What is it about?
During fruit development, the changes in morphology and the carbohydrate composition of the leaves of apple trees related with their responses to drought both in an intensive plantation and in a model experiment. Under short-term drought, the degree of leaf rolling correlated with the carbohydrate (glucose+fructose ) content (R=0.8348). We have shown that water-intensive cultivars responded by significant leaf rolling and high accumulation of carbohydrates to mild drought while those with moderately rolled leaves contained less glucose and fructose.
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Why is it important?
During drought stress conditions, the differences between cultivars are best shown by the quantitative changes in the glucose+fructose content in the leaves found on the middle level of trees and the middle part of shoots. The early stage of slow fruit development is suitable for screening the drought tolerance of apple trees based on the changes in morphology and carbohydrate composition of the leaves.
Perspectives
Writing this article was a great pleasure as it has co-authors with whom I have had long standing collaborations. This article also lead to the drought research groups contacting me to improve the methods in plant breeding.
Eszter Nemeskéri
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This page is a summary of: Responses of apple tree cultivars to drought: carbohydrate composition in the leaves, TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, January 2015, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey,
DOI: 10.3906/tar-1409-154.
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