Water deficit (WD) is a growing problem in agriculture. In citrus crops, genetically-determined rootstock characteristics are important factors influencing plant responses to WD. Aquaporins are involved in regulating the water supply to the plant by mediating water flow through the cell membranes. Recent studies support a direct role for aquaporins in plant water relations and demonstrate their involvement in WD tolerance. This study investigates the relationship between photosynthetic and water-balance parameters with aquaporin expression levels and hydraulic conductance of roots (Kr) in conditions of moderate WD in citrus rootstocks. The plant materials used were the rootstocks Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf. (PT), Cleopatra mandarin (Citrus reshni Hort ex Tan.) (CM) and 030115 (a hybrid of the two former rootstocks), all grafted with the citrus variety 'Valencia Late' (C. sinensis (L.) Osb). Plants were irrigated with two differents irrigation doses (normal irrigation and moderate WD) during 70 days and leaf water potential (ψs), net CO 2 assimilation (A CO2 ), transpiration, stomatal conductance (gs) and substomatal CO 2 concentration (Ci) were measured periodically under both irrigation conditions. Kr and PIP1 and PIP2 gene expression levels in fine roots of control plants and plants subjected to WD on day 43 of the experiment were determined. Under WD conditions, the hybrid 030115 drastically reduced aquaporin expression and Kr, accompanied by a loss of plant vigour but without reducing the net CO 2 assimilation (A CO2 ). PT maintained the same aquaporin expression level and similar Kr under WD as under normal irrigation conditions, but suffered a sharp reduction in A CO2 . CM, which has lower Kr and aquaporin expression than PT under both normal irrigation conditions and WD, responded better to water stress conditions than PT. Low aquaporin levels, or down-regulated aquaporin Plant Soil (2011) 347:91-104 expression, accompanied by decreased plant vigour led to decreased plasma membrane permeability, thereby facilitating water retention in the cells under water stress conditions. This may induce water stress tolerance in citrus rootstocks.

There are generally inadequate supplies of seed for the newest rootstocks to satisfy the growing demand for the propagation material to be used in commercial citrus nurseries. Consequently, rootstock propagation, which is traditionally by seed, now often makes use of alternative methods such as cuttings and tissue culture (TC). Propagation through cuttings and TC will generate a root system that is largely composed of adventitious or lateral roots, compared with seed propagation, which will generally promote the formation of a well-defined taproot. In this study, we compared root architecture and growth of seven different rootstock plants, generated from seed, stem cuttings, or TC, during the early weeks of growth in the greenhouse. Based on total dry biomass, root mass fraction of plants generated from cuttings ranged from 11% to 16%, and from 16% to 29% and 21% to 30% for micropropagated plants and seedlings, respectively. Plants propagated through cuttings had the most primary roots (7–10), followed by tissue culture–propagated plants which developed an average of 2–6 primary roots. As expected, plants grown from seeds mostly developed a single and well-defined taproot during the first weeks. The total number of first order lateral roots was highest in the plants propagated as cuttings (108–185) compared with 53–103 and 43–78 for tissue culture–propagated plants and seedlings, respectively. Similarly, specific root length (SRL) was highest in plants derived from cuttings (21–43 m·g−1) and lowest in plants grown from seed (7–20 m·g−1). It is suggested that the larger number and length of roots on rootstock plants propagated through vegetative methods may be better suited for resource acquisition as compared with seed propagated plants.

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