Paper Details

PJB-2025-159

Ecological-anatomical study on the phytocontamination profile of the medicinally important species Tribulus terrestris L. (Zygophyllaceae R.Br.) distributed in the post-conflict territory of Azerbaijan

Aygun Sardarova and Sayyara Ibadullayeva
Abstract

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The aim of the study is to investigate, from an ecological-anatomical perspective, the anatomical adaptation features formed in the pharmaceutically significant species Tribulus terrestris L. under phytocontamination conditions, thereby scientifically determining its stress-resistance mechanisms, ecological plasticity potential, and bioindicator capacities. The study demonstrated that this plant exhibits high tolerance to the phytocontamination process and maintains its ability to develop normally in areas containing various pollutants. Collected plant specimens were fixed, processed with appropriate reagents in the laboratory, and prepared for sectioning. Transverse and longitudinal sections obtained from the specimens were transferred to permanent slides following histological staining procedures. Anatomical analyses were performed using modern LED microscopes. As a result of the phytocontamination process, pigmentized anomalous black-colored intercellular and dark yellow intracellular accumulations (likely phytotoxins) were identified in all vegetative organs. Additionally, the accumulation of pigmentized callose (presumably phytotoxic callose) in the phloem elements of the vascular systems was recorded. Numerous large pigmentized druse crystals (likely druse-toxins) were observed in the leaf mesophyll, parenchyma cells of the petiole, and in the pith and cortex of the stem. Thickening of cell walls in the epidermal tissue surrounding vegetative organs and modification of the cuticle layer were interpreted as stress-response reactions to contaminants. Collenchymatous sclerenchyma areas located at the boundary with the phloem of conductive bundles in the leaf and petiole can be explained as the transformation of modified collenchyma into sclerenchyma. For the first time in the flora of Azerbaijan, the study identified the presence of a Kranz anatomical structure in the leaflets as a specific anatomical characteristic of T. terrestris. The scientific and practical significance of the ecological-anatomical investigation, which determined the tolerance structure and its identification under phytotoxic conditions, may serve as a biomarker for adaptive changes that could occur in other plant species under similar conditions

To Cite this article: Sardarova, A. and S. Ibadullayeva. 2025. Ecological-anatomical study on the phytocontamination profile of the medicinally important species Tribulus terrestris L. (Zygophyllaceae R.Br.) distributed in the post-conflict territory of Azerbaijan. Pak. J. Bot., 58(2): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2026-2(19)  
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