A hundred years after: endodormancy and the chilling requirement in subtropical trees

Abstract

Endodormancy and the related chilling requirement synchronize the seasonal development of trees from the boreal and temperate regions under the climatic conditions prevailing at their native growing sites. The phenomenon of endodormancy has been known at the whole-plant level for 100 years, and in the last couple of decades, insights into the physiological and molecular basis of endodormancy and its release have also been obtained. Intriguingly, recent studies have shown experimentally that subtropical trees also show endodormancy and a chilling requirement. Motivated by the climatic differences between the subtropical and more northern zones, here we address the similarities and differences in endodormancy between trees growing in the subtropical zone and those growing in more northern zones.

Extending the Cultivation Area of Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) Toward the South in Southeastern Subtropical China May Cause Increased Cold Damage

“…This is in line with recent studies, which show that several subtropical tree species have a rest period and a chilling requirement ( Du et al, 2019 ; Song et al, 2020 ; Pan et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021a , b ). The novelty and scarcity of these findings in the case of subtropical trees are in striking contrast with the case of boreal and temperate trees, where the existence of these traits has already been known for a 100 years ( Coville, 1920 ; Jewaria et al, 2021 ).…”

“…However, the value is well in line with the experimental results available for subtropical trees. Zhang et al (2021a,c) found that in two subtropical tree species the restbreaking effect of +15 • C was equal to that of +10 and +5 • C, suggesting that in subtropical trees T upp can even be well above +15 • C (refer to also Jewaria et al, 2021). Further experimental studies with several controlled chilling temperatures and chilling durations (Baumgarten et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2021a,c) are needed to test and improve the sub-model I developed for pecan seedlings in this study.…”

“…(Du et al, 2019;Song et al, 2020;Pan et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2021a,b). The novelty and scarcity of these findings in the case of subtropical trees are in striking contrast with the case of boreal and temperate trees, where the existence of these traits has already been known for a 100 years (Coville, 1920;Jewaria et al, 2021). We introduced a process-based spring leaf-out model for the subtropical first-year pecan seedlings we examined in this study.…”

“…These models address the developmental phenomena taking place during periods of rest and quiescence with explicit state variables ( Hänninen, 2016 ; Chuine and Régnière, 2017 ). Recently, it has been shown experimentally that subtropical trees also show a rest period and chilling requirement ( Du et al, 2019 ; Song et al, 2020 ; Jewaria et al, 2021 ; Pan et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021a , b ). The first process-based models of spring phenology have been published for subtropical trees ( Chen et al, 2017 ; Zhang et al, 2021c ).…”

Comparative Study on Physiological Responses and Gene Expression of Bud Endodormancy Release Between Two Herbaceous Peony Cultivars (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) With Contrasting Chilling Requirements

“…Global warming has resulted in countless perennial plants facing incomplete endodormancy associated with insufficient CR and poses obstacles to bud sprouting (Prudencio et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2021). This hinders the ability of these plants to grow well and consequently reduces their economic value after warm winters, especially in northern cultivars grown at lower latitudes (Zhang et al, 2017;Jewaria et al, 2021). Therefore, elucidating the mechanism controlling endodormancy release may help researchers address the problems caused by warming winter climates.…”