Method for determining a new induction method for hydroponic growth of parsnip root systems

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of celery root system to water growth new induction mode determination method, belong to plant to drought stress adaptation mechanism field of inquiry.It is set to bottle celery of certain drought stress, and it is placed on one side independent open water body, cultivate after a period of time, using ImageJ image analysis software, respectively, the difference of the total length of each celery near, far water side visible root section is measured and compared, and using paired sample t-test is carried out difference significance analysis.According to the difference result, it is clear whether celery can perceive the existence of one side independent open water body through aboveground part and induce its root system to grow in the direction of the water body, so as to further determine whether there is a new induction mode for the water growth of celery root system.The application is simple and easy to operate, accurate data, reliable conclusion, not only is the new exploration and new expansion of the concept of plant water research, but also has guiding significance for seedling cultivation and root directional regulation in horticultural production.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a method for determining a new induction mode of hydrotropic growth in celery roots, belonging to the field of plant adaptation to drought stress and the field of behavioral ecology in ecology. Background Technology

[0002] Water is an indispensable ecological factor in plant growth and development, participating in multiple physiological and biochemical processes such as photosynthesis, nutrient transport, and protein synthesis. However, drought stress frequently occurs during plant growth, leading many plants to evolve diverse adaptive mechanisms—one or more—through morphology, physiology, and behavior—to cope with the survival pressures posed by drought stress. Among these mechanisms, hydrotropism (root growth towards water) is one such mechanism. It is generally defined as the ability of plants to sense differences in soil moisture content around them through their root tips, inducing their roots to grow towards areas with higher moisture content to absorb more water. In other words, plants perceive differences in moisture content in their surrounding growth medium through their root tips. Currently, there are no reports of other plant parts sensing differences in surrounding moisture content and inducing hydrotropism. Given the diversity of plant adaptation mechanisms to drought stress, we raise the following question: If a plant under a certain degree of drought stress is placed next to an independent open body of water, will its above-ground parts sense the presence of this water body and induce its roots to grow towards it? In other words, will a different, fundamentally different phenomenon of "root hydrotropism" occur? Therefore, this invention uses celery as the material to provide a method for determining whether it exhibits this type of "root hydrotropism." Celery was chosen because it is a fibrous-rooted vegetable, and its numerous fibrous roots are often evenly distributed in the shallow soil layer around the plant, making it convenient to investigate the existence of this type of "root hydrotropism" phenomenon. Specifically, this invention provides a method to determine whether celery under certain drought stress can sense the presence of an independent, open body of water on one side through its above-ground parts, thereby prompting its roots to grow towards that independent water body. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates to a method for determining a new induction mode of hydrotropism in celery roots. This invention not only represents a new exploration and expansion of the concept of hydrotropism research in plants, but also provides guidance for the cultivation of robust seedlings and the directional regulation of root systems in horticultural production. To achieve the above objectives, this invention mainly adopts the following steps;

[0004] (1) Mix the garden soil dug from the vegetable garden with the peat moss substrate purchased from the market at a ratio of 1:1 (by volume) and let it stand as a cultivation medium for later use. After standing for 4-5 days, use the weighing method to adjust the relative moisture content of the cultivation medium to about 35% by spraying clean water (celery can grow normally in a cultivation medium with this moisture content, but it has already suffered a certain degree of drought stress). Then, take 10-15 clean 1L Erlenmeyer flasks, fill them with the cultivation medium, compact them and seal them, in preparation for bottle-grown celery.

[0005] (2) Celery sowing and seedling raising: When the seedlings have grown 5 true leaves, take several seedlings of uniform growth and plant them in the center of the mouth of each triangular flask, one seedling per flask. Spray water until water droplets form on the leaves to eliminate the influence of light on root distribution. Then, place the bottle-grown celery in a shady place to recover for 3-4 days. During this period, prepare 2-3 rectangular open hard plastic water tanks, fill them with water, and use them as independent open water bodies for later use.

[0006] (3) After the seedlings have recovered, the bottle-grown celery is transferred to a cultivation rack in an artificial climate chamber. First, the bottle-grown celery is arranged in two rows, with the bottoms of the triangular flasks in each row connected and close together. The row spacing (i.e., the distance between the bottoms of two opposite triangular flasks in two rows) is the width of the aforementioned independent water trough. Then, a plastic water trough filled with water (an independent, open water body) is placed between the two rows of bottle-grown celery. By adjusting the height of the padding under the trough, it is ensured that the water level in the trough is approximately level with the mouth of the triangular flasks. Figure 1 The side wall of the Erlenmeyer flask closest to the water trough is called the near-water side, and the opposite side wall is called the far-water side. During the cultivation period, the temperature and light intensity of the artificial climate chamber were set as follows: temperature 25 / 20℃ (day / night), light intensity 500-600 μmol·m⁻². -2 ·s -1 The light cycle is 10 / 14h (light / dark), during which no irrigation or fertilization is carried out.

