Genetic mechanisms associated with floral initiation and the repressive effect of fruit on flowering in apple (Malus x domestica Borkh).

ABSTRACT: Many apple cultivars are subject to biennial fluctuations in flowering and fruiting. It is believed that this phenomenon is caused by a repressive effect of developing fruit on the initiation of flowers in the apex of proximal bourse shoots. However, the genetic pathways of floral initiation are incompletely described in apple, and the biological nature of floral repression by fruit is currently unknown. In this study, we characterized the transcriptional landscape of bourse shoot apices in the biennial cultivar, 'Honeycrisp', during the period of floral initiation, in trees bearing a high fruit load and in trees without fruit. Trees with high fruit load produced almost exclusively vegetative growth in the subsequent year, whereas the trees without fruit produced flowers on the majority of

SUBMITTER: Gottschalk C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7894833 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature