Tree growth is influenced by various environmental factors that lead to anatomical, physical and chemical changes in their wood. Reaction wood is one of the tree's reactions that make many restrictions in wood usages. Reaction wood in broadleaf is called tension wood. This study was aimed to stimulate the formation of tension wood in two-year-old seedlings of Populus alba by using intermittent bending, nitrogen fertilization and gibberellin hormone. The application of different treatments increased the content of cellulose compared to the control sample. Meanwhile, the bent specimens had more increase while the straight specimens had no significant difference in the statistical grouping. The content of lignin decreased in all treatments compared to the control sample. The cellulose/lignin ratios obtained from ATR-FTIR (Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared) analysis of wood sawdust and chemical composition measurements were almost close to each other and were higher in the treated samples than in the control. The degree of crystallinity obtained from XRD (X-ray Diffraction) measurements showed that all samples under intermittent bending had a significantly higher degree of crystallinity than the control sample, while this increase was not significant in all straight samples compared to the control sample. In general, it can be concluded that intermittent bending treatment had a
Summary Reaction wood formation (tension wood) in trees such as poplar is a response to stress and environmental factors. Tension wood is a rich source of cellulose that can be used for products including paper or biofuels and is thus a target product in forestry. This study aimed to evaluate the formation of tension wood in two-year-old saplings of Populus alba by using alternate bending, nitrogen fertilization, and gibberellin hormone. Saplings were bent alternately in one or another direction every month during the growing season, fertilized twice at the beginning and in the middle of the growing season, and treated with gibberellin early in the growing season. The physical and anatomical characteristics of the wood were studied after the end of the growing season. Evaluation of transverse sections of specimens stained with safranin/Astra-blue showed that, compared with straight saplings, alternate bending saplings had a wider tension wood area in the growth ring and clear formation of a gelatinous layer. The wood of alternate bending saplings with nitrogen fertilization and gibberellin hormone had a higher wood density, greater longitudinal shrinkage, and less radial and tangential shrinkage than saplings with other treatments. Moreover, the alternate bending saplings treated with nitrogen fertilization and gibberellin hormone had tension wood with the largest vessels, the lowest vessel density, and the smallest total vessel lumen area than saplings with other treatments. Wood fibers of treated saplings also had the thickest wall with the smallest fiber and lumen diameters. Overall, the bending treatment with the addition of nitrogen fertilization and gibberellin hormone was the most effective for the stimulation of tension wood formation in terms of volume and intensity.
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