INFLUENCE OF OXYFLUORFEN ON SOME ANATOMIC INDICES IN THE LEAVES OF VIRGINIA TOBACCO PLANT (NICOTIANA TABACUM L.)

The oxyfluorfen was applied at a dose of 80ml/dka and 100ml/dka 72 hours before the process of tobacco planting. During the vegetation period some visible signs of phytotoxicity in the crop were observed - plant growth inhibition, deformation of leaves and vegetation tip, weak chlorosis, etc. For the purpose of determining the herbicide influence on the tobacco leaf anatomy, several fixed samples from the leaves' middle sections were taken as well. The following indices were taken into consideration - stomata number/mm2 and stomata size (mu m) from the upper and lower epidermis, size of assimilation parenchyma (mesophyll) in leaf. It was established that oxyfluorfen caused considerable changes in the tobacco leaf anatomy, which found expression in reduction of stomata number/mm2, as well as increase the thickness of leaf lamina (blade), compared those in the non-treated control plants.