Winter injury to grapevine secondary phloem and cambium impairs budbreak, cambium activity, and yield formation

FRANCISCO GONZALEZ ANTIVILO; ROSALIA CRISTINA PAZ; JORGE TOGNETTI; MARKUS KELLER; ENRIQUE BARRIO; FIDEL ALEJANDRO ROIG

JOURNAL OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATION

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2019

0721-7595

Vitis vinifera is aspecies of temperate origin that reactivates the dormant secondary phloem fromthe previous year at the resumption of growth in spring. Following harshwinters, grapevines may display a set of symptoms including delayed andheterogeneous budbreak, dieback with shoot renewal from the trunk base orsudden death of the plant. Although it was suggested that these symptoms may beassociated with freeze damage to the secondary phloem, there is no experimentalevidence that quantifies tissue responses to freezing and their consequencesfor the plant. This work evaluated how different severities of cold damage tothe secondary phloem during the dormant season impacted the anatomical,physiological and agronomic responses of grapevines during the subsequentgrowing season. Single-node cane sections were subjected to a range of freezingtemperatures that damaged only the phloem, and changes in anatomy andphysiology were monitored. In addition, the consequences of natural winterfreezes for yield formation of field-grown plants were evaluated. Our resultssuggest that the more severe a freeze event is, the greater will be the degreeof secondary phloem disorganization, leading to delays in budbreak andsubsequent phenological stages, and in cambial activity. Winter freezes alsoled to a loss of plant vigor and a reduction in cluster number, berries percluster and fruit sugar content. We conclude that winter freeze events can producehidden damage in grapevine perennial tissues, which may compromise subsequentgrowth and productivity depending on the severity of the damage.