Interaction between gibberellin A4/7 and root-pruning on the reproductive and vegetative processes in Douglas-fir. III. Effects on anatomy of shoot elongation and terminal bud development

1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. N. Owens ◽  
J. E. Webber ◽  
S. D. Ross ◽  
R. P. Pharis

The relative importance of cell division and cell elongation to shoot elongation and the anatomical changes in vegetative terminal apices were assessed for 9- and 10-year-old seedlings of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) in response to two effective cone-induction treatments, gibberellin A4/7 (GA4/7) and root-pruning (RP). Root-pruning was done in mid-April at the start of vegetative bud swelling and GA treatments were begun at vegetative bud flushing in mid-May and continued until early July. Shoot elongation before flushing resulted primarily from cell divisions and was not affected by the RP treatment. Shoot elongation after flushing resulted primarily from cell expansion which was reduced by RP treatments. Root-pruning significantly slowed mitotic activity, apical growth, and development of vegetative terminal buds from mid-June through mid-July. Apical growth then resumed during leaf initiation and the final number of leaf primordia initiated was not affected. This resulted in a delay of 2 to 4 weeks in the transition from bud-scale to leaf initiation. Retarded terminal vegetative apices anatomically resembled latent axillary apices but were never completely inhibited. GA + RP had the same effect as RP. GA4/7 alone had no effect on shoot or apical development. These results show that RP and GA + RP significantly retard shoot elongation and terminal bud development but still allow normal development of vegetative terminal buds. Retardation of bud development by a few weeks shifts the critical morphogenetic phase of transition from bud scale to leaf initiation to a later time when endogenous and environmental conditions may differ from the normal.

1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. N. Owens ◽  
J. E. Webber ◽  
S. D. Ross ◽  
R. P. Pharis

The anatomy, mitotic frequency, size, and total insoluble carbohydrate histochemistry was studied in axillary apices from 9- and 10-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) trees after cone induction treatments of root-pruning and (or) stem injections of a gibberellin A4 and A7 (GA4/7) mixture. Axillary buds were initiated at the time of root-pruning, but root-pruning treatment had no effect on axillary bud initiation. Axillary apices from control and gibberellin-treated trees were similar and followed the normal sequence of bud-scale initiation, differentiation, and leaf initiation (described previously) and no cone buds differentiated. Early development of axillary apices from root-pruned and root-pruned, gibberellin-treated trees was normal, but development became retarded near the time of vegetative bud flush. Retarded apices were small with low mitotic frequency and developed many features characteristics of latent apices. Retardation of axillary apices continued until mid-July when normal development resumed and apices differentiated into reproductive buds or vegetative buds, or became latent. The trees in which the greatest retardation of apical development occurred during lateral shoot elongation produced the most cone buds. These results are discussed in relation to hypotheses proposed to explain how cultural and gibberellin treatments affect cone induction in the Pinaceae.


1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (21) ◽  
pp. 2728-2745 ◽  
Author(s):  
John N. Owens ◽  
Marje Molder ◽  
Hilary Langer

Vegetative buds of Picea glauca (Moench) Voss were studied throughout the annual growth cycle in several trees in 1975 and 1976 and bud development was related to lateral vegetative shoot growth, date, and temperature sums.Vegetative buds became mitotically active in mid-April at lower elevations and about 6 weeks later at higher elevations. Shoot elongation was characterized by similar smooth sigmoid curves in both years. Shoot growth was slow for the 1st month, rapid during the 2nd month, and slow again for the 3rd month and ended by early August. Temperature sums related best to percentage of shoot elongation if the end of vegetative bud dormancy was used as the starting date and 5 °C was used as the threshold temperature. Arbitrarily chosen starting dates and threshold temperatures gave temperature sums which were related to shoot elongation only when shoot elongation was nearly completed. Generally, if the end of vegetative bud dormancy is known, the number of days from that time is nearly as accurate as the more complex use of temperature sums in predicting the percentage of shoot elongation or the stage of vegetative bud development.Bud-scale initiation occurred during shoot elongation. Axillary buds were initiated in mid-May and flushing occurred when shoots had elongated to about 30% of their final length in late May or early June. The end of shoot elongation coincided with the onset of leaf initiation on all trees in both years. The change from bud-scale initiation to leaf initiation was preceded by a marked increase in apical width and a slight increase in apical height and mitotic frequency. Leaf initiation was rapid for 6 weeks then slower for the last 4 weeks. Vegetative buds became dormant in mid-October.Vegetative bud development is closely related to shoot elongation. Breaking of vegetative bud dormancy was not affected by temperature but shoot elongation and flushing were affected by temperatures which occurred after dormancy was broken.


