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Vascular development of the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) inflorescence rachis in response to flower number, plant growth regulators and defoliation

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Abstract

The grapevine inflorescence is a determinate panicle and as buds emerge, shoot, flower and rachis development occur simultaneously. The growth and architecture of the rachis is determined by genetic and environmental factors but here we examined the role of flower and leaf number as well as hormones on its elongation and vascular development. The consequences of rachis morphology and vascular area on berry size and composition were also assessed. One week prior to anthesis, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon field vines were exposed to manual flower removal, exogenous plant growth regulators or pre-bloom leaf removal. Manual removal of half the flowers along the vertical axis of the inflorescence resulted in a shorter rachis in both cultivars. Conversely, inflorescences treated with gibberellic acid (GA3) and the synthetic cytokinin, 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) resulted in a longer rachis while pre-bloom removal of all leaves on the inflorescence-bearing shoot did not alter rachis length relative to untreated inflorescences. Across the treatments, the cross-sectional areas of the conducting xylem and phloem in the rachis were positively correlated to rachis girth, flower number at anthesis, bunch berry number, bunch berry fresh mass and bunch sugar content at harvest. Conversely, average berry size and sugar content were not linked to rachis vascular area. These data indicate that the morphological and vascular development of the rachis was more responsive to flower number and plant growth regulators than to leaf removal.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by a PhD scholarship to A. Gourieroux from Wine Australia. We would like to express our gratitude to Dr John Gray for helpful discussions during the initial stages of the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC), Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia

    Aude M. Gourieroux, Bruno P. Holzapfel, Geoffrey R. Scollary & Suzy Y. Rogiers

  2. Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia

    Aude M. Gourieroux

  3. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia

    Bruno P. Holzapfel & Suzy Y. Rogiers

  4. Division of Plant Industry, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia

    Margaret E. McCully

  5. Plant Science Division, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Margaret E. McCully

  6. School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Geoffrey R. Scollary

Authors
  1. Aude M. Gourieroux
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  2. Bruno P. Holzapfel
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  3. Margaret E. McCully
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  4. Geoffrey R. Scollary
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  5. Suzy Y. Rogiers
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Correspondence to Suzy Y. Rogiers.

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Gourieroux, A.M., Holzapfel, B.P., McCully, M.E. et al. Vascular development of the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) inflorescence rachis in response to flower number, plant growth regulators and defoliation. J Plant Res 130, 873–883 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-017-0944-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-017-0944-2

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