To be useful for indicating plant water needs, any measure of plant stress should be closely related to some of the known short- and medium-term plant stress responses, such as stomatal closure and reduced rates of expansive growth. Midday stem water potential has proven to be a useful index of stress in a number of fruit tree species. Day-to-day fluctuations in stem water potential under well-irrigated conditions are well correlated with midday vapor-pressure deficit, and, hence, a nonstressed baseline can be predicted. Measuring stem water potential helped explain the results of a 3-year deficit irrigation study in mature prunes, which showed that deficit irrigation could have either positive or negative impacts on tree productivity, depending on soil conditions. Mild to moderate water stress was economically beneficial. In almond, stem water potential was closely related to overall tree growth as measured by increases in trunk cross-sectional area. In cherry, stem water potential was correlated with leaf stomatal conductance and rates of shoot growth, with shoot growth essentially stopping once stem water potential dropped to between −1.5 to −1.7 MPa. In pear, fruit size and other fruit quality attributes (soluble solids, color) were all closely associated with stem water potential. In many of these field studies, systematic tree-to-tree differences in water status were large enough to obscure irrigation treatment effects. Hence, in the absence of a plant-based measure of water stress, it may be difficult to determine whether the lack of an irrigation treatment effect indicates the lack of a physiological response to plant water status, or rather is due to treatment ineffectiveness in influencing plant water status. These data indicate that stem water potential can be used to quantify stress reliably and guide irrigation decisions on a site-specific basis.

The seasonal abundance of Botryosphaeriaceae spp. spores was studied in California vineyards by using glass microscope slides covered with petroleum jelly placed on grapevine cordons and Burkard volumetric spore traps at seven and two different locations, respectively. Correlation analysis was used to determine which meteorological variables (precipitation, relative humidity, temperature, and wind speed) influenced Botryosphaeriaceae spp. spore release. Among all variables, regression analysis resulted in a strong relationship between spore release and precipitation. Additionally, a positive relationship between irrigation and spore release was also observed in the Riverside County vineyard. During the study period, spore discharge of Botryosphaeriaceae spp. occurred from the first fall rain through the last spring rains, coinciding with September to April. However, based on the results obtained from the spore traps, most spores (over 60%) were trapped following rain events during the winter months of December, January, and February, which coincides with the grapevine pruning season. Botryosphaeriaceae spp. spore release was much lower in fall and early spring (22%) and very few or no spores were trapped in late spring and summer (3%). This work suggests that a delay of pruning time in California may be warranted to reduce grapevine infection because the current timing coincides with the greatest period of spore discharge.

Forest fires produce malodorous phenols, bioaccumulated in grapes as odorless phenol glycosides (mono- to tri-), and produce unpleasant smoke tainted wines when these complexes are transformed by glycosidases in saliva. Metabolomic analyses were used to further understand smoke taint by quantitating marker phenolic diglycosides via UHPLC separations and MS/MS multiple reaction monitoring. A collection of grapes and wines provided data to forecast wine quality of grapes subjected to wildfire smoke infestations; the analytics used a panel of reference compounds ( 1 – 6 ). Overall, eight different Vitis vinifera varietals were examined from 2017–2021 vintages involving >218 distinct samples (wines and/or grapes) from 21 different American Viticulture Areas. Results acquired allowed correlation of phenolic diglycoside levels as a function of grape cultivar, varietal clones, and intensity of wildfire smoke. Baseline data were tabulated for nonsmoked samples (especially, Cabernet Sauvignon having a sum 1 – 6 of <6 μg/L) and then compared to those exposed to six other levels of smoke. Outcomes established that (1) analyzing paired samples (bottled wines versus smoke-exposed grapes) can provide diagnostic metabolomic data, (2) phenolic diglycosides are stable in wines aged for >2.5 years, and (3) major gaps exist in our current understanding of this pool of metabolites.

A relatively high percentage of epiphytic bacteria on pear leaf and fruit surfaces had the ability to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in culture media supplemented with tryptophan. While over 50% of the strains produced at least small amounts of IAA in culture, about 25% of the strains exhibited high IAA production as evidenced by both colorimetric and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of culture supernatants. A majority of the strains that produced high amounts of IAA were identified as Erwinia herbicola (Pantoea agglomerans), while some strains of Pseudomonas syringae, Pseudomonas viridiflava, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas putida, and Rahnella aquaticus that produced high amounts of IAA also were found on pear. Fruit russeting was significantly increased in 39 out of 46 trials over an 8-year period in which IAA-producing bacteria were applied to trees compared with control trees. A linear relationship was observed between fruit russet severity and the logarithm of the population size of different IAA-producing bacteria on trees in the 30 days after inoculation, when normalized for the amount of IAA produced by each strain in culture. On average, the severity of fruit russet was only about 77% that on control trees when trees were treated at the time of bloom with Pseudomonas fluorescens strain A506, which does not produce IAA. Both total bacterial populations on pear in the 30-day period following full bloom and fruit russet severity varied greatly from year to year and in different commercial orchards over a 10-year period. There was a strong linear correlation between the logarithm of total bacterial population sizes and fruit russet severity.

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