Perspectives on the adaptation of Japanese plum-type cultivars to reduced winter chilling in two regions of Spain.

Japanese plum, like other temperate fruit tree species, has cultivar-specific temperature requirements during dormancy for proper flowering. Knowing the temperature requirements of this species is of increasing interest due to the great genetic variability that exists among the available Japanese plum-type cultivars, since most of them are interspecific hybrids. The reduction of winter chilling caused by climate change is threatening their cultivation in many regions.

Chilling Requirements of Apricot ( L.) Cultivars Using Male Meiosis as a Dormancy Biomarker.

Apricot has undergone an important cultivar renewal during the last years in response to productive and commercial changes in the crop. The impact of the sharka disease (plum pox virus) prompted the release of cultivars resistant/tolerant to this virus, leading to a major cultivar renewal worldwide. This has caused high variability in chilling requirements on new releases that remain unknown in many cases.

Male Meiosis as a Biomarker for Endo- to Ecodormancy Transition in Apricot.

Dormancy is an adaptive strategy in plants to survive under unfavorable climatic conditions during winter. In temperate regions, most fruit trees need exposure to a certain period of low temperatures to overcome endodormancy. After endodormancy release, exposure to warm temperatures is needed to flower (ecodormancy).

Male meiosis in sweet cherry is constrained by the chilling and forcing phases of dormancy.

Male meiosis in temperate fruit trees occurs in the anthers once a year, synchronized with the seasons. The alternation of dormant and growth cycles determines the optimum moment for the male gametophyte formation, a process sensitive to both cold and warm temperatures. This ensures pollen viability and subsequent reproduction success that guarantee fruit production.

Combining Histochemical Staining and Image Analysis to Quantify Starch in the Ovary Primordia of Sweet Cherry during Winter Dormancy.

Changes in starch in small structures are associated with key events during several plant developmental processes, including the reproductive phase from pollination to fertilization and the onset of fruiting. However, variations in starch during flower differentiation are not completely known, mainly due to the difficulty of quantifying the starch content in the particularly small structures of the flower primordia. Here, we describe a method for the quantification of starch in the ovary primordia of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.

Anther and pollen development in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) in relation to winter dormancy.

Anther and pollen development is a highly conserved process in angiosperms, but while pollen formation in annual plants occurs in a few days, in temperate woody perennials, it requires several months. How anther and pollen development is framed in terms of seasonality plays a clear part in reproductive success. In this study, seasonal anther and pollen development is characterized in two sweet cherry cultivars over 2 years, paying special attention to the period of dormancy and unveiling the role of starch in this process.

Dormant Flower Buds Actively Accumulate Starch over Winter in Sweet Cherry.

Temperate woody perennials survive to low temperatures in winter entering a dormant stage. Dormancy is not just a survival strategy, since chilling accumulation is required for proper flowering and arbitrates species adaptation to different latitudes. In spite of the fact that chilling requirements have been known for two centuries, the biological basis behind remain elusive.