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Abstract
Immature fruit of ‘French’ prune were treated in air or ethylene and mesocarp tissues incubated with crude cell wall degrading enzymes to release cells and protoplasts. Ethylene treatment substantially reduced the release of cells and protoplasts and increased the proportion of pectic polymers in the cell walls.
Abstract
Leaf resistance (r1) in fully exposed leaves of bud-failure (BF) sensitive subclones of 2 almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch) cultivars was much greater than in leaves of non-BF-sensitive (normal) subclones of these cultivars. The differences in resistance were evident at ambient temperatures between 26° and 38°C, and temperatures of fully exposed leaves on BF-sensitive plants exceeded ambient temperature and averaged 5° higher than leaf temperature of normal plants. The difference between BF-sensitive and normal subclones was not apparent below 25° or above 39°. Increase in resistance preceded the development of abnormal growth patterns characteristic of the BF syndrome, and these differences may serve to identify BF sensitivity at incipient stages of the syndrome. Stress is accentuated in BF-sensitive clones between 26° and 38° because transpirational cooling is suppressed; however, the physio-chemical basis of BF sensitivity remains obscure.
Abstract
The effects of ambient temperatures between 15° and 43°C were determined on net photosynthesis of ‘French’ prune (Prunus domestica L. cv. Agen) trees maintained under a non-limiting soil water supply. The temperature optimum for photosynthesis was about 30° and net CO2 assimilation decreased rapidly above 35° even when water vapor pressure differences (VPD) were only 5 to 10 mb. Leaf resistance (r1) remained very low (2 to 3 sec cm-1) although leaf temperature reached 47° and the leaf water potential (ψ) decreased to -25 bars. Thus, non-stomatal photosynthetic inhibition was responsible for the 80% decline in net CO2 assimilation. Canopy wetting prevented the decline in net CO2 assimilation by reducing leaf temperature 8° (vs. control) and maintaining the ψ 14 bars higher than the non-misted control.