Effect of Potassium on Ultrastructure of Maize Stalk Pith and Young Root and Their Relation to Stalk Rot Resistance

To study the mechanism of potassium (K) application on improvement of maize resistance to stalk rot at cellular level, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope were used to observe the effect of K on the ultrastructure of maize stalk pith tissue and young root tip cell influenced by K and pathogen. In K deficient treatment, parenchyma cells of stalk pith had abnormal structure, and the cell wall between upper and lower adjacent cell was damaged, resulting in the loss of connections between vascular cells and insufficient supporting capacity. However, an improved K nutrition helped to keep a quite tight arrangement of root cell with thick cell wall, and prevent the invasion of pathogen effectively. Moreover, K treated root cell had abundant golgi apparatus, which could excrete large amount of secretions to degrade mycelium. Papillary and highly electronic intensity dot were accumulated at the invading point to prevent the development of the mycelium. Improved K nutrition could increase the resistant ability of maize plant to stalk rot, through keeping cell structure stability, preventing the expansion of intracellular space to reduce the chances of pathogen invasions, and through reinforcing cell wall and formation of intercellular and intracellular material to restrict further development of pathogen in host cell.