Survival capacity of cacao top grafted with scions infected by vascular streak dieback pathogen: potential source of the disease long-distance spread

Abstract

Vascular streak dieback (VSD) disease, caused by Ceratobasidium theobromae, is a significant cocoa diseases in Indonesia. Planting materials are often produced by top grafting raising the possibility that VSD may be spread through the use of infected grafting materials. When scions from VSD-infected stems were used in grafting, both the rootstock and new growth from the scion developed symptoms of VSD. Infected scions often failed to establish when used for top grafting. This finding proves that the use of infected scions when top grafting can result in infected planting material with potential for spreading VSD.     

巴西橡胶树嫁接接合区接穗和砧木径向生长差异的研究

采用树皮嫁接后不锯砧和光镜观察的方法,研究了巴西橡胶树(Hevea brasiliensis)嫁接后8个月的接合区接穗和砧木木质部径向生长的差异现象。结果表明,接合区接穗木质部的径向生长普遍地小于砧木,这种生长差异是由接穗和砧木亲本固有生长特性的差异引起的,与嫁接亲和性无关。(1)对于同一无性系,接穗的发育阶段决定其生长能力,幼态接穗新分化的木质部显著地大于老态接穗,而两类接穗旁边的砧木之间没有明显差别。(2)砧木生长势明显地影响接穗木质部的生长,砧木生长势越强,砧木和接穗的生长就越快,两者的径向差异也越大。(3)同一砧木上各品系接穗木质部生长差异取决于接穗自身的生长特性,砧木的生长不受接穗品系的明显影响。显微观察表明橡胶树的嫁接是亲和的,接穗新分化的木质部镶嵌在砧木新分化的木质部中,维管组织如导管上下连接畅通,砧穗树皮厚度一致,愈合良好。     

Somatic hybridization in citrus: An effective tool to facilitate variety improvement

Summary Citrus somatic hybridization and cybridization via protoplast fusion has become an integral part of citrus variety improvement programs worldwide. Citrus somatic hybrid plants have been regenerated from more than 200 parental combinations, and several cybrid combinations have also been produced. Applications of somatic hybridization to citrus scion improvement include the production of quality tetraploid breeding parents that can be used in interploid crosses to generate seedless triploids, and the direct production of triploids by haploid + diploid fusion. Applications of somatic hybridization to citrus rootstock improvement include the production of allotetraploid hybrids that combine complementary diploid rootstocks, and to combine citrus with sexually incompatible or difficult to hybridize genera that possess traits of interest for germplasm expansion. A few somatic hybrid tetraploid breeding parents have flowered, are fertile, and are being used as pollen parents to generate triploids. Several allotetraploid somatic hybrid rootstocks are performing well in commercial field trials, and show great promise for tree size control. Seed trees of most of these somatic hybrid rootstocks are producing adequate nucellar seed for standard propagation. Somatic hybridization is expected to have a positive impact on citrus cultivar improvement efforts.     

Linking wood anatomy with growth vigour and susceptibility to alternate bearing in composite apple and pear trees

• Excess vegetative growth and irregular fruit‐bearing are often undesirable in horticultural practice. However, the biological mechanisms underlying these traits in fruit trees are not fully understood. Here, we tested if growth vigour and susceptibility of apple and pear trees to alternate fruit‐bearing are associated with vascular anatomy.
• We examined anatomical traits related to water transport and nutrient storage in young woody shoots and roots of 15 different scion/rootstock cultivars of apple and pear trees. In addition, soil and leaf water potentials were measured across a drought period.
• We found a positive correlation between the mean vessel diameter of roots and the annual shoot length. Vigorously growing trees also maintained less negative midday leaf water potential during drought. Furthermore, we observed a close negative correlation between the proportions of total parenchyma in the shoots and the alternate bearing index.
• Based on anatomical proxies, our results suggest that xylem transport efficiency of rootstocks is linked to growth vigour of both apple and pear trees, while limited carbohydrate storage capacity of scions may be associated with increased susceptibility to alternate bearing. These findings can be useful for the breeding of new cultivars of commercially important fruit trees.

     

Rootstock-imposed Alterations in Nitrate Reductase and Glutamine Synthetase Activities in Leaves of Rose Plants

The activities of nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase in leaves of greenhouse grown rose plants (Rosa hybrida cvs. Ilseta and Mercedes) grafted on various rootstocks were compared with those in leaves of non-grafted, own-root plants of these cultivars. The results obtained showed that the enzymatic activities as well as nitrate content in the leaves were altered by the grafting and by type of the rootstock used. These rootstock-imposed alterations differed between the two cultivars used in the study. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