1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. F. Ebell

Partial girdles were applied in August, 1957, to one stem of two double-stemmed, 20-year-old Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco). The second stem served as control. A third double-stemmed tree was treated in May, 1958. Cone production responses were obtained on all three girdled stems, averaging 7.4 times that of control stems in 1959, and 1.6 and 2.3 times that of control stems in 1961 and 1962. Cone production responses to treatment, and cone crop variation over several years were correlated with reduced bud failure during the period of new shoot elongation. Total number of buds per shoot was initially similar for paired stems. These relationships indicated a predetermined potential for annual cone production, and that cone crop periodicity is determined by later conditions favorable or unfavorable to continued early bud development. Treatment increased both sugars and starch in shoots sampled 40 days after August girdling, but only starch remained elevated the next spring and throughout the decisive May–June period of reproductive bud development. Other factors indicated food reserves to be related only weakly to reproductive bud survival. Cone production reduced carbohydrate concentration in shoots of all ages, growth and number of new shoots, and number of developed buds per shoot. These factors explain the absence of consecutive cone crops in Douglas fir, and suggest that cone inducing treatments should not be applied in good flowering years. Cone production responses on single-stemmed trees girdled at weekly intervals showed an optimum timing coincident with the onset of flowering, a more variable response up to the time of vegetative bud break, then an adverse effect on cone production when girdled later than 1 week after vegetative bud break.


1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
John N. Owens

Vegetative buds of mature Tsuga mertensiana (Bong) Carr. (mountain hemlock) were studied throughout the annual growth cycle. Cell divisions began in vegetative buds in mid-April and shoots and leaves elongated within the bud scales causing the buds to burst in late June. Lateral shoots completed elongation by the end of July. Vegetative terminal apices from lateral branches began bud-scale initiation when bud dormancy ended. All bud scales were initiated by the end of July. Leaf primordial initiation occurred from that time until mid-October when vegetative buds again became dormant. Axillary buds were initiated on the elongating shoots in early June then followed the same phenology as vegetative terminal buds. Vegetative bud and shoot development are compared with that of western hemlock and certain other members of the Pinaceae. The relationship of bud development to shoot development is discussed for mountain hemlock and other conifers having a similar pattern of vegetative bud development.


1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
John N. Owens

Seed cones of Tsuga mertensiana (Bong) Carr. occur terminally on distal lateral branches and form from the differentiation of a terminal, previously vegetative apex, into a seed-cone apex. Pollen cones commonly occur on lateral branches and form from the differentiation of an undetermined axillary apex about 6 weeks after axillary bud initiation. Pollen cones also occasionally occur terminally. All cone buds began differentiation in late July after bud-scale initiation was complete and at about the end of lateral shoot elongation. Seed-cone buds initiated bracts and ovuliferous scales, but not ovules, before they became dormant at the end of October. Pollen-cone buds initiated all microsporophylls by early September. Microsporangia containing microspore mother cells differentiated before pollen-cone buds became dormant in mid-October. The time of cone-bud differentiation is related to vegetative bud and shoot development. The time and method of cone-bud differentiation is discussed in relation to T. heterophylla and other conifers having similar bud development.


1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 2291-2301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek L. S. Harrison ◽  
John N. Owens

Vegetative buds of Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry) from the Prince George Forest District (British Columbia) were collected and studied. In mid-April, dormancy ended as determined from mitotic divisions within the leaf primordia; 2 weeks later mitotic activity occurred in the bud apices. Bud-scale initiation began in terminal buds by late May followed by that in axillary buds 2 weeks later. Shoot elongation began in late May, bud burst occurred in late June, and both shoot elongation and bud-scale initiation were complete by late July. Terminal buds began to differentiate by the initiation of leaf primordia, into vegetative buds early in August whereas axillary buds began to differentiate 1 week later. Leaf initiation was completed in all vegetative buds by late September and buds were dormant by mid-October. Pollen cones initiated microsporophylls after bud-scale initiation. Microsporangial initiation began in late August. Microsporangial enlargement began in mid-September and continued until dormancy when pollen mother cells were observed in a premeiotic stage. Seed cones initiated bracts directly after bud-scale initiation. In mid-August, ovuliferous scales began to be initiated. Two ovule primordia formed adaxially, one on each side of the median longitudinal axis of each ovuliferous scale. Each ovule formed one large central megaspore mother cell which overwintered in a premeiotic stage.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1481-1489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francine J. Bigras ◽  
Carole Hébert

