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Abstract
The freezing behavior of peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] flower buds was influenced by the temperature at which ice formation was initiated. Buds seeded with ice just below 0°C were more likely to exhibit deep supercooling, and water in the primordia would supercool to lower temperatures than in unseeded excised flower buds. This effect was not always expressed and varied with the stage of acclimation. Researchers using differential thermal analysis to estimate bud hardiness will need to evaluate this effect. Seeding specimens with ice may be warranted to obtain results comparable with field conditions.
`Hull Thornless' and `Black Satin' blackberry (Rubus spp.) canes were collected from Sept. 1989 through Mar. 1990 to determine the hardiness and supercooling characteristics of buds at various stages of development. Anatomical studies were also conducted to examine the location of ice voids in buds frozen to -5 or -30C. Differentiation of the terminal flower occurred in `Black Satin' buds by 6 Nov., whereas `Hull Thornless' buds remained vegetative until early spring. As many as nine floral primordia were observed in both cultivars by 12 Mar. The hardiness of the two cultivars was similar until February. Thereafter, `Black Satin' buds were more susceptible to cold injury than those of `Hull Thornless'. Flora1 and undifferentiated buds of both cultivars exhibited one to four low temperature exotherms (LTEs) from 9 Oct. to 12 Mar. in differential thermal analysis (DTA) experiments. The stage of flora1 development did not influence the bud's capacity to supercool. The number of LTEs was not related to the stage of floral development or to the number of floral primordia. Extracellular voids resulting from ice formation in the bud axis and scales were observed in samples subjected to -5 or -30C.
A seasonal study was conducted to assess the freezing injury of `Boskoop Giant' black currant (Ribes nigrum L.) samples from Oct. 1991 through Mar. 1992. Buds were subjected to either differential thermal analysis (DTA) or one of a series of temperatures (0 to -36C). Freeze injury was then assessed either visually or with TTC. Results indicated that black currant floral buds have multiple low-temperature exotherms (LTE). Freeze injury in intact buds could not be visually quantified because of the lack of visible browning, nor assayed with TTC reduction. Excised floral primordia incubated in TTC, however, developed colored formazan following exposure to nonfreezing and sublethal freezing temperatures, but remained colorless when exposed to lethal temperatures. The percentage of floral primordia that were colored and colorless were tabulated and a modified Spearman-Karber equation was used to calculate the temperature at which 50% of floral primordia were killed (T50 The T50 temperature was correlated with the temperature at which the lowest LTE was detected (R2 = 0.62). TTC reduction assay using excised floral bud primordia was a good indicator of viability in frozen blackcurrant buds. Chemical name used: 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC).