 35.133 b

@Means in a column with the same letters are not significantly different at 5% level

Table 5: Number of root tips of varieties at different rate of zinc@

N Tips Variety V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 0 328.67 d 505.67 c 472.67 c 560.67 b 570.00 b 674.67 c 547.33 c 5(mgL ) 487.33 b 867.00 a 627.00 b 607.67 ab 680.00 ab 548.67 d 816.33 a
-1

10(mgL-1) 580.67 a 596.67 b 674.67 b 629.33 ab 740.67 ab 738.67 b 670.67 b

20(mgL-1) 580.00 a 589.00 b 751.33 a 672.00 a 813.67 a 825.00 a 640.67 b

30(mgL-1) 354.00 c 490.00 c 627.67 b 574.67 b 648.00 ab 730.67 b 624.33 b

@Means in a column with the same letters are not significantly different at 5% level

Table 6: Root volume of upland rice varieties at different rate of zinc@

Volume(Cm3) Variety V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 0 0.363 b 0.363 b 0.337 b 0.273 c 0.467 a 0.417 c 0.417 b 5(mgL-1) 0.377 b 0.420 b 0.457 a 0.383 b 0.577 a 0.450 bc 0.563 a 10(mgL-1) 0.427 b 0.427 b 0.500 a 0.450 ab 0.523 a 0.597 a 0.523 a 20(mgL-1) 0.483 a 0.593 a 0.517 a 0.510 a 0.517 a 0.523 ab 0.590 a 30(mgL-1) 0.363 b 0.420 b 0.497 a 0.383 a 0.467 a 0.517 ab 0.413 b

@Means in a column with the same letters are not significantly different at 5% level

Table 7: Average root diameter of rice varieties at different rate of zinc @

Variety V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 0 0.55 b 0.55 a 0.53 b 0.54 a 0.53 c 0.53 a 0.53 a 5(mgL-1) 0.56 a 0.55 a 0.55 b 0.54 a 0.55 ab 0.54 a 0.55 a Ave. Diameter(mm) 10(mgL-1) 0.57 a 0.55 a 0.55 b 0.54 a 0.55 ab 0.55 a 0.56 a 20(mgL-1) 0.58 a 0.57 a 0.57 a 0.55 a 0.57 a 0.55 a 0.57 a 30(mgL-1) 0.56 a 0.55 a 0.54 b 0.55 a 0.54 bc 0.54 a 0.55 a

@Means in a column with the same letters are not significantly different at 5% level

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4. CONCLUSION Increase of Zinc rate has a positive effect on morphological root parameters up to 20 mgL-1. Soluble forms of Zn are readily available to plants and the uptake of Zn has been reported to be linear with concentration in the nutrient solution and soils. In addition, plants grown in Zn-contaminated soils accumulate a great proportion of the metal in the roots (Kabata-Pendias, 2000). This shows that Zn in high concentration causes root growth disorder. Results of this study showed at 30 mg ZnL-1 young plants died, possibly due to toxic effect of Zn. Sensitive plant species are reported to be retarded in growth when their tissues contain 20 to 200 mg Zn kg-1. However, the upper toxic levels range in various plants are from 100 to 500 mg kg-1 (DW) (Kabata-Pendias, 2000). REFERENCES Alam S, Ali M, Islam E (2002). Effects of zinc, nitrogen and temperatures on seedling growth of rice. Pak. J. Bot., 34(4): 351-354. Asadi M, Saadatmand S, Khavari-Nejad RA, Ghasem-Nejad M, Fotokian MH (2002). Effect of Zinc (Zn) on some physiological characteristics of rice seedling. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Science, 2(40): 89-96. Chen W, He Z, Yang X, Feng Y (2009). Zinc efficiency is correlated with root morphology, ultrastructure, and antioxidative enzymes in rice. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 32(2), 287305. Ebbs SD, Kochian LV (1998). Phytoextraction of zinc by oat (Avena sativa), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and Indian mustard (Brassica juncea).

