Effect of phosphorus concentration on the growth of cattail callus cells

This investigation examined the growth of Typha latifolia (cattail) callus cells grown in five (0, 11, 22, 33, 44 mg L-1) different phosphorus concentrations. The cells Were grown for two successive subcultures on semi-solid media, and subsequently in suspension culture with the same phosphorus levels. On semi-solid media, the fresh weight of the cells varied by a maximum of 36% through both subcultures. The 33 mg L-1 phosphorus supplied in the original Gamborgs 135 media promoted the greatest fresh weight of the cells in suspension culture over all other concentrations tested. When grown in suspension culture with 0 and 11 mg L-1 phosphorus, the cells showed a 42 and 29% reduction in fresh weight, respectively. Incubating the cells with 22 and 44 mg L-1 phosphorus caused a 20 and 13% reduction in fresh weight, respectively. In addition, this study compared the phosphorus concentration of callus cells against literature-reported values of whole cattail plants incubated at similar phosphorus concentrations. Data from this study demonstrate that when the cattail callus cells and whole plants are exposed to similar phosphorus concentrations, the phosphorus concentration in the plant leaves is within the confidence interval (p less than or equal to 0.05) of the phosphorus concentration in the cattail callus cells. This suggests that cattail callus cells can be used to predict the concentration of phosphorus in cattail leaves when they are supplied with similar phosphorus levels. If this relationship between callus cells and whole plants is found to be applicable to other marsh plant species, stormwater wetland managers can use callus cells as a rapid method to screen plants for their capacity to absorb phosphorus before the plant is established in a wetland. This can increase the effectiveness of the wetland to absorb unwanted pollutants from the stormwater entering the site.