TY - EJOU AU - Mushtaq, Waseem AU - Siddiqui, M.B. AU - Alharby, Hesham F. AU - Hakeem, Khalid Rehman TI - Assessment of the Contribution of Foliar Trichomes towards Allelopathy T2 - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany PY - 2020 VL - 89 IS - 2 SN - 1851-5657 AB - Plant trichomes vary in their structure and cellular composition. Glandular trichomes contain a bulk of specific (secondary) metabolites of diverse nature. Trichomes are connected with various adaptive processes, which include protection against herbivores and pathogens as well. Our study investigates the allelopathic contribution of structures present on the leaf surface of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Viv. against seedling growth of Cicer arietinum L. The infusion obtained after dipping Nicotiana leaves in Dichloromethane (DCM) for 10 seconds (s) was the most phytotoxic among all the infusions. The observed inhibition in Cicer growth was not only dependent on type of infusion but also the concentration. Scanning electron microscopy of the leaf samples showed the modifications in trichomes under the influence of the different concentration of DCM. Glandular trichomes were most dehydrated at 10 seconds in DCM, suggesting their role for the observed allelopathy. Such study on the biochemistry of trichomes and their phytotoxicity may develop highly valuable objects for plant metabolic engineering. KW - Allelopathy; phytotoxicity; secondary metabolites; medicinal plants DO - 10.32604/phyton.2020.08740