Poor shoot and leaf growth in Huanglongbing-affected sweet orange is associated with increased investment in defenses.

ABSTRACT: Citrus disease Huanglongbing (HLB) causes sparse (thinner) canopies due to reduced leaf and shoot biomass. Herein, we present results demonstrating the possible mechanisms behind compromised leaf growth of HLB-affected 'Valencia' sweet orange trees by comparing morphological, transcriptome, and phytohormone profiles at different leaf development phases (1. buds at the start of the experiment; 2. buds on day 5; . 3. leaf emergence; 4. leaf expansion; and 5. leaf maturation) to healthy trees. Over a period of 3 months (in greenhouse conditions), HLB-affected trees had ≈40% reduction in growth traits such as tree height, number of shoots per tree, shoot length, internode length, and leaf size compared to healthy trees. In addition, buds from HLB-affected trees lagged by ≈1 week in sprouting a

SUBMITTER: Neupane A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10766359 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature