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This study contributed to the understanding of acrotony in apple cultivars in a mild winter region, contrasting high- and low-chilling requirement apple cultivars, and the role of this behavior in plant adaptability. When there is... more
This study contributed to the understanding of acrotony in apple cultivars in a mild winter region, contrasting high- and low-chilling requirement apple cultivars, and the role of this behavior in plant adaptability. When there is insufficient chilling accumulation during the cold season, apple trees present erratic and poor budbreak. However, there is a lack of information regarding carbohydrate metabolism and their influence on budbreak and branch architecture in apples grown in subtropical humid climates. This work aimed to evaluate budbreak and the availability of carbohydrates in distal and proximal portions of 1-year-old apple tree shoots, and to verify their relationships with axillary shoot formation in spring. Two apple cultivars ‘Eva’ and ‘Fuji’, with low and high chilling requirements, respectively, were assessed in a mild winter region of Brazil. From April to October of 2012, 2013 and 2014, 25 one-year-old shoots of each cultivar were sampled bi-weekly. These shoots were divided into distal and proximal portions. Wood from five shoots was sampled to quantify the nonstructural carbohydrate and alpha-amylase content for each portion. The single-node cutting test was used to observe mean time to budburst for the remaining 20 shoots. In generally, our results suggest that under mild winter conditions, the apple tree does not enter into deep endodormancy. Furthermore, there were biological and biochemical differences between the distal and proximal portions of the bearing-shoots for all the studied variables, likely related to the higher sink force in the distal portion. Consequently, the buds from the distal portion sprout first, thereby establishing a primigenic dominance over the buds of the proximal portion. Our study also suggests that the shallow endodormancy of high chilling requirement cultivars cultivated in mild winter regions would make paradormancy predominant, emphasizing acrotonic branching in these cultivars. There was greater availability of nonstructural carbohydrates and alpha-amylase activity in the wood of the distal portion of 1-year-bearing shoots of apple trees under mild winter conditions, regardless of the cultivar.
Research Interests: Horticulture, Plant Biology, Biology, Cultivar, Trees, and 3 moreForestry Sciences, Growth Habit, and Shoot
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Diversification of agricultural system has become a major stake in the current movement for the decrease of pesticides use. Various works on multispecies agroecosystem conception try to substitute ecosystemic services to chemical inputs.... more
Diversification of agricultural system has become a major stake in the current movement for the decrease of pesticides use. Various works on multispecies agroecosystem conception try to substitute ecosystemic services to chemical inputs. Apple tree orchards, holder of highest number of treatment record, must face these stakes. GAFA project, set up by the resource team of the UMR System of Montpellier, tackles this issue through the conception of an agroforestry orchard composed with three layers: hybrid walnut trees (23rdyears), Dalinette apple trees (3rdyear), and a leguminous crop in the inter row. The aim of this project is to study the behaviour of apple trees in various light competition contexts. These apple trees are classed in three modalities characterized by their position relative to the walnut trees: row, inter-row and control (traditional orchard without walnut). This study focuses on the development of apple treesarchitecture, phenologyand sap flow. Using allometric re...
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The productivity of most of tropical and temperate perennial fruit crops, in particular the mango tree, is limited by irregular bearing. Studies on irregular bearing generally tackle the effects of fruit production in one year on... more
The productivity of most of tropical and temperate perennial fruit crops, in particular the mango tree, is limited by irregular bearing. Studies on irregular bearing generally tackle the effects of fruit production in one year on flowering and fruiting in the following year, and do not consider vegetative growth between fruiting seasons. However, strong reciprocal relationships between vegetative and reproductive growth have been evidenced in some fruit species, suggesting they are involved in irregular bearing. Four mango cultivars with contrasted fruit bearing pattern were investigated, Cogshall, Kensington Pride, Irwin and Jose. We studied the relationships between vegetative growth and reproduction at the tree, scaffold branch and terminal growth unit scales. Vegetative growth was quantified at those scales by the number of new growth units set up du ring the vegetative growth season preceding flowering . Reproduction was assessed at those scales by the rate of flowering and the...
