Fruitlet Freeze Tolerance in Peach Germplasm
Climate change is affecting the production of temperate fruit crops. Freeze damage, particularly in spring, has resulted in significant economic losses in peach production in the southeastern United States. Research efforts in peach and other <i>Prunus</i> species have primarily focused...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/2/302 |
| _version_ | 1797299165172072448 |
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| author | Ufuk Caglar John Mark Lawton Juan Carlos Melgar Ksenija Gasic |
| author_facet | Ufuk Caglar John Mark Lawton Juan Carlos Melgar Ksenija Gasic |
| author_sort | Ufuk Caglar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate change is affecting the production of temperate fruit crops. Freeze damage, particularly in spring, has resulted in significant economic losses in peach production in the southeastern United States. Research efforts in peach and other <i>Prunus</i> species have primarily focused on dormancy-related traits associated with bloom time, such as chill and heat requirement, with fruitlet freeze tolerance not equally represented. This study reports fruitlet freeze tolerance in 75 peach and nectarine accessions at six freezing temperatures (0 to −10 °C) using electrolyte leakage method over two seasons (2022–2023). Fruitlet freeze tolerance ranged from −3.9 to −10.2 °C with an estimated freeze damage ranging from 16–48% of fruitlet tissue with the majority of the accessions showing tolerance to cold temperatures in the −4 to −6 °C and 25–35% range. Variability in tolerance was noted across years, including some inconsistencies between tolerance group assignments. Grouping based on the estimated damage showed better stability and some accessions changed their grouping from the extremes to an intermediate tolerance group. Interestingly, nectarine accessions were among the most tolerant in both seasons. Broad-sense heritability of 0.52 and 0.85, estimated for freeze tolerance and % tissue damage, respectively, suggested genetic control of this trait with a potential for improvement via breeding. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:45:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8cceb50bf15d4f8aa86f5ab60d126d22 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:45:44Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-8cceb50bf15d4f8aa86f5ab60d126d222024-02-23T15:04:07ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952024-01-0114230210.3390/agronomy14020302Fruitlet Freeze Tolerance in Peach GermplasmUfuk Caglar0John Mark Lawton1Juan Carlos Melgar2Ksenija Gasic3Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USADepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USADepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USADepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USAClimate change is affecting the production of temperate fruit crops. Freeze damage, particularly in spring, has resulted in significant economic losses in peach production in the southeastern United States. Research efforts in peach and other <i>Prunus</i> species have primarily focused on dormancy-related traits associated with bloom time, such as chill and heat requirement, with fruitlet freeze tolerance not equally represented. This study reports fruitlet freeze tolerance in 75 peach and nectarine accessions at six freezing temperatures (0 to −10 °C) using electrolyte leakage method over two seasons (2022–2023). Fruitlet freeze tolerance ranged from −3.9 to −10.2 °C with an estimated freeze damage ranging from 16–48% of fruitlet tissue with the majority of the accessions showing tolerance to cold temperatures in the −4 to −6 °C and 25–35% range. Variability in tolerance was noted across years, including some inconsistencies between tolerance group assignments. Grouping based on the estimated damage showed better stability and some accessions changed their grouping from the extremes to an intermediate tolerance group. Interestingly, nectarine accessions were among the most tolerant in both seasons. Broad-sense heritability of 0.52 and 0.85, estimated for freeze tolerance and % tissue damage, respectively, suggested genetic control of this trait with a potential for improvement via breeding.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/2/302broad-sense heritabilityclimate changecold stresselectrolyte leakagelate spring frosts<i>Prunus persica</i> |
| spellingShingle | Ufuk Caglar John Mark Lawton Juan Carlos Melgar Ksenija Gasic Fruitlet Freeze Tolerance in Peach Germplasm Agronomy broad-sense heritability climate change cold stress electrolyte leakage late spring frosts <i>Prunus persica</i> |
| title | Fruitlet Freeze Tolerance in Peach Germplasm |
| title_full | Fruitlet Freeze Tolerance in Peach Germplasm |
| title_fullStr | Fruitlet Freeze Tolerance in Peach Germplasm |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fruitlet Freeze Tolerance in Peach Germplasm |
| title_short | Fruitlet Freeze Tolerance in Peach Germplasm |
| title_sort | fruitlet freeze tolerance in peach germplasm |
| topic | broad-sense heritability climate change cold stress electrolyte leakage late spring frosts <i>Prunus persica</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/2/302 |
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