Abstract
Low carbohydrate reserves have been cited as a cause of alternate bearing in avocado, and boron deficiency has been associated with poor tree growth and low productivity. Our recent work has demonstrated that perseitol, an important transport sugar in avocado, can complex with boron to make boron phloem mobile. This suggests that boron transport from avocado leaves could be regulated by carbohydrate supply. We tested this hypothesis using branch girdling treatments to manipulate the supply of carbohydrates from leaves to flowers and examined if these treatments would also affect the supply of boron from leaves to flowers. Branch girdling treatments were applied at different phenological stages to ‘Hass’ avocado trees with high (ON) and low (OFF) crop loads. Girdling treatments applied to ON cropping trees increased the rate of boron loss from leaves during winter and increased the boron content of flowers at mid-bloom in spring. Leaf D-Mannoheptulose concentration, the storage form of perseitol, declined during winter at a similar timing to that of leaf boron. These results are consistent with boron supply to flowers being linked to carbohydrate flows to inflorescences. Few differences were found between leaf carbohydrate concentrations in ON and OFF cropping trees. However, leaf boron concentrations were consistently lower in ON cropping trees, which suggests that in ON cropping years fruit are a major competing sink for boron and could result in less boron being available to support flower and early fruit development in the following spring.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Perseitol can complex with boron and make it phloem mobile.
- Taxon
- avocado
Persea americanae0 - Compound
- perseitole0
- Outcome
- boron phloem mobilee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“perseitol, an important transport sugar in avocado, can complex with boron to make boron phloem mobile.”
Claim · model-written summary
Girdling increased winter boron loss from leaves in ON cropping trees.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae1
- Material
- ‘Hass’e1
- Organ / stage
- leavese0
- Treatment
- Girdling treatmentse0
- Outcome
- rate of boron loss from leavese0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- ON cropping treese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Girdling treatments applied to ON cropping trees increased the rate of boron loss from leaves during winter”
e1“‘Hass’ avocado trees with high (ON) and low (OFF) crop loads”
Claim · model-written summary
Girdling increased flower boron content at mid-bloom in ON cropping trees.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae1
- Material
- ‘Hass’e1
- Organ / stage
- flowerse0
- Treatment
- Girdling treatmentse0
- Outcome
- boron content of flowerse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- at mid-bloom in springe0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Girdling treatments applied to ON cropping trees increased the rate of boron loss from leaves during winter and increased the boron content of flowers at mid-bloom in spring.”
e1“‘Hass’ avocado trees with high (ON) and low (OFF) crop loads”
Claim · model-written summary
Leaf D-Mannoheptulose concentration declined during winter at a similar time to leaf boron.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae1
- Organ / stage
- Leafe0
- Outcome
- Leaf D-Mannoheptulose concentratione0
- Direction
- declinede0
- Qualifier
- during winter at a similar timing to that of leaf borone0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Leaf D-Mannoheptulose concentration, the storage form of perseitol, declined during winter at a similar timing to that of leaf boron.”
e1“avocado leaves”
Claim · model-written summary
Leaf carbohydrate concentrations showed few differences between ON and OFF cropping trees.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae1
- Outcome
- leaf carbohydrate concentrationse0
- Direction
- Few differencese0
- Comparator
- ON and OFF cropping treese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Few differences were found between leaf carbohydrate concentrations in ON and OFF cropping trees.”
e1“avocado leaves”
Claim · model-written summary
Leaf boron concentrations were consistently lower in ON cropping trees.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae1
- Outcome
- leaf boron concentrationse0
- Direction
- lowere0
- Comparator
- low (OFF) crop loadse2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“leaf boron concentrations were consistently lower in ON cropping trees”
e1“avocado leaves”
e2“low (OFF) crop loads”
Claim · model-written summary
The results are consistent with boron supply to flowers being linked to carbohydrate flows to inflorescences.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae1
- Compound
- carbohydratee0
- Outcome
- boron supply to flowerse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“boron supply to flowers being linked to carbohydrate flows to inflorescences.”
e1“avocado leaves”
Claim · model-written summary
Fruit in ON years may be a competing sink for boron and reduce its availability for later flower and early fruit development.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae1
- Organ / stage
- fruite0
- Outcome
- less boron being available to support flower and early fruit developmente0
- Qualifier
- in ON cropping yearse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“in ON cropping years fruit are a major competing sink for boron and could result in less boron being available to support flower and early fruit development in the following spring.”
e1“avocado leaves”
The same questions in other papers
pruning · phenology · Persea americana (avocado)Positive and negative results
1 paper in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- negative
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.