Effect of Boron in Nutrient Solution on Root Development and Freezing Tolerance of Mulberry

The experiment was carried out to define the effect of the boron in nutrient solution on the development of mulberry root and cold damage. The length of shoots only attained about 50cm and then stopped in case of boron deficiency, while the mulberry trees developed vigorous and attained over 190cm long under boron supply condition. When boron is deficient, the measles appeared on surface of the stem and the necrosis appeared on the petiole, midribs and veins of leaves. At 70 days after planting, almost all new roots and old roots changed to brown, the lateral roots became necrosis by boron deficiency. After three days of stopping boron supply, many new roots changed to brown and after two days of boron resupply, new roots began to grow out and then new roots normally developed. Content of boron in leaves and barks increased by the increase of boron concentration in nutrient solution and maximum boron content in leaves and barks was obtained with boron-sufficient treatment of 0.5ppm. Treatment of 0.5ppm boron supply indicated that the leaves and barks contained more phospholipid, protein, sugar, RNA and proline than treatment of 0.01ppm boron supply in nutrient solution. The cuttings grown in boron supply nutrition have a sufficient tolerance at -10 and -15 for 24 hours while cuttings grown in boron-deficient nutrition have a weak tolerance at the same condition. As mentioned above, we can conclude that the effect of boron deficiency on root development is much severe and the relationship between the lack of boron and cold damage is very closely related.