[0007] (4) After celery has been cultured for about two months, the foil on the side of the Erlenmeyer flask is removed, allowing a direct observation of the difference in the distribution of celery roots on the near and far sides of the water. To quantify this difference, this method proposes a visible root segment total length index, which is the sum of the lengths of all root segments distributed on the side wall, visually visible, and that can be identified, processed, and quantitatively measured using ImageJ image analysis software. ImageJ is a Java-based image processing software developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

[0008] (5) Based on ImageJ software analysis, the total length of visible root segments of each celery stalk in the Erlenmeyer flask was measured on both the near and far sides. The differences in the total length of visible root segments on both sides of each celery stalk were compared, and a paired-samples t-test was used to analyze the significance of the differences. If the difference between the total lengths of visible root segments on both sides is significant, it indicates that the celery can sense the existence of an independent open water body on one side through its above-ground parts and induce its roots to grow towards the water body. If the difference is not significant, it indicates that the celery does not sense the existence of an independent open water body on one side through its above-ground parts and thus induce its roots to grow towards the water body. Therefore, it can be determined whether celery has a new way of inducing its roots to grow towards water.

[0009] According to the method disclosed in this invention, the main advantages of this technology are as follows: On the one hand, current research on plant hydrotropism mainly focuses on the phenomenon and internal driving mechanism of plant root tips sensing differences in soil moisture around them and inducing their roots to bend and grow towards areas with higher water content. Therefore, researchers generally believe that plant roots, or even root tips, are the only organs that can sense water and induce them to grow towards water. However, the method disclosed in this invention uses celery as a model plant to provide a way to explore whether the above-ground parts of a plant can sense the existence of an independent open water body on one side and thus induce its roots to grow towards the independent open water body. This is a new exploration of the concept and a new expansion of the content of research on plant hydrotropism. On the other hand, if the phenomenon proposed by this invention can be determined, it will have guiding significance for the cultivation of strong seedlings and the directional regulation of root systems in horticultural production. Attached image description:

[0010] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the celery-planting device of the present invention;

[0011] Figure 2 This is a diagram of a celery-planting device in a bottle according to an embodiment of the present invention (the bottle wall can be seen as the side away from the water, and the area on its back is the side near the water).

[0012] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the root distribution of celery on both the near and far sides of the water source (bottles 1-6).

[0013] Figure 4 This is a root distribution diagram of celery on both the near and far sides of the water in this invention (bottles 7-10). Detailed Implementation

[0014] The experiment was conducted in the artificial climate chamber of the College of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, using the Jinan celery variety, which is widely cultivated in central Jiangsu. On April 8, 2023, a certain amount of soil was taken from the cultivation troughs in the greenhouse of the College of Agricultural Engineering and thoroughly mixed with Danish Pinstor Top peat moss purchased from the market at a 1:1 volume ratio. The mixture was then piled up and left to stand as the cultivation medium. After standing for 5 days, the relative moisture content of the cultivation medium was adjusted to about 35% by spraying with clean water. The amount of water to be sprayed was determined by weighing, and the medium was stirred while spraying to ensure uniform moisture content. The cultivation medium was then filled into 12 clean 1L Erlenmeyer flasks, compacted, and sealed for celery cultivation.

[0015] On April 14th, 12 celery seedlings with 5 true leaves and uniform growth were selected from the celery seedbed in the greenhouse. One seedling was planted in the center of the mouth of a triangular flask filled with growing medium, one in each flask. A small amount of water was sprayed on each flask until water droplets formed on the leaves. The sides of the flasks were then wrapped with aluminum foil and placed in a cool, shady place for 3 days to allow the seedlings to recover. During this period, two rigid, open plastic water tanks (56cm long, 37cm wide, and 10cm high) were prepared and filled with water as independent, open water bodies for future use.

[0016] On April 17th, the bottle-grown celery was moved to an artificial climate indoor cultivation rack. The 12 bottle-grown celery jars were first arranged in two even rows, with the bottoms of the Erlenmeyer flasks in each row touching, and a row spacing (the distance between the bottoms of two opposite Erlenmeyer flasks in two rows) of 37cm. Then, two plastic water tanks filled with water (independent open water bodies) were placed between the two rows of bottle-grown celery. The height of the padding under the water tanks was adjusted to ensure that the water level in the tanks was approximately level with the mouths of the Erlenmeyer flasks. The side of the Erlenmeyer flask closest to the water tank is called the near-water side, and the opposite side is called the far-water side. Figure 2 During the cultivation period, the temperature and light intensity in the artificial climate chamber were set as follows: temperature 25 / 20℃ (day / night) and light intensity 500-600 μmol·m⁻². -2 ·s -1 The light cycle is 10 / 14h (light / dark), during which no irrigation or fertilization is carried out.