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In the mango growing tropical and subtropical regions, the general trends of climate change are higher temperature, lower precipitation and higher frequency of extreme events such as scorching heat, drought, flooding or destructive wind.... more
In the mango growing tropical and subtropical regions, the general trends of climate change are higher temperature, lower precipitation and higher frequency of extreme events such as scorching heat, drought, flooding or destructive wind. Soil and water salinity are expected to increase near the coast because of the sea level rise. These trends are not favorable to mango production in the current mango producing regions. Although large areas in the currently cooler subtropical regions will become biophysically suitable for mango growing, the higher land value and social-economical development level in those regions will very probably not favor the shifting of the global mango production into those regions. Therefore, global mango production needs to adapt to the changes within the current mango growing zone. The first way of adaptation is that the cultivation will move further into highlands where climate will be more suitable for mango (though suitable land will be limited). The sec...
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L'arcure est preconisee sur les arbres fruitiers pour reduire la croissance du rameau et stimuler la floraison et la fructification. De facon a apprecier la fructification d'une annee a l'autre, cette etude a pour objectif de... more
L'arcure est preconisee sur les arbres fruitiers pour reduire la croissance du rameau et stimuler la floraison et la fructification. De facon a apprecier la fructification d'une annee a l'autre, cette etude a pour objectif de suivre les axillaires (vegetatif et floral) au cours des annees suivant la l'arcure. Les protocoles d'observation mis en place sur trois ans portent sur l'epoque de realisation et le degre de l'arcure et consistent en un ensemble de releves morphologiques et geometriques. Cette quantification devrait aboutir a des preconisations agronomiques accessibles aux arboriculteurs
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This study aimed at investigating the effects of regulated deficit irrigation one year on return-bloom and characteristics of inflorescences and fruit-set in the following year. In three consecutive years, 2012, 2013 and 2014, trees were... more
This study aimed at investigating the effects of regulated deficit irrigation one year on return-bloom and characteristics of inflorescences and fruit-set in the following year. In three consecutive years, 2012, 2013 and 2014, trees were subjected to two water regimes: Control (well-watered, WW), and 50% water deficit during one summer month, July (water-stressed, WS). In 2014, almost all 2013-shoots had a terminal inflorescence. They were separated into three length classes: short, 0.5-2 cm; medium, 2-11 cm; and long, equal or longer than 11 cm. Within each 2013-shoot size category, leaf number and leaf area of terminal inflorescences on these shoots were not affected significantly by the water regime. In the long shoot category, WW gave higher values for the bourse-shoot number in comparison to WS. The number of flowers per terminal inflorescence did not vary between WS and WW. To conclude, our results showed that the number of nodes of a shoot in 2013, and the number of leaves, leaf area and fruit-set of the inflorescence in 2014 as well as the frequency of bourse-overbourse between the couples of years 2012-13 and 2013-14 were not affected by moderate water stress. Overall, a 50% water stress over one month in summer for a late season cultivar did not decrease shoot growth in the same year, likely because shoot growth was already finished by summer months. Interestingly, it also did not affect inflorescence development, fruit-set and bourse-shoot formation in the following year. Working on a late cultivar, i.e. ‘JoyaTM’, with a long period of fruit growth, likely buffers the effects of summer water deficit. Our study supported the idea that regulated deficit irrigation needs to be adapted to the conditions and the cultivar.
