Relationship of Pruning and Growth Morphology with Hormone Ratios in Shoots of Pillar and Standard Peach Trees

Genotype and cultural management determine the shape of peach Prunus persica (L.) Batch] tree canopies in orchards. Not well understood, however, is the relationship between terminal growth, lateral branching, and shoot hormone levels that can fundamentally affect tree canopy development. In this experiment, two peach cultivars with widely differing growth habits (Pillar, KV930479 and Standard, ‘Harrow Beauty’) were budded on ‘Lovell’ rootstock, planted in the field in 1998, and characterized for shoot morphology and hormone concentrations in 2002 and 2003 (the fourth and fifth leaf, respectively). Auxin (indole-3-acetic acid) and cytokinins (largely trans-zeatin riboside, dihydrozeatin riboside, and isopentenyladenosine) were measured in shoot tips (2002) and current-year shoots (2003) using mass spectrometry. In 2002, Pillar trees had less sylleptic branching, more upright growth, and higher auxin and auxin-to-cytokinin ratios than Standard trees. In Pillar trees in 2003, auxin concentrations and shoot growth were highest in current year shoots; in pruned trees, only auxin levels increased. Peach tree growth habits may be the result of altered hormone metabolism. Growth forms leading to superior production efficiency may be developed by selection based on specific target hormone concentrations and ratios.