AOBPreview originally published online on April 7, 2007
Annals of Botany 2007 99(6):1055-1065; doi:10.1093/aob/mcm049
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INVITED REVIEW |
Architecture of the Pruned Tree: Impact of Contrasted Pruning Procedures Over 2 Years on Shoot Demography and Spatial Distribution of Leaf Area in Apple (Malus domestica)
1 UMR 547 PIAF, INRA, Université Blaise Pascal, F-63100 Clermont Ferrand, France
2 UMR DAP, INRA-SUPAGRO-IRD-CIRAD, Equipe ‘Architecture et Fonctionnement des Espèces fruitières’, 2 place Viala, 34060, Montpellier, Cedex 1, France
3 Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Riad El Solh 1107 2020, PO Box: 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon
* For correspondence. E-mail lauri{at}supagro.inra.fr
Received: 20 November 2006 Returned for revision: 12 January 2007 Accepted: 6 February 2007 Published electronically: 7 April 2007
Background and Aims: Demography and spatial distribution of shoots are rarely studied on pruned trees. The present 2-year study deals with the effect of pruning strategies on shoot demography and development, and consequences on the spatial distribution of leaf area in three architecturally contrasted — from type II to IV — apple cultivars: ‘Scarletspur Delicious’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Granny Smith’.
Methods: All trees were initially subjected during 5 years to Central Leader training with winter heading on all long shoots. For 2 years, half of the trees were further trained with Centrifugal training, where removal of flowering shoots — called extinction pruning — was carried out along the trunk and at the bottom of branches at flowering time. During these 2 years, shoot type (vegetative, inflorescence) and length, and the three-dimensional spatial distribution of all shoots were assessed with an electromagnetic digitizer.
Key Results: Shoot demography, frequency of transitions toward an inflorescence from either an inflorescence (bourse-over-bourse) or a vegetative shoot (trend toward flowering), and the number of bourse-shoots per bourse were strongly affected by cultivar, with little influence of tree manipulation. In contrast, the proportion of vegetative long shoots developing from previous year latent buds was significantly lower in Centrifugal-trained trees for the three cultivars. Canopy volume showed large variations between cultivars, but only that of ‘Granny Smith’ was affected by tree manipulation in the 2 years. Spatial distribution of shoots varied significantly according to cultivar and manipulation. In ‘Scarletspur Delicious’ and, to a lesser extent ‘Golden Delicious’, the distribution of vegetative and flowering shoots in the outer and the inner parts, respectively, was not affected by tree manipulation. In contrast, in ‘Granny Smith’, vegetative shoots were stimulated in the periphery of Central Leader trees, whereas flowering shoots were stimulated in the periphery of Centrifugal-trained trees.
Conclusions: In apple, the variability of responses to contrasted pruning strategies partly depends on the genetically determined growth and flowering habit of the cultivar.
Key words: Malus domestica, apple, architecture, tree ideotype, shoot demography, shoot type, spatial pattern, centrifugal training, central leader, extinction pruning, reiteration
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