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ABSTRACT
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ABSTRACT Shoot geometry was investigated for five apple genotypes, ‘Ariane’, ‘Braeburn’, ‘Fuji’, ‘Gala’, and ‘Granny Smith’ in the INRA Experimental Field in Montpellier, France. Data were recorded on one-year-old shoot in May 2005. For... more
ABSTRACT Shoot geometry was investigated for five apple genotypes, ‘Ariane’, ‘Braeburn’, ‘Fuji’, ‘Gala’, and ‘Granny Smith’ in the INRA Experimental Field in Montpellier, France. Data were recorded on one-year-old shoot in May 2005. For shoot shape, two variables were investigated: slenderness (ratio of shoot length by mean diameter) and conicity (ratio of the diameter difference between the basal part and the tip of a shoot, and shoot length). In the slenderness comparison, ‘Ariane’ showed the lowest result and ‘Granny Smith’ performed the highest one. The lowest conicity was also observed in ‘Ariane’, indicating that ‘Ariane’ produced the thickest shoots with cylinder shape. Relationships between these geometric features, especially conicity, and sylleptic branching are discussed.
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International audienc
Introduction. Une faible charge en fruits et des porte-greffes de faible vigueur augmentent generalement le calibre et la qualite des fruits. Par ailleurs, la maturite est alors avancee. Cependant, les effets dus a la charge et au... more
Introduction. Une faible charge en fruits et des porte-greffes de faible vigueur augmentent generalement le calibre et la qualite des fruits. Par ailleurs, la maturite est alors avancee. Cependant, les effets dus a la charge et au porte-greffe ne sont pas toujours distingues de ceux imputables a une difference de maturite. L'effet des interactions entre porte-greffe et charge sur quelques variables de maturite et de qualite des fruits a la recolte a ete recherche. Materiel et methodes. L'etude a porte sur des pommiers (cv. Braeburn) âges de 5 ans et greffes sur M7, M9 et M27. L'ajustement de la charge a ete effectue debut juin, de facon a obtenir 12,5 fruits-cm -2 de surface de section du tronc pour des arbres a forte charge et 2,5 fruits pour ceux a faible charge. La qualite, les sucres solubles et l'amidon ont ete analyses sur quatre recoltes effectuees sur des fruits du bois de 2 ans. Les parametres evoluant avec la maturite ont ete analyses a un stade de couleur de fond donne. Resultats et discussion. Une faible charge et les porte-greffes faibles ont augmente le calibre, la fermete, la coloration et la teneur en matiere seche des fruits, et avance la maturite. Cependant, plus le porte-greffe est fort, moins les effets de la charge ont ete importants. La charge perturbe les indications du code amidon en modifiant les teneurs en amidon et les relations entre ces teneurs et les valeurs du code. L'indice refractometrique des jus a ete plus faible pour les fruits issus de la forte charge, mais la teneur en sucres solubles a ete peu modifiee. Le porte-greffe a peu influence ces parametres. Conclusion. Les effets de la charge et du porte-greffe sont importants a considerer pour une recolte optimale. Lors de notre etude, la couleur de fond a semble etre un critere de maturite plus fiable que le code amidon. Cependant, pour un niveau de charge determine, ce code donne egalement de bonnes informations.
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PIERRE-ERIC LAURI1 AND FRANCOIS LAURENS2 1UMR BEPC – Biologie du developpement des Especes Perennes Cultivees (INRA/IRD/CIRAD), Equipe Architecture et Fonctionnement des Especes Fruitieres, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 01, France. e-mail:... more
PIERRE-ERIC LAURI1 AND FRANCOIS LAURENS2 1UMR BEPC – Biologie du developpement des Especes Perennes Cultivees (INRA/IRD/CIRAD), Equipe Architecture et Fonctionnement des Especes Fruitieres, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 01, France. e-mail: lauri@ensam.inra.fr. 2UMR GenHort – Genetique et Horticulture (INRA/UA/INH) 42, rue Georges Morel. BP 57. 49071 Beaucouze Cedex, France. e-mail: laurens@angers.inra.fr
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L'etude de la variation du plastochrone apparent est realisee pour l'ensemble des rameaux de jeunes pechers (cv. Flavortop et Redwing) au cours d'une saison de vegetation. La relation avec la ramification anticipee est... more
L'etude de la variation du plastochrone apparent est realisee pour l'ensemble des rameaux de jeunes pechers (cv. Flavortop et Redwing) au cours d'une saison de vegetation. La relation avec la ramification anticipee est analysee. L'application de la theorie du renouvellement a l'analyse de l'evolution du plastochrone montre que les variations sont paralleles entre les trois ordres de ramification consideres. Elle permet egalement de conclure a l'homogeneite du regime de croissance pour chaque ordre de ramification, tout au moins jusqu'a la periode de ralentissement de la croissance observee fin juin - debut juillet. On montre par ailleurs que la manifestation de la ramification anticipee vraie (croissance simultanee du rameau et du metamere porteur) n'est reelle que pour les axes d'ordre 2 et durant un temps relativement court (fin mai). Elle correspond alors a des valeurs de plastochrone apparent minimales
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... Crabbe and Escobedo Alvarez (1991) found on Golden Delicious that spur-borne vegetative buds contain around 15 appendages, while a reproductive bud contains at least 20 appendages. But the critical appendage number ...
