Effects of Soil Moisture Stress on the Vegetative Anatomy of Six Cowpea Accessions from Three Agro-Ecological Zones in Ghana

Martin Abed  Arkoh; Ebenezer Jeremiah Durosim Belford

doi:10.4314/just.v40i3.1388

Mr. Martin Abed Arkoh Department of Theoretical and Appled Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0415-5443
Dr. Ebenezer Jeremiah Durosimi Belford https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4407-3880

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/just.v40i3.1388

Keywords: Anatomy, Accessions, Moisture stress, Plasmolysed, Ecological zone

Abstract

Climate change has been affecting the rainfall patterns that influence the soil moisture supply in most areas of the tropical and sub-tropical regions. Soil moisture has thus, become a problem to farmers and agronomists in these agro-ecological regions as a result of the deleterious effects that inadequate osmotic water has on the morphology and anatomy of growing plants. This study determined the effects of soil moisture stress on the tissues of the plants of six cowpea accessions. Six accessions of cowpea were collected from the three agro-ecological zones and planted in polythene bags containing 2 kg each of well mixed loamy soil. The plants were allowed to grow for three weeks before being subjected to two water stress treatments with a third being a control. Harvests were done through random sampling on three occasions. Tissues were obtained from the plants and prepared on slides for study. The mean values of all the parameters measured were subjected to statistical tests. There were significant reductions in the sizes of the cells and tissues subjected to the moisture stress regimes (P<0.05, df=2). Among the plants, there were non-uniformed variations at 0.05 confidence limit and n=6. Most of the cells plasmolysed under the stress treatment and resulting in the reduction of the tissue sizes. Exceptions to this trend of decreasing sizes of the tissues were found in the sizes of the cuticular cover on the surfaces of leaves and the frequency of the xylem vessels, where these features increased in sizes and frequency respectively under the water stress regimes. The accession from the Semi-deciduous
ecological zone of Ghana performed better under the moisture stress regimes. The study identified accessions of cowpea that can grow better under inadequate soil moisture condition that is prevalent in the

Author Biographies

Mr. Martin Abed Arkoh, Department of Theoretical and Appled Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Martin Abed Arkoh is a Lecturer in the Department of Theoretical and Appled Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He has more than 17 years of university teaching and research. He is into Botany, Plant and Wetland Ecology. He teaches Plant and Forest Ecology, and Systematics in his department, Environmental Science and Landscape Management Departments in KNUST and Obuasi campuses. His research interest is into environmental manipulation on plant growth and wetland assessments. This paper is an extract from his Mphil thesis which seeks to explore the accessions of cowpea that could withstand the menace of drought.

Dr. Ebenezer Jeremiah Durosimi Belford

Ebenezer J. D. Belford is a Botanist with expertise in Plant Ecological Physiology. A member of faculty at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He holds a PhD in Natural Sciences from the Technical University of Munich, Weihenstephan, Germany, MSc and BSc (Hons) Botany from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. During his doctoral research he was trained in aspects of enzymology, xenobiotic metabolism and plant stress physiology at GSF Research Centre for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany. His research interests are plant stress physiology; phyto-bioremediation of contaminated soils; plant ecological adaptations; ecosystems conservation and ethnobotany.