Ritu Goswami*
Department of Botany, R.R. Bawa DAV College for Girls,
Batala – 143505, Dist. Gurdaspur (Punjab)
Email: dr_ritu22@yahoo.com
Received-05.04.2023, Revised-16.04.2023, Accepted-27.04.2023
Abstract: One of the major problems now a days is pollution and among various air pollutants, sulphur dioxide (SO2) is probably the most widespread and intensively studied. Some of the environmental effects of SO2 include acidification of soils, lakes and rivers on one hand and injuries and devastating damage to vegetation under natural and controlled conditions on the other. The aim of the present study was to find out the impact of sulphur dioxide pollution on the oil yielding cultivar KBSH – 1 of sunflower i.e., Helianthus annuus L. (family Asteraceae) on fumigation with four cumulative doses 2612, 3265, 3918 and 4571 µg m-3 of SO2. The findings of the study manifested a decline in the various stomatal parameters (number of stomata and epidermal cells, size of stomatal complex, stomatal index, density and coverage area) on both adaxial (upper) and abaxial (lower) surfaces of leaves. The stomatal attributes were studied at 30th, 50th, 70th and 90th day of the fumigated cultivar along with a control set.
Keywords: Air pollution, Stomata, Sulphur dioxide, Helianthus
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