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The impact of temperature on plant growth is usually studied on the leaves of annuals. We studied in natura the effect of temperature on the growth of three plant organs: the growth unit (GU) axis; its attached leaves, considering their... more
The impact of temperature on plant growth is usually studied on the leaves of annuals. We studied in natura the effect of temperature on the growth of three plant organs: the growth unit (GU) axis; its attached leaves, considering their position along the axis; and the inflorescence axis. Mango tree was chosen as plant model. Organ growth was measured at different seasons and elevations, permitting a range of temperatures overlapping the optimal range for mango growth. Four growth parameters were investigated: the final organ size, the duration of growth, the maximal absolute growth rate (AGRmax) and the relative growth rate at the time of AGRmax (RGRip). Temporal growth dependencies were found between the axis and its leaves, regardless of their positions. Size dependencies were revealed only between the GU axis and its proximal leaf. Strong effects of temperature on duration of growth and on RGRip were observed regardless of the organ studied. A common allometric coefficient linke...
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Training and pruning the apple tree according to the SALSA System. 13. SENAFRUT – Seminario nacional sobre fruticultura de clima temperad
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La culture de pommier (Malus domestica) est l’une des principales productions fruitières en climat tempéré. En production fruitière, la gestion des ravageurs repose sur un usage intensif des pesticides afin d’assurer l’absence de défaut... more
La culture de pommier (Malus domestica) est l’une des principales productions fruitières en climat tempéré. En production fruitière, la gestion des ravageurs repose sur un usage intensif des pesticides afin d’assurer l’absence de défaut visuel sur les fruits. Ces systèmes conventionnels sont désormais remis en question de par leurs impacts négatifs sur la biodiversité, la santé humaine et la qualité des sols, de l’air et de l’eau. Le développement de la biodiversité à l’intérieur des parcelles agricoles est une alternative potentielle pour répondre à ces enjeux environnementaux, sanitaires et agronomiques. Les mécanismes de régulation biologique peuvent permettre un contrôle des populations de ravageurs phytophages grâce à leurs ennemis-naturels. Ces ennemis-naturels sont des prédateurs ou des parasitoïdes qui détruisent les ravageurs. Les ennemis naturels sont nombreux et leur diversité est importante pour la régulation biologique, car ils sont complémentaires (dans l’espace, le te...
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National audienceDiversification of fruit tree species, cultivars, crops and companion plants is a way to reinforce ecosystem services towards productive and ‘pest suppressive’ fruit-tree based agroforestry systems (FT-AFS). We analyzed... more
National audienceDiversification of fruit tree species, cultivars, crops and companion plants is a way to reinforce ecosystem services towards productive and ‘pest suppressive’ fruit-tree based agroforestry systems (FT-AFS). We analyzed the approach and the outputs of three design processes that shared the same objectives of ecological intensification and diversification in FT-AFS. The approach targeted ‘pest suppressive’ processes but also resource use optimization within time and space between productive and associated plants. Basic and applied knowledge on ecological and biophysical processes, feedbacks and experiences of various stakeholders in the fruitchain permitted to make tradeoff between agronomic, ecological and organizational aspects. For genericity purpose, the functions of each plant species or assemblage (e.g. barrier, trap, production) were identified taking into account growth dynamics over time. The set-up of those FT-AFS prototypes implies changes in technics due ...
