|
Phytotoxic effects of
Stellera chamaejasme L. root extract
Lin Ma, Hongli Wu, Ru Bai,
Li Zhou, Xiaohong Yuan and Dabin Hou*
School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University
of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, PR China.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
hdb@swust.edu.cn. Tel:
0086-0816-6089523. Fax: 0086-0816-6089523.
Accepted 12 January, 2011 |
|
 
Stellera chamaejasme
is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant with a wide range
of medicinal properties and biological activity. In order to
evaluate the phytotoxity of S. chamaejasme, the
effects of aqueous extracts (6.25, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 g/L)
prepared from roots was studied on the seed germination and
seedling growth of
rapeseed (Brassica napus), sesame (Sesamum indicum),
wheat (Triticum aestivum) and maize (Zea mays). The treatments
with high concentration extract (50 and 100 g/L)
significantly reduced the germination rate of four crops
compared with the control but the treatments with low
concentration extract (from 6.25 to 25 g/L) had no obvious
inhibitory effect. The mean germination time (MGT) of
rapeseed and sesame increased with increasing extract
concentration generally. The MGT of wheat and maize extended
only at above 50 g/L concentration and at 100 g/L
concentration respectively, whereas the treatments at 6.25,
25 and 50 g/L had a decreased effect on MGT of maize. The
concentration-dependent effects were also found on shoot
length, root length, number of lateral roots and dry weight
of rapeseed, wheat and sesame seedling. Lower concentration
extract treatments (6.25, 12.5 and 25 g/L) significantly
promoted the seedling growth of maize, whereas the higher
concentrations extracts had inhibitory effect. The results
demonstrated that the high concentration aqueous extracts
from S. chamaejasme had strong phytotoxity on
seedlings growth of tested species. Dicotyledonous plants
(rapeseed and sesame) were more sensitive to S.
chamaejasme extract than monocotyledonous plants (wheat
and maize). This result might be an important reference for
further investigating the phytotoxic effect of S.
chamaejasme for weed control.
Key words:
Stellera chamaejasme, phytotoxity, allelopathy,
germination, seedling growth.
|