Environmental science & technology, 32(6): 802-806. Gibson RS, Manger MS, Krittaphol W, Pongcharoen T, Gowachirapant S, Bailey KB (2007). Does zinc deficiency play a role in stunting among primary school children in NE Thailand?. British Journal of Nutrition, 97(01): 167-175. Kabata-Pendias A (2000). Trace elements in soils and plants: CRC press. Matsuo N, Ozawa K, Mochizuki T (2010). Physiological and morphological traits related to water use by three rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes grown under aerobic rice systems. Plant and Soil, 335(1): 349-361. Stein AJ, Nestel P, Meenakshi J, Qaim M, Sachdev H, Bhutta ZA (2007). Plant breeding to control zinc deficiency in India: How cost-effective is biofortification?. Public health nutrition, 10(05): 492-501. Tisdale SL, Nelson WL, Beaton JL (1993). Soil fertility and fertilizers. New Jersey USA: Pearson Education. Wang R, Chen C, Yang X, Zhang Y (2009). Growth responses to varying zinc activities in rice genotypes differing in Zn efficiency and Zn density. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 32(4): 681693. Welch RM, Graham RD (2002). Breeding crops for enhanced micronutrient content. Plant and Soil, 245(1): 205-214. Welch RM, Shuman L (1995). Micronutrient nutrition of plants. Critical Reviews in plant sciences, 14(1): 49-82. Yoshida S (1981). Fundamentals of rice crop science: Int. Rice Res. Inst.

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Golnaz Sharifianpour is soil fertility Ph.D candidate at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Isfahan University of technology (Iran) received at 2006 awarded with Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering (Soil Science) .She obtained degree in Master of Science in soil science from Azad University of Khorasgan (Iran), in 2009. Her current research is focused on zinc uptake and utilization in upland rice.

Professor Dr. Zaharah A. Rahman obtained her first degree from Louisiana State University (USA) in Horticulture in 1971. She obtained degree in Master of Science in plant nutrition from Louisiana State University in 1973.Professor Zaharah received her doctorate from University of Ghent, Belgium in 1982 with major in soil chemistry. Currently, Professor Dr. Zaharah serves Agriculture faculty of Universiti Putra Malaysia as an academic programme chairperson (soil chemistry and fertility). She has published numerous refereed articles in professional journals. Professor Zaharah also has conducted numerous consultancies and research works at national and international level. Her vast experience in use of isotopes in soil and plant research has enabled her to conduct numerous talks and seminars at national and international level.

Dr. Mohamed Hanafi Musa is a Professor in Soil chemistry at the agriculture faculty, Universiti PutraMalaysia. Professor Hanafi received his Ph.D in Soil chemistry from University of Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom in 1993. He has published over numerous refereed articles in professional journals/proceedings and currently sits as the Editorial Board Member for Malaysian Journal of Soil Science. He received bronze medal, from exhibition of invention, research & innovation UPM in 2005

Associate. Professor Dr. Cek Fauziah Ishak obtained her bachelor and master degree from the University of Iowa, USA in chemistry in 1981 and 1984. She later bagged her Doctorate degrees in agronomy from the University of Georgia in 1993. Professor Cek Fauziah s field of expertises are in environmental Sciences, environmental management and bioremediation and waste management. She has published numerous refereed articles in professional journals. She is chief editor of Malaysian Journal of Soil Science. Professor Cek Fauziah also has conducted numerous consultancies and research works at national and international level.

Nafiseh Alifar is a Ph.D candidate in soil fertility at University Putra Malaysia. She received her first degree from Gilan university (Iran) in 2005 awarded with Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering (Soil Science).She obtained degree in Master of Science in soil science from Azad University of Khorasgan (Iran), in 2009 .Her current research is focuses on Agronomic biofortification of Selenium in Rice.

Ahmad Sharifkhani is Agrobiotechnology Ph.D candidate at Institute of tropical agriculture of Universiti Putra Malaysia. His first degree from Azad University of Mashhad (Iran) awarded with Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering (genetic branch) at 2004. He obtained degree in Master of Science in plant tissue culture from Universiti Putra Malaysia, in 2011 .His current research is focused on Enhancing plant micropropagation using in-vitro dual culture of beneficial microorganisms.

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