Stem anatomy and cell wall autofluorescence during growth of three maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars

The anatomy of the outer zone of the stem of the Zea mays cultivars ‘Markant’, ‘Protasil’ and ‘LG1 T was studied. The autofluorescence of the parenchyma cell walls of the stem and of the leaf sheath cuticle in developmental stages of the cultivars were quantitatively analysed. The anatomical study reveals that ‘Markant’ possesses more sclerenchyma tissue and smaller ground tissue parenchyma cells than ‘Protasil’ and ‘Lgl T, especially in the older stem parts. The cell walls in both tissues, however, are slightly thinner than in the other two cultivars. Anatomically, the stem of all three cultivars is fully developed in 70 days. Quantification of the autofluorescence shows that the content of phenolics in stem parenchyma cell wall and leaf sheath cuticle of the upper part of the plant increases till about 70 days of culture. In the fourth stem internode, near the ground level, the content of phenolics increases gradually during 160 days of culture. In ‘Lgl T the intensity of autofluorescence is low compared to that in ‘Markant’ and ‘Protasil’.