Morphological and Anatomical Effects of the Herbicide Roundup on Zea mays (Poaceae)

Abstract

The toxicity of a widely used herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate, on sweet corn (Zea mays) was investigated. After the determination of EC50 value for root growth, three different concentrations as low (4 ml/L), medium (8 ml/L) and high dose (16 ml/L) were applied to plant samples for 48 and 72 h. At the end of the application period, samples were comparatively studied in terms of their root and leaf anatomy, the upper and lower surface of leaf stomata indexes as well as chlorophyll contents to obtain morphological and anatomical information. Each concentration of glyphosate caused severe toxic effects on Zea mays cells and the strongest toxic effect was observed at the concentration level of 16 ml/L. At the end of the application procedure, the measurements of the parts of the Z.mays root treated with Roundup, the upper and lower surface of leaf stomata indexes, chlorophyll and total carotenoid concentrations were determined in root apical meristematic cells by using squashing techniques.