Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Microcultured, Seedling, and Greenhouse–grown Asian White Birch

Abstract

Abstract Anatomical and physiological comparisons were made between tissues of Betula platyphylla var. szechuanica (Schneid.) Rehd. (Asian white birch) obtained directly from microcultured shoots, from seedlings grown in a micro-culture-like environment, or from micropropagated plants grown in a greenhouse. The diminished stature of microcultured shoots resulted primarily from reduced cell division, although their leaves had reduced cell size as compared to shoots from greenhouse-grown plants. The area occupied by vascular tissue in midrib veins and petioles was significantly reduced in microcultured shoots as was the extent of the palisade layer, indicating that cell differentiation had also been altered. The photosynthetic capacity of leaves from microcultured shoots was less than half that of leaves from greenhouse-grown plants. However, this capacity was restored after non-in vitro rooting of the microcultured shoots. Unlike greenhouse-grown plants, photosynthetic rates of leaves from microcultured shoots were not influenced by decreasing light intensities from 1200 to 200 μmol·s −1 ·m −2 nor was the respiration rate strongly inhibited by cyanide. Seedlings from a high-humidity, microculture-like environment generally had characteristics intermediate between those of microcultured and greenhouse-grown tissues, indicating that the environment and not the juvenile state of the tissue was probably of overriding importance in influencing these trends.