Physiological responses of four apple (Malus × domesticaBorkh.) rootstock genotypes to soil water deficits

Abstract

The use of drought-tolerant rootstocks is an important strategy in maintaining orchard productivity while meeting the increasing need to conserve water resources. The drought tolerance of two new genotypes, Vineland 1 (V.1) and Vineland 3 (V.3), was assessed along with industry standards to test the hypothesis that differences in water-use efficiency exist among these apple rootstocks. One-year-old, non-grafted nursery liners of M.9, MM.111, V.1, and V.3 were grown in a controlled-environment experiment. Plants of each genotype were maintained water-replete or were subjected to a 9-d controlled dry down and then maintained under water stress conditions for 55 d. Water stress reduced biomass accumulation and trunk cross-sectional area for all four genotypes. The two vigorous genotypes, MM.111 and V.1, increased their root-to-shoot ratios in response to water stress, whereas the root-to-shoot ratios of M.9 and V.3 remained unchanged in their water-replete controls. Genotype V.3 maintained its transpiration at a significantly lower soil water content compared to M.9, MM.111, and V.1. Of the four genotypes, V.3 demonstrated a high tolerance to water stress conditions, and therefore deserves further investigation using grafted apple trees in an orchard study.

Physiological and Molecular Responses of Six Apple Rootstocks to Osmotic Stress

“…Similarly, we found that B9, V3 and G41, which were previously reported to be more dwarfing than M26, had higher ABA content than M26 under normal conditions, and these rootstocks demonstrated better responses under osmotic stress conditions than M26. In similar studies, dwarfing rootstocks showed more drought tolerance than their vigorous counterparts, e.g., MM111 and M26 [ 51 ]. However, Jiménez et al (2013) [ 14 ] found that peach dwarfing rootstock presented a lower tolerance capacity than vigorous rootstock, suggesting that tree size is not always correlated with plant tolerance.…”

“…These results agree with Kautz et al (2015) [ 9 ] who reported a reduction in RWC in apple plants exposed to PEG and drought stresses. Leaf water potential drives several physiological, biochemical and molecular changes in stressed plants [ 21 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. Therefore, RWC is an important indicator of plant water status and plant tolerance potential.…”

Phenylpropanoid Metabolism in Phaseolus vulgaris during Growth under Severe Drought

“…To evaluate the impact of soil water deficit on both RILs, plants were cultivated under 75% relative soil water content (RSWC), and their biomass and metabolite profiles were assessed relative to plants cultivated under 15% RSWC (i.e., severe drought). The 15% RSWC was chosen for this study as it was previously shown to elicit severe drought stress on apple rootstocks, cotton, and red clover [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Plants were grown in 1.45-L high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pots (Berlin Packaging ® , Chicago, IL, USA) without drainage holes, containing two parts by volume granitic “B sand” (Hutcheson Sand & Mixes, Huntsville, ON, Canada) and 1 part peat-based potting mix (PGW, Sun Gro Horticulture Canada Ltd., Seba Beach, AB, Canada).…”

A gravimetric method to monitor transpiration under water stress conditions in wheat

“…Investigations of transpiration response to drought stress using the gravimetric method have been conducted in a wide variety of crops, including maize ( Zea mays L.; Ryan et al., 2016), apple ( Malus pumila Mill. ; Abdelkader et al., 2022; Wright et al., 2019), and sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L.; Ortiz et al., 2018).…”