Abstract
During vase life of cut flowers obstructions in stem xylem vessels develop. Such obstructions may restrict water uptake in stems and its transport towards flowers, thus lowering their ornamental value and longevity. <em>Clematis </em>is a very attractive plant which can be used as a cut flower in floral compositions. However, nothing is known about the histochemical or cytolo- gical nature of xylem blockages occurring in cut stems of this plant. Observations carried out on <em>Clematis </em>cv. 'Solidarność' proved that tyloses appeared as a principal source of xylem blockage in cut stems. The preservative composed of 200 mg × dm-3 8-HQC (8-hydroxyquinolin citrate) and 2% sucrose arre-sted development of xylem blockage, while the vessels in stems kept in water were filled with tyloses or an amorphic substance. PAS reaction proved that polysaccharides were present in the xylem occlusions, whereas no homogalacturonans were immunolocalized in tyloses using JIM 5 and JIM 7 antibodies. The present study provides new information on the origin of xylem occlusions in clematis and their development in two different vase solutions. Such information can be useful to develop pro- per postharvest treatments aiming to improve keeping qualities of this new cut flower.
Highlights
The dynamic floriculture industry is constantly looking for new products and technologies which may interest potential customers and create new employment opportunities for European growers and breeders of ornamental plants
Stems kept in the preservative solution for 7 days contained only several tyloses which did not fill the whole lumen of xylem vessel
Our research showed that pectins were not histochemically detected – neither in the tyloses nor in amorphous extracellular material occluding xylem vessels
Summary
The dynamic floriculture industry is constantly looking for new products and technologies which may interest potential customers and create new employment opportunities for European growers and breeders of ornamental plants. A preservative effectively extending the vase life of clematis is a solution composed of 200 mg × dm-3 8-HQC (8-hydroxyquinoline citrate) plus 2% sucrose (Skutnik and Rabiza - Świder , 2005). Because it is a new species for floriculture, more advanced studies and research on senescence of this plant are needed which would allow methods of its postharvest treatments and suitable preservatives to be developed. The appearance of occlusions in xylem conduits is a common response to environmental stresses, infection by microorganisms, or mechanical injury This kind of blockage effectively restricts water uptake by xylem vessels and prevents air embolism (Zimmermann , 1983; S u n et al 2008). The nature of such blocking material was investigated cytologically in xylem vessels in some woody species like Prunus pensylvanica, Ulmus americana, Sorbus americana, revealing the presence of pectic elements, callose or lignin-like molecules (Rioux et al 1998; Espino and Schenk , 2011)
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