Abstract
Freezing injury is one of the most restrictive dynamics issues that commercial fig producers are fronting. This study was aimed to compare cold hardiness among seven commercial fig cultivars at three different developmental stages. We investigated the association between freezing tolerance and soluble carbohydrate and proline fluctuations during acclimation in the one-year-old fig shoots. Using both electrolyte leakage measurement and tetrazolium stain test LT50 values were calculated, which differentiate freezing tolerance among the studied cultivars. The results showed significant differences among the cultivars at three evaluation stages of dormancy. The average of cold winter resistance in studied cultivars in November, January, and March, were −16.89, −20.23, and −21.35 °C, respectively. LT50 electrolyte leakage, cold hardiness index, significantly varied among the fig cultivars. In November to January, ‘Atabaki’ and ‘Kashki’ cultivars showed the maximum of −0.11 °C/per day, and the minimum of −0.01 °C/per day of adaptation rate, respectively. Soluble carbohydrate (sugars) concentrations of shoot samples increased during cold acclimation from November (49 mg/g dry weight (DW)) to January (130 mg/g DW) and then decreased in March (93 mg/g DW). Proline content varied significantly among the cultivars in November and January. High correlations were observed between LT50 values and the soluble carbohydrates content compared with proline. Soluble sugars content might be a better indication of cold hardiness than proline content in fig trees. ‘Atabaki’ cultivar showed a very good resistance to winter freezing in comparison to others cultivars, although it seems to be very sensitive to fall freezing. The outcome of this study can be considered for sustainable production and breeding programs in common figs.
Zusammenfassung
Frostschäden zählen zu den restriktivsten dynamischen Problemen, mit denen kommerzielle Feigenproduzenten konfrontiert sind. Ziel dieser Studie war es, die Winterhärte von sieben kommerziellen Feigensorten in drei verschiedenen Entwicklungsstadien zu vergleichen. Wir untersuchten den Zusammenhang zwischen Gefriertoleranz und Schwankungen im Gehalt an löslichen Kohlenhydraten und Prolin bei der Akklimatisierung der einjährigen Feigentriebe. Mit Hilfe der Elektrolytverlust-Messung und des Tetrazolium-Färbetests wurden LT50-Werte berechnet, die die Gefriertoleranz der untersuchten Sorten bestimmen. Die Ergebnisse zeigten signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Sorten in den drei Bewertungsphasen der Keimruhe. Der Durchschnitt der Kälteresistenz bei den untersuchten Sorten im November, Januar und März betrug −16,89, −20,23 bzw. −21,35 °C. Die LT50 durch Messung des Elektrolytverlusts variierte signifikant zwischen den Feigensorten. In den Monaten November bis Januar zeigten die Sorten ‚Atabaki‘ und ‚Kashki‘ das Maximum von −0,11 °C/pro Tag bzw. das Minimum von −0,01 °C/pro Tag. Die Konzentration an löslichen Kohlenhydraten (Zucker) stieg während der Kälteakklimatisierung von November (49 mg/g Trockengewicht (DW)) bis Januar (130 mg/g DW) und sank dann im März (93 mg/g DW). Der Prolin-Gehalt unterschied sich signifikant zwischen den Sorten im November und Januar. Es wurden hohe Korrelationen zwischen den LT50-Werten und dem Gehalt an löslichen Kohlenhydraten im Vergleich zu Prolin beobachtet. Der Gehalt an löslichen Zuckern könnte ein besserer Indikator für die Winterhärte von Feigenbäumen sein als der Gehalt an Prolin. Die Sorte ‚Atabaki‘ zeigte im Vergleich zu anderen Sorten eine sehr gute Frostbeständigkeit im Winter, obwohl sie sehr empfindlich gegenüber Frost im Herbst zu sein scheint. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie können für nachhaltige Produktions- und Zuchtprogramme in Feigen berücksichtigt werden.
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Acknowledgements
Authors are thankful to the Shahrood University of Technology for supporting this study, to the Estahban Fig Research Station, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Training Center for providing access to the fig germplasm collection.
Funding
This work was supported by Grants received under the Master thesis fund of the Shahrood University of Technology, Iran.
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H. Karami, M. Rezaei, A. Sarkhosh, M. Rahemi and M. Jafari declare that they have no competing interests.
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Karami, H., Rezaei, M., Sarkhosh, A. et al. Cold Hardiness Assessment in Seven Commercial Fig Cultivars (Ficus Carica L.). Gesunde Pflanzen 70, 195–203 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-018-0431-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-018-0431-2