两种黄瓜接穗在同一砧木上对生长状况影响的研究

试验以黑籽南瓜为砧木,津优1号和农城4号为接穗的2种嫁接苗的生长状况进行了比较研究。结果表明：2种嫁接苗A-CK1和A-CK2,其最大侧根长的平均增长率分别为87.42%和47.13%;根系重量分别增加77.89%和67.51%;茎粗分别增加21.90%和14.25%。壮苗指数分别增加83.08%和78.83%;根/冠比A-CK1增加45.77%,A-C2略有增加。     

西瓜接穗对嫁接苗根系糖代谢及生长发育的影响

该研究以西瓜品种‘早佳8424’、南瓜品种‘伟砧1号’为试验材料,设置2个嫁接组合西瓜/南瓜(W/P)和南瓜/南瓜(P/P),采用贴接法嫁接,并以不嫁接的南瓜自根苗(P)为对照,通过玻璃温室营养钵育苗试验测定了西瓜接穗对嫁接苗根系生长发育及糖代谢的影响。结果表明:(1)西瓜嫁接苗(W/P)根系生长指标(鲜质量、干质量、根体积等)和根系活力,以及地上生长指标(地上部鲜质量、干质量和叶面积)均显著低于南瓜嫁接苗(P/P)和南瓜自根苗(P)。(2)幼苗根系总糖、可溶性糖、还原糖、淀粉以及蔗糖、葡萄糖和果糖含量均表现为W/P P/P P,且在嫁接后18 d时各处理间均存在显著性差异。(3)在嫁接后18 d时,W/P嫁接苗根系中细胞壁转化酶(CWIN)和己糖激酶(HXK)的活性和相关基因(CWIN、HXK)表达水平较南瓜嫁接苗(P/P)和南瓜自根苗(P)均显著降低。研究发现,西瓜接穗可能通过抑制嫁接苗根系糖的积累,以及抑制CWIN和HXK的活性,从而抑制嫁接苗的根系生长和活力。     

Attack by Hylobius warreni on grafted lodgepole pine and its relationships with monoterpene composition and scion : rootstock diameter ratio

1 A lodgepole pine seed orchard at the Prince George Tree Improvement Station (PGTIS), with up to 60% of grafted trees attacked by the Warren root collar weevil Hylobius warreni was investigated to determine whether relative monoterpene composition or scion : rootstock interactions of grafts affected susceptibility to attack. 2 There was a significant relationship between relative levels of α‐pinene, β‐thujene, β‐pinene, δ‐3‐carene and limonene in scion and rootstock in unattacked trees, indicating a potential effect of the scion monoterpene composition on their composition in the rootstock. 3 Relative content of δ‐3‐carene and β‐phellandrene differed significantly in root stocks of attacked and unattacked trees but, for individual clones, a significant difference was only detected for β‐phellandrene in one clone. δ‐3‐Carene levels may have been too low in the examined trees to exert a strong effect. 4 Interestingly, attack status was significantly associated with two scion monoterpenes: α‐thujene and α‐terpinolene, both of which had higher levels in unattacked than in attacked trees. 5 Warren root collar weevils appear largely unaffected by monoterpene content, but further study is required to determine whether high levels of δ‐3‐carene imparts some level of resistance to attack, and to verify whether the observed effects of scion monoterpenes are real or artefacts of the analysis. 6 Hylobius warreni‐attacked trees had smaller scion : rootstock diameter ratio (i.e. a large rootstock diameter relative to the scion diameter) than unattacked trees. This effect was consistent among clones, and was not due to the absolute diameter of the rootstock or the scion. Trees with increased diameter‐growth at the root collar (e.g. some grafted trees) may have increased susceptibility to attack by H. warreni, or diameter‐growth at the root collar is affected by the attack.     

miR160a与其靶基因在西瓜嫁接苗中参与抵御低温胁迫

miR160在许多研究中被报道靶向生长素响应因子(ARF)并参与植物的生长发育,但其在葫芦科作物以及嫁接西瓜耐冷性中的调控机制尚不清晰。本研究利用生物信息学技术对miR160a进行了保守性分析、候选靶基因ARF的预测及验证、结合位点分析以及ARF基因家族的进化分析。本文以西瓜(Citrullus lanatus)为接穗材料,分别以印度南瓜(Cucurbita maxima)、中国南瓜(Cucurbita moschata)和美洲南瓜(Cucurbita pepo)作为嫁接的砧木材料,以C6实生苗为对照,通过8^oC低温处理7 d后统计冷害指数,检测不同组织中miR160a和靶基因ARF的表达情况来探究嫁接西瓜miR160a与其靶基因在抵御低温胁迫中的调控作用。结果表明：嫁接显著提高了西瓜植株的抗冷性,影响了miR160a和其ARF靶基因的表达,并且miR160a与其靶基因整体上呈现负向调控的模式来参与嫁接西瓜抵御低温胁迫的过程。本文为今后深入研究嫁接耐冷体系提供了新的参考依据和研究基础。