Forever Imperfect

Variation in the Flora Surface of Striga asiatica (L) Kuntze Found in Malaysia

Thursday 15 March 2012 | 08:00 | 0 comments

IMC16, Sapporo, 2006 Normalawati Shamsudin¹*, Adirukmi N.S¹. and H.L. Hing²

¹Electron Microscopy Unit, Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia, 43600 Selangor

MALAYSIA

²Dept. of biomedical Science, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences,

MALAYSIA

*Correspondence: normala@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my

Striga asiatica (L.) Kuntze is a species from the family Scropulariaceae. Three varieties of Striga asiatica (L.) Kuntze [1] found in

Malaysia

namely S. asiatica var. coccinea in red flowered, S. asiatica var. lutea in yellow flowered and S. asiatica var. albiflora in white flowered. Image of flower are shown in FIG. 1. There are shrubs and hemiparasitic or parasitic on grass root [2] such as Paspallum conjugatum Berg. and Axonopus compressus and crops such as corn (Zea mays), sorfhum (Sorghum bicolor Moench), sugar cane (Saceharum officinarum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). There are relatively tall weed reaching up to 20-30 cm. Flowers bisexual, caliyx five cleft, corolla five-lobes often two-lipped and pale pink (or red), yellow or white [3]. Leaves narrow. Opposite bellow, alternate above with small hairy plant and multicell trichoms. This study attempts to look at the differences in floral features between S. asiatica and between the three varieties of S. asiatica under the scanning electron microscope.

Fresh specimens were fixed in a buffered mixture containing glutaraldehyde and paraformaldehyde and post-fixed in buffered osmium tetroxide. Before examination the specimens were dehydrated in an alcohol series, critical point dried and coated with gold. Observations were made on the Philips XL30 SEM.

The upper flora surfaces of Striga asiatica of three varieties were observed across the middle region of the corolla. In S. asiatica var. lutea the papillae are randomly distributed and cuticular outwards (Fig.4) from surface become gradually narrower. In S. asiatica var. coccinea, the papillae flatulent (Fig.5) by cuticular ridges. In S. asiatica var. albiflora on the other hand, the papillae are narrower outwards and teat-like at the top (Fig. 6). Variations in pollen surface grain morphology and trichome shape between these three varieties of S. asiatica have been reported [4].

The micromorphology of Striga asiatica (L.) Kuntze flora corollas show variations between varieties. The results obtained can be used as additional data for identification at the variety level.

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