Peroxidase activity and initial growth of ‘Barbosa’ peach on clonal rootstocks

Chirlene Márcia Oldoni,Alexandre Augusto Nienow,Jurema Schons,Newton Alex Mayer

doi:10.1590/0100-29452019086

Abstract

Abstract In the peach nursery trees production, the use of rootstocks with unknown genetic identity obtained from peach seeds in the canning industry is frequent. The hypothesis tested was that there are rootstocks that express greater graft compatibility, enabling greater survival and growth, and that peroxidase activity can be used as indication of graft incompatibility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival and the peroxidase activity efficiency in identifying graft incompatibility and the trunk diameter growth of ‘Barbosa’ peach grafted onto 18 Prunus clonal rootstocks, propagated by herbaceous cuttings, compared to own-rooted scion trees. The experimental design was three randomized blocks, with one tree per plot. The first three vegetative cycles of trees conducted in double Y (5.0m x 2.0m) without irrigation were evaluated. The highest trunk diameter growth was provided by ‘Okinawa’, ‘Tsukuba-1’, ‘Tsukuba-2’, Mexico F1 and ‘Flordaguard’ rootstocks, without differing from own-rooted ‘Barbosa’ peach. Peroxidase activity differs by rootstock effect at the beginning of the dormancy period, and is higher than in vegetative growth, especially in interspecific graft combinations. Peroxidase activity is a biochemical indicator of stress, but should not be used alone and generalized to characterize graft incompatibility.

Highlights

Woody fruit species of temperate climate are predominantly propagated by grafting onto rootstocks with characteristics of interest, allowing expanding cultivation to regions with different climate and soil conditions and to solve agronomic problems.In southern Brazil, ‘Aldrighi’ and ‘Capdeboscq’ peach cultivars, widely cultivated for canning, have been used in the production of rootstocks due to the ease of obtaining seeds and reasonable germination percentage
The experiment consisted of evaluating tree survival, peroxidase activity in bark and leaves, and trunk diameter growth of ‘Barbosa’ peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.] grafted onto 18 Prunus rootstocks compared to own-rooted scion trees
During the first three vegetative cycles, all grafted trees onto ‘Marianna 2624’ (P. cerasifera x P. munsoniana) rootstock died, as well as 66.6% of trees grafted onto Clone 15 japanese apricot selection and ‘Santa Rosa’ plum, and 33.3% of trees grafted onto Mexico F1, ‘Barrier’ (P. persica x P. davidiana) and ‘Mirabolano 29C’ (P. cerasifera), the latter for unidentified reasons

Summary

Introduction

Woody fruit species of temperate climate are predominantly propagated by grafting onto rootstocks with characteristics of interest, allowing expanding cultivation to regions with different climate and soil conditions and to solve agronomic problems. In southern Brazil, ‘Aldrighi’ and ‘Capdeboscq’ peach cultivars, widely cultivated for canning, have been used in the production of rootstocks due to the ease of obtaining seeds and reasonable germination percentage. They were not selected for rootstock purposes (PEREIRA; MAYER, 2005). The early death of peach trees is another serious problem (MAYER; UENO, 2012), which being considered a physiological disorder, it is suspected that the rootstock may be related to the death causes

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