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International audienceTree root pruning in agroforestry could reduce water competition and increase the crop yield. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of tree root pruning on the yield of winter cereals in a mature... more
International audienceTree root pruning in agroforestry could reduce water competition and increase the crop yield. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of tree root pruning on the yield of winter cereals in a mature Mediterranean alley cropping system considering crop phenology and the position in the alley. An experiment was conducted in a walnut alley cropping. Two modalities were established: root pruning (RP+) and no root pruning (RP-). In each one four genotypes of winter cereals were sown. Microclimate, soil matric potential (SMP), crop phenology and yield components were measured. The SMP presented higher values in RP+, especially in the central part of the alley. The impact on crop phenology of the root pruning and the position in the alley varies according to the genotype. The barley yield was statistically higher in RP+, whereas wheat yield did not show significant differences between modalities
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Research Interests: Irrigation, Drought, Apple, Aphids, Water scarcity, and 4 moreMediterranean Climate, Scarcity, Peach, and Innovation
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Ideotypes are a popular concept for plant breeders, who designate as such the ideal combinations of traits in a particular genotype. This historical, genetic view of ideotypes can (and has) been more recently extended to cover the design... more
Ideotypes are a popular concept for plant breeders, who designate as such the ideal combinations of traits in a particular genotype. This historical, genetic view of ideotypes can (and has) been more recently extended to cover the design of plant genotypes for specific cropping systems (the ‘agronomic’ view), or even the ideal combination of parameters, identified from simulation modeling, to a specific agronomic problem (the ‘mathematical’ view). Designing an ideotype requires first to precisely bind the purpose the ideotype is supposed to meet. This imposes not only the definition of the agronomic problem itself, the action possibilities available (genetic variability in the plant, human interventions during crop husbandry, etc…), but also of the production system considered. Whether ideotypes should remain virtual objects (i.e., cultivar blueprints) or can be real varieties is still an open debate. The different forms of ideotypes in turn induce different strategies for breeding ...
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Dataset used for the preparation of the manuscript "Genetic variation of morphological traits and transpiration in an apple core collection under well-watered conditions: towards the identification of morphotypes with high water use... more
Dataset used for the preparation of the manuscript "Genetic variation of morphological traits and transpiration in an apple core collection under well-watered conditions: towards the identification of morphotypes with high water use efficiency" The dataset presented includes information for morphological and physiological traits for 183 genotypes of an INRA apple core collection. This collection was grown under well-watered condition in the Phenoarch phenotyping platform in Montpellier (France). Trees were evaluated during the first year of growth after grafting them on M9 rootstock. A first file includes individual information for four plants for each genotype. A second file includes the Best Linear Unbiased Predictors (BLUP's) of genetic values for each morpho-physiological trait and genotype. Mixed effect models taking into account the spatial heterogeneity within the phenotyping platform were used to estimate BLUPs values.
