Effect of Crude Oil Concentrations on the Vascular Bundle Size of Two Maize Varieties

The reliance of humanity on fossil fuels particularly petroleum hydrocarbons has been on the increase and had led to increased pollution of agricultural lands. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of crude oil concentrations on the vascular bundle sizes of two Zea mays varieties – Oba Super Zaria (OSZM) and SMZ 37 Kaduna commonly cultivated in the South-eastern Nigeria. The study was conducted in the green house in the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Kogi State University, Ayingba, Kogi State. The experiment was setup as a 2 × 4 factorial laid out in a Completely Randomized Design replicated three times with four treatment concentrations (0-control, 15, 30 and 45 ml) of petroleum crude and two maize varieties. Highly significant effects (P < 0.001) of the concentrations as well as the varieties were observed on the vascular bundles. The results showed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in vascular bundle sizes with increasing concentration, with plants exposed to 45ml crude oil concentration having the smallest vascular bundle sizes. The vascular bundle sizes of Oba super Zaria decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing concentrations of crude oil, while significant differences were also observed with the increasing concentrations in SMZ 37 Kaduna as compared to the control. Based on the results obtained from this investigation, OSZM appeared to be more susceptible to soils affected with crude oil.