Abstract
Almond is highly produced in the NE of Portugal, where late frosts during flowering, low precipitation, and high temperature in summer affect productivity and quality. Despite the use of late-flowering cultivars, plant biostimulants (PBs) and boron-based fertilizers can also be used to improve cell division, vegetative growth, photoassimilates rate, and nutritional status. PBs are widely used in some food crops, but the evaluation of their effects is still scarce. We treated three-year-old almond trees of cv. ‘Vairo,’ growing in a rainfed orchard in the NE of Portugal, with four individual treatments: two PBs (based on seaweed extract and free amino acids) and two boron-based fertilizers (applied on soil and leaves). Three monthly applications of seaweed extract (AN), free amino acids (AA), and boron ethanolamine (BE) were made. A single application of boron on the soil (BS) was made. Leaf samples were collected in treated and untreated (control) trees in cytogenetic and molecular analyses through the summer of 2019. The mitotic cell cycle analysis was performed to prepare mesophyll dividing cells stained with silver nitrate, and the molecular stability was assessed with five marker systems. This work aimed to extrapolate which individual treatment conferred higher mitotic cell cycle regularity and molecular stability. The cytogenetic and molecular data achieved in the cv. ‘Vairo,’ under the edaphoclimatic conditions studied, revealed that the individual treatments AA, BE, or BS induced higher leaf mitotic indexes, regular mitosis, and molecular stability, which might increase the photosynthetic area and production.
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Acknowledgements
The author AC thanks the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and the University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) for her contract as a researcher under D.L. no. 57/2016 of 29 August and Law no. 57/2017 of 19 July.
Funding
This research was funded by national funds provided by the FCT/MCTES (“Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/ Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior”) to the research units CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) and CITAB (UIDB/04033/2020). The research was integrated in the activities of the Operational Group “EGIS: Estratégias para uma gestão integrada do solo e da água em espécies produtoras de frutos secos”, funded by PT2020 and EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development).
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Ana Esteves and Ana Carvalho realized the cytogenetic and molecular analyses. Ana Esteves, João Roque, Manuel A. Rodrigues and Carlos M. Correia made the fieldwork, samples collection and/or maceration. Ana Carvalho and José Lima-Brito were responsible for the conception of the study and analyses of the cytogenomic results. All authors were involved in the writing and revision of the manuscript and approved the submission of the final version.
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Esteves, A., Carvalho, A., Roque, J. et al. Cytogenetic and molecular characterization of almond trees treated with plant biostimulants or boron-based fertilizers. Plant Growth Regul 98, 179–187 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-022-00845-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-022-00845-6