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Nutrient cycling in cocoa agroforestry systems (cAFS) is complex and poorly understood. To better understand the mass flow of carbon and nutrients into the soil sub-system under various contexts we quantified the mass flow of litterfall,... more
Nutrient cycling in cocoa agroforestry systems (cAFS) is complex and poorly understood. To better understand the mass flow of carbon and nutrients into the soil sub-system under various contexts we quantified the mass flow of litterfall, its composition and seasonal variations in different agroforestry systems in Bokito (Central Cameroon). We studied litterfall dynamics and in situ leaf-litter cycling of cAFS established on past forest lands (F-cAFS) and savannah (S-cAFS). We also studied the decomposition of cocoa and associated tree leaf-litter in litterbags. Local secondary semi-deciduous forests were included as control. Annual litterfall in full-grown cAFS (> 15 years old) was high (9.4 Mg ha−1 y−1) and represented ca. 67% of litterfall in control forests. In full-grown cAFS, associated tree leaf-litter contributed to litterfall the most and ranged between 60 and 70% of the total amount recorded (6.3 Mg ha−1 y−1). The quantities and dynamics of the litter components monitored were similar in full-grown S- and F-cAFS. The microclimate was best buffered in forests and least buffered in young S-cAFS but could not be linked to leaf-litter decomposition. Forest leaf litterfall was higher and tended to cycle faster than total leaf-litter of cAFS, whose decomposition appeared limited by cocoa leaf-litter quality. Our study underlines (i) the critical contribution of associated trees to the nutrient cycle of agroecosystems established on poor soils and, (ii) the ability of farmers to channel associated tree communities towards similar functioning despite different past land-uses.
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The negative effects of fruit production during one cycle on reproduction during the following cycle are generally explained by two complementary processes: hormone synthesis and carbohydrate mobilization. Our study focused on mango... more
The negative effects of fruit production during one cycle on reproduction during the following cycle are generally explained by two complementary processes: hormone synthesis and carbohydrate mobilization. Our study focused on mango (Mangifera indica L.) for which it has been shown that reproduction decreases and delays vegetative bud outgrowth. This, in turn, affects flowering and fruiting in the following cycle. Vegetative growth therefore plays a pivotal role in irregular fruit production patterns across consecutive years. Our aim was to decipher the respective roles of hormones and carbohydrates on the negative effects of reproduction on vegetative growth. We analyzed the changes in various hormone (auxin, cytokinin, abscisic acid) and carbohydrate (glucose, sucrose, starch) concentrations in terminal axes with vegetative and reproductive fates of two mango cultivars, Cogshall and José, characterized by different bearing patterns, across consecutive phenological periods during a...
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Background and AimsMango (Mangifera indica L.) is the fifth most widely produced fruit in the world. Its cultivation, mainly in tropical and sub-tropical regions, raises a number of issues such as the irregular fruit production across... more
Background and AimsMango (Mangifera indica L.) is the fifth most widely produced fruit in the world. Its cultivation, mainly in tropical and sub-tropical regions, raises a number of issues such as the irregular fruit production across years, phenological asynchronisms that lead to long periods of pest and disease susceptibility, and the heterogeneity of fruit quality and maturity at harvest. To address these issues, we developed an integrative functional–structural plant model that synthesizes knowledge about the vegetative and reproductive development of the mango tree and opens up the possible simulation of cultivation practices.MethodsWe designed a model of architectural development in order to precisely characterize the intricate developmental processes of the mango tree. The appearance of botanical entities was decomposed into elementary stochastic events describing occurrence, intensity and timing of development. These events were determined by structural (position and fate of...
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Fruit production should be adapted to future scenarios that are frequently associated with scarce resources, especially freshwater and fertilizers. New biologically-based fruit production strategies, i.e. taking into account tree growth... more
Fruit production should be adapted to future scenarios that are frequently associated with scarce resources, especially freshwater and fertilizers. New biologically-based fruit production strategies, i.e. taking into account tree growth and water status, are required to optimize irrigation and fertilization under abiotic stress conditions. It was hypothesized that a moderate abiotic stress, here deficit irrigation with or without nitrogen deficit, in the preharvest period, could decrease postharvest losses due to diseases and pruning weights due to reduced vegetative growth, without sacrificing the yield and fruit quality. This study was conducted over two years using the same trees of ‘Moncante’ nectarine cultivar grown in a commercial orchard. Trees were assigned to three treatments: (1) full irrigation at 80% estimated crop evapotranspiration (ETc), (2) deficit irrigation, i.e. at 75% of full irrigation, and (3) deficit irrigation and deficit nitrogen, i.e. at 75% of full irrigat...