Roots play a vital role in flood-tolerance of poplar demonstrated by reciprocal grafting

Poplar is one of the most important multipurpose afforestation trees in river floodplains and arable farmland which are subject to frequent flooding. To determine the relative roles that the roots and shoots have in responses to waterlogging, six root-shoot grafting combinations of full-sib poplar clones LS1 (flood-tolerant) and LS2 (flood-susceptible) were compared for waterlogging effects on them, using reciprocal and self-grafts. Plants of the six combinations comprised non-grafted (LS1) and (LS2), self-grafted (LS1/LS1) and (LS2/LS2), LS1 grafted onto LS2 (LS1/LS2), and LS2 grafted onto LS1 (LS2/LS1) experimental plants. The two clones LS1 and LS2 originated from Populus deltoides cv. Lux ex. I-69/55 (flood-tolerant) × P. simonii (flood-susceptible). Growth, morphological and ecophysiological parameters of plants belonging to the six grafting combinations were subjected for 21 days to flooding, followed by a six-day drainage and recovery stage. Results showed that flooding stress affected adversely growth, biomass accumulation, morphological and ecophysiological characteristics in all flooded plants. The more severe influences were found in the plants with LS2 roots (LS1/LS2, LS2/LS2, LS2), whereas plants having roots of LS1 (LS2/LS1, LS1/LS1, LS1) were less negatively affected. At the end of the study, 100%, 100%, 93.3%, 26.7%, 6.7% and 20% survival rates, respectively, were observed in flooded plants of LS1, LS1/LS1, LS2/LS1, LS1/LS2, LS2/LS2 and LS2. In conformity with the results for growth, biomass accumulation and morphology, responses to flooding of gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, relative membrane permeability of leaves, the overall root metabolism parameter dehydrogenase activity (TTC assay), as well as malonaldehyde contents of leaves and roots also indicated that flood injury was significantly more pronounced in plants having LS2 roots than in those with LS1 roots. Plants with roots of LS1 displayed clearly faster recovery after flooding than the plants with LS2 roots. The results indicate that flooding-tolerance of poplar is based more on influences from the rootstock than on those of the scion. It is thus the root genotype that plays the decisive role in flood-tolerance of poplar.