Some responses of ladino clover (Trifolium repens L. cv. Regal) to low concentrations of sulphur dioxide

Murray, F. (1985) Some responses of ladino clover (Trifolium repens L. cv. Regal) to low concentrations of sulphur dioxide. New Phytologist, 100 (1). pp. 57-62.

Abstract

Ladino clover (Trifolium repens L. cv. Regal) was exposed to mean SO2 concentrations of 215, 78 or 2.8 μg m−3† in open top fumigation hambers for up to 175 d. Exposure to 215 μg m−3 for 28 d significantly increased leaf area and number of leaves per plant, and exposure to 78 μg m−3 significantly reduced the shoot: root ratio, and increased the leaf area ratio, compared with control plants exposed to 2.8 μg m−3. Exposure to 215 or 78 μg m−3 had no significant effect on shoot or root weight, and all other effects had decreased beyond the level of statistically significant differences between treatment and control after 63 d of fumigation.

Exposure to SO2 for 175 d had no effect on leaf protein concentration but exposure to 215 or 78 μg m−3 significantly reduced the concentrations of L-ascorbic acid and starch in leaves, and increased the sulphur concentrations in the shoot. The specific energy of leaves was not significantly changed by 78 μg m−3 but was significantly increased by exposure to 215 μg m−3 of SO2 for 28 d and significantly decreased by the same concentration after 175 d. Exposure to SO2 for 175 d had no significant effect on the specific energy of shoots. The SO2-induced reduction in ascorbic acid concentration may suggest a mechanism for reduced freezing resistance in plants exposed to SO2.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publisher:	Blackwell Publishing
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/15306

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