[0017] Table 1. Total length and ratio of visible root segments on the bottle walls near and far from water.

[0018]

[0019] On June 15th, after removing two flasks from which the celery was not growing well, the foil wrapped around the sides of the remaining 10 flasks was peeled off, and the celery roots distributed on the flask walls became clearly visible. Figure 3 and Figure 4Next, the total length of visible root segments on the near-water and far-water sides of each flask was measured using ImageJ image analysis software (Table 1). Then, a paired-samples t-test was used to analyze the significance of the differences. The results showed that, both visually and quantitatively, the total length of visible root segments on the near-water side of each celery plant was significantly longer than that on the far-water side. Specifically, the smallest difference was observed in the near-water side, which was 2.41 times that on the far-water side, while the largest difference was observed in the near-water side, which was 6.57 times that on the far-water side. The average total length of visible root segments on the near-water side was 3.98 times that on the far-water side. Further paired-samples t-test analysis showed that the T-value for the paired t-test between the total length of visible root segments on the near-water and far-water sides was 7.190, and the P-value was 0.000, which is less than 0.05, indicating a significant difference between the total lengths of visible root segments on the near-water and far-water sides. Therefore, it can be determined that celery can sense the presence of an independent open water body on one side through its above-ground parts and induce its roots to grow towards the water body.

Claims

1. A method for determining a new induction method of water growth of parsnip root system, characterized by The following steps are followed: (1) The vegetable garden soil is mixed with the market-purchased grass charcoal substrate in a volume ratio of 1:1, and then is placed and left to stand, as a later cultivation medium; after standing for 4-5 days, the relative water content of the cultivation medium is adjusted to about 35% by spraying clean water using the weighing method; then, 10-15 washed triangular flasks with a size of 1L are taken, filled with the cultivation medium, compacted and sealed, for bottle planting celery; (2) Celery is sown and seedlings are grown, and when the seedlings grow 5 true leaves, a number of seedlings with uniform growth are taken and planted at the center of the mouth of each triangular flask, one plant per flask, and water is sprayed until water droplets form on the leaves; the influence of light on root distribution is eliminated; then, the bottle planting celery is placed in a cool place for 3-4 days to acclimate; during this period, 2-3 rectangular hard plastic water tanks are prepared, filled with water, as independent open water bodies for standby; (3) After the seedlings, the bottle celery is moved to the artificial climate chamber for cultivation. First, the bottle celery is arranged in two rows, and the bottom of each row of triangular flasks is connected closely, with a row spacing of the width of the above plastic water tank. Then, the plastic water tank filled with water is placed between the two rows of bottle celery, and the height of the water tank under the cushion is adjusted to ensure that the water surface in the water tank is level with the bottle mouth of the triangular flask. The side wall of the triangular flask on the side close to the water tank is called the near-water side, and the side wall on the opposite side is called the far-water side. During the cultivation period, the temperature and light in the artificial climate chamber are set as follows: day / night temperature is 25 / 20℃, light intensity is 500-600μmol·m -2 ·s -1 , light / dark period is 10 / 14h, and irrigation and fertilization are not performed during the period; (4) After 2 months of celery cultivation, the tin paper on the side wall of the triangular flask is removed, and the difference in the distribution amount of celery root on the near and far sides of the water can be directly observed; to quantitatively represent this difference, the method proposes a visible root length index, which is the total length of all root segments distributed on the side wall, visually visible, identified, processed and quantitatively calculated using ImageJ image analysis software; (5) Based on the total length of the visible root segments distributed on the near and far sides of the triangular flask of each celery plant calculated by ImageJ image analysis software, the difference in the total length of the visible root segments on both sides of each celery plant is compared, and further significant difference analysis is performed using paired sample t-test; if the difference between the total lengths of the visible root segments on both sides is significant, it indicates that celery can perceive the presence of one side of the independent open water body through the aboveground part, and induce its root system to grow towards the water body; if the difference is not significant, it indicates that celery does not perceive the presence of one side of the independent open water body through the aboveground part, and further induce its root system to grow towards the water body, therefore, whether celery has a new way to induce its root system to grow towards water can be determined.

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