Spring frosts frequently cause significant damage to conifer seedlings during bud flushing and shoot elongation in forestry nurseries. To insure adequate protection, levels of frost sensitivity must be known during these stages of development. Eight- or 9-month-old containerized black spruce seedlings (Piceamariana (Mill.) BSP) were submitted to freezing temperatures of 0° to −10 °C for 1–6 h at the following stages: (1) nonswollen terminal buds, (2) swollen terminal buds, (3) terminal bud scales bursting, needle tips emerging, and (4) shoots elongating, 1−5 cm. After freezing, seedlings were grown for 130 days in a greenhouse. Seedling survival was estimated; dead seedlings discarded; and damage to buds, needles, and roots as well as diameter and shoot increment were measured on the remaining seedlings. Frost sensitivity increased as buds flushed and new shoots elongated. Decreased seedling and bud survival was noted with increasing time of freezing exposure and decreasing temperature in stages 2, 3, and 4. Damage to needles and roots increases, while diameter decreases, with decreasing temperatures at all stages; however, shoot increment was influenced by decreasing temperatures only at stages 2 and 3.


1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 313-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
John N. Owens ◽  
Marje Molder

Vegetative apices of Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr. were studied throughout the annual growth cycle. Apices became mitotically active late in March and the shoot axis and leaf primordia elongated causing the bud to swell. New axillary apices were initiated in mid-April and the terminal apex and new axillary apices initiated bud scales until early in July. Vegetative bud burst occurred early in June and shoot elongation was completed by mid-July. The end of shoot elongation coincided with the onset of leaf initiation. The change from bud-scale to leaf initiation was characterized by a period of increased mitotic activity and rapid apical growth. About half of the final number of leaves were initiated during the early period of rapid leaf initiation. The remaining leaf primordia were initiated more slowly over the next 3 months. Buds became dormant by mid-November.


1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 680-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Ross

Flowering and shoot-elongation responses by potted white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) grafts to root pruning (RP) and drought, and to RP applied at different stages of root and shoot development, were investigated in separate experiments. Results suggest that RP does not simulate drought. Differences in midday needle water potentials between RP and non RP grafts were relatively small (0.1–0.2 MPa) and short lived following treatment. Furthermore, whereas RP only affected (promoted) female flowering, drought only affected (inhibited) male flowering. Shoot elongation was less inhibited by RP at initiation of new root growth in spring, compared with RP at the late vegetative bud swell stage and at the early stage of rapid shoot elongation, when root activity is naturally declining. However, the flowering response was independent of time of RP. The early RP treatment enhanced shoot elongation in some clones and inhibited it in others, and the effect was not related to the clone's flowering response to treatment. These results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that in small, potted trees, at least, actively growing roots are an important source of certain gibberellins that are essential for both shoot elongation and cone-bud differentiation. Accordingly, RP may inhibit or enhance shoot elongation, depending on whether the supply of gibberellins from roots newly regenerated following RP exceeds that from existing roots removed in treatment. Flowering occurs when the supply of gibberellins exceeds some threshold level either because of reduced vegetative demand (due to water-stress effects) or increased synthesis by roots.


1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 1656-1668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek L.S. Harrison ◽  
Mike U. Slee

Bud type differentiation and development were investigated in early and late flowering grafted clones of Pinuscaribaea Morelet var. hondurensis Barr. & Golf. (Caribbean pine) growing at two sites in the tropical north of Australia. Regardless of the early and late flowering tendencies, pollen- and seed-cone buds began to differentiate in middle and late March, respectively. Unlike the cone buds of temperate pines, there was no apparent pause in development between pollination and differentiation. The long shoot terminal bud organogenic sequence resembled that described in temperate pines and led to an episodic, monocyclic shoot growth pattern. The formation of up to several long shoot terminal buds between the onset of seed-cone-bud differentiation and flowering frequently resulted in multiple sets of seed cones.


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