Effect of pH on α-Amylase Activity and Early Seedling Growth of Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

• Main Authors: Dejan AGIĆ, Gordana BUKVIĆ, Sonja GRLJUŠIĆ, Drago BEŠLO, Janja HORVATIĆ, Dario NOVOSELOVIĆ
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AcademicPres 2009-11-01
• Series: Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca
• Online Access: http://www.notulaebotanicae.ro/index.php/nbha/article/view/3197

The pH of the surrounding media is one of the environmental factors that can severely limited legume growth and development. We preliminary examined the effect of four pH levels of germination media (4, 5, 6 and 7) on α-amylase activity, seed germination and radiclelength of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and traits correlations to evaluate the significance of obtained relationships in development ofan screening method for pH tolerance in the earliest phases of plant growth. The pH of germination media significantly affected red cloverα-amylase activity (P&lt;0.01), germination (P&lt;0.05) and radicle length (P&lt;0.05).The overall α -amylase activity was higher at 5 and 6 of pHthan at pH 4 and 7. The activity of α -amylase at the same pH was most intensive during the first two days of germination. The highestseed germination percentage was found at pH 5. Length of radicle was higher at pH 5 and 6 than at 4 and 7. The occurrence of positivecorrelations (P&lt;0.01) among tested traits suggested that the α-amylase activity might serve as a parameter for the pH tolerance testing.<br />