Effects of drought stress on anatomical structures and physiological indexes of Potentilla sericea leaves

In this paper, Potentilla sericea leaves were chosen as testing materials to research their anatomical structures and physiological indexes under drought stress, through controlling the moisture of soil in pots. The results showed that thicknesses of leaves, upper and lower epidermis, palisade tissue and spongy parenchyma gradually decreased with the increasing of drought stress gradient, while the ratio of palisade tissue to spongy parenchyma was higher than that of nonwater stress leaves. As the water stress prolonged, the content of chlorophyll was gradually decreased; contents of MDA and proline, and the activity of superoxide dismutase all first increased and then decreased. These results indicated that P.sericea under drought stress could be to adapt to arid environments by changingthe physiological functions and anatomical structures of leaves.