Pear rootstocks differ in tolerance to calcareous and alkaline soils. Roots of Fe-efficient dicots react to Fe-deficiency stress by strongly enhancing the Fe3+-reductase system, termed turbo-reductase, and by lowering the rhizosphere pH. In this study, we tested whether such adaptation mechanisms characterize pear and quince genotypes. Two trials were performed using micropropagated plants of three quince rootstocks (BA29, CTS212, and MC), three Pyrus communis rootstocks (OH × F51 and two selections obtained at Bologna Univ.: A28 and B21) and of two pear cultivars (Abbé Fétel and Bartlett, own-rooted). In the first trial, plants were grown in a nutrient solution with [Fe(+)] and without iron [Fe(–)] for 50 days. Their root iron-reducing capacity (IRC) was determined colorimetrically, using ferrozine and Fe-EDTA, and Fe uptake of Fe(+) plants was estimated. In the second trial, the rhizosphere pH of plants grown in an alkaline soil (pH in water = 8.3) was measured by a microelectrode. With the only exception of pears OH × F51 and A28, whose IRC was similar in Fe(+) and Fe(–) plants, the Fe-deficiency stress caused a significant decrease of the IRC. Among the Fe(–) plants, the two pear OH × F51 and A28 had higher IRC than the quince rootstocks and the cultivar Abbé F. When plants were pretreated with Fe, IRC was highest in the P. communis rootstocks (more than 50 nmol Fe2+/g fresh weight per h), intermediate in the own-rooted cultivars, and lowest in the quinces (<15 nmol Fe2+/g fresh weight per h). Fe uptake proved to be linearly and positively correlated with root Fe-reducing capacity (r = 0.91***). Rhizosphere pH, averaged over the first 2 cm from root tips, was highest in quince MC (7.2), intermediate in the other two quinces and in the cultivar Abbé F. (6.2–6.6) and lowest in the pear rootstocks and in the cultivar Bartlett (5.2–5.5). The results indicate that roots of pear and quinces do not increase their ability to reduce the iron under Fe-deficiency stress. The genotypical differential tolerance to iron chlorosis likely reflects differences in the standard reductase system and in the capacity of lowering the pH at soil/root interface. The determination of the root IRC appears very promising as a screening technique for selecting efficient Fe-uptake rootstocks.
Response to Iron-deficiency Stress of Pear Genotypes