Oral Paper

         Physiology

Aluminum toxicity in Solanum macrocarpon

Presenting Author
Emmanuel Kalu
Description
The purpose of this work is to map out how Aluminium (Al) toxicity is expressed in plants using Solanum macrocarpon. Field and laboratory sections were performed. The field studies measured response of the plant to Al using germination and yield parameters while laboratory studies studied changes in peroxidase enzymes and chlorophyll values. The treatments were 6X10-4Mol AlCl3, 9X10-4 Mol AlCl3, 12X10-4 Mol AlCl3 and blank, which served as control. Field studies were in open field (before the rainy season) using CRBD experimental design and the following parameters were investigated: germination rate, percentage germination, day of emergence. Yield parameters include: Length of shoot (LOS), Length of root (LOR), Fresh weight of shoot (FWSh), Dry weight of shoot (DWSh), Fresh weight of roots (FWR), Root dry weight (RDW), Fresh Weight of stem (FWS), Stem dry weight (SDW), Fresh weight of leaves (FWL), Leaf Dried weight (LDW) Number of leaves (NOL) Circumference of stem (COS) Circumference of roots (COR). The parameters that was investigated on fully matured plants include Area of leaves (AOL), NOL, length of leaves (LOL), Number of Branches (NOB), Number of fruits (NOF), Number of ripe fruits (NRF), Fresh fruit weight (FFW), Fruit Dried weight (FDW). Peroxidase enzyme studies and Chlorophyll counts were performed using spectrometer (721G Spectrophotometer, Searchtech Inc, China). Data analysis and means compared by LSD (P ≤ 0.05) mapped out model of Al toxicity in S. Macrocarpon. The plant showed some degree of tolerance which further studies can investigate how to take advantage on the genetic resources.