Evaluation of some ecophysiological characteristics of Michauxia laevigata at vegetative and generative stages

Abstract

Michauxia laevigata belongs to the Campanulaceae family and grows on Iran and some parts of Armenia. This study was conducted to introduce the plant and to investigate ecophysiological characteristics such as altitude, pH, EC, percent of humidity, soil phosphatase, and measurement of some trace elements in soil. In addition, we evaluated some physiological parameters of M. laevigata including photosynthetic pigments and prolin content in different organs at both vegetative and generative stages. Soil investigations revealed that the region had the extra amounts of some heavy metals such as Cr+2, Pb+2, As+2, Zn+2 and Cu+2 and its pH was about 8. The soil phosphatase was approximately 1571 µmol min-1. There was a positive correlation between the soil pH and the activity of soil phosphatase, while the negative one with the amount of EC. Also, the results exhibited that there was significant (P≤0.05) difference only in Mg amount between generative and vegetative stages. It seems that M. laevigata grows in sandy soils with nearly high amount of pH and is capable to grow under high concentrations of heavy metals.

Keywords

• Proline
• Pigment
• Heavy metals
• Growth stages
• Michauxia laevigata