COPPER DEFICIENCY AFFECTS ON MORPHOLOGY AND REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF BLACKGRAM
Authors: Soni Singh Dr. 
Published: June 2024

Black gram(Vigna mungo L)CV T-9plants were grown till maturity i. e. 74days at 0.0065, 0.013(deficient) and0.065(adequate)mg cu l-1 of cu in refined sand. Cu deficiency i. e. 0.0065,0.013 cu l-1 caused phenotypes are that Compared to control 0.065mg cul-1 cu supply the plants were stunted ,leaves were discoloured and old leaves became.Necrotic and withered and the number of flowers, pods and seeds are highly reduced. The size and number of pods were significantly reduced in cu deficiency. The seed weight marginally decreased at both the cu deficient levels. All the stages of determinations(day 24,60,74)the decrease in total dry weight was 29-30% at 0.0065mg cu l-1and14-17% at 0.013 mg cu l-1as compared to that of control. The concentration of cu in both leaves and seeds increased with an increase in cu supply, the cu concentration in deficient cu was higher in younger leaves than that of older leaves. Cu deficiency reduces growth , male and female fertility and this effectsthe seed quality of a plant.The cu deficiency also effect the economy of the crops .The delayed flowering,senescence and entirely abolished gynoecium fertility were also seen in cu deficient (o.o65ml cu l-1 blackgram plants).The cu deficiency affects the pollen producing capacity when the pollen grains were germinated in an artificial medium the observation showed that 30-35%pollen grains were viable in deficiency as compared to 61% at normal cu and the tube length was also decreased at deficient cu .The pollen grains sticked to stigma surface also showed esterase activity and the esterase activity was studied in stigma under control condition was much higher than that of deficient cu supply.After clearing with NAOH and staining with aniline blue the whole mount of ovule showed that phenolic compounds were localized more in micropylar region of the outer integument on the placental side in cu deficient material ,whereas in control this type of deposition was not observed ,cell division in this region of integument is more frequent in the control(0.065mgl-1)cu supply.As compared to deficient(0.0065mg cul-1),on the protein basis the activities of peroxidase ,acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase decreased in both male and female parts i. e. stamen, ovaries, stigma and style.While on the fresh weight basis the activity of peroxidase increased in cu deficient supply. The activity of acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase increased in ovary stigma style and stamen. In the stamen the acid phosphatase activity decreased in cu deficient level.Compared to control the concentration of sugars both reducing and non-reducing in leaves (source)as well as developing pods(sink)decreased at deficient cu at 0.0065mgl-1 this indicates of lower synthesis and lesser incorporation of sugars in biosynthesis of starch at deficient cu. The decrease in starch content was 43-49% from that of the control cu supply both leaves (source) and pods (sink). The concentration of soluble nitrogen compounds (non-protein nitrogen) lowered as compared to control cu supply while the decrease in total and protein nitrogen in seeds ranged from 30-32% in both deficient levels of cu .The decreased pod : leaf ratio of non-protein nitrogen and increased that of protein nitrogen at deficient cu indicates hampered translocation of soluble nitrogenous compounds from source to sink.The ovaries of mature buds showed accumulation of sugars and phenols was more pronounced at the lower cu level i.e (0.065 mg cu l-1)In mature seeds the decrease in protein content in cu deficient blackgram seeds ws maximum in albumins and vicilins and minimum in legumins . The sulphur containing amino acid i.e lysine , methionine and cysteine : increased with an increase in cu supply from 0.0065 to 0.065 mg cu l-1