Base Temperature for Leaf Appearance and Phyllochron of Selected Strawberry Cultivars in a Subtropical Environment
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Base temperature for leaf appearance and phyllochron of selected strawberry cultivars in a subtropical environment Hamilton Telles Rosa (1); Lidiane Cristine Walter (2); Nereu Augusto Streck (3*); Jerônimo Luiz Andriolo (3); Michel Rocha da Silva (4); Josana Andréia Langner (4) (1) Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agronomia, Av. Roraima, 1000, 97105-900 Santa Maria (RS) Brasil. (2) UFSM, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Agrícola, Av. Roraima, 1000, 97105-900 Santa Maria (RS), Brasil. (3) UFSM, Departamento de Fitotecnia, 97105-900 Santa Maria (RS), Brasil. (4) UFSM, Graduação em Agronomia, Av. Roraima, 1000, 97105-900 Santa Maria (RS), Brasil. (*) Corresponding author: [email protected] Received: October 7, 2010; Accepted: March 18, 2011. Abstract Article Leaf development is characterized by the appearance of new leaves and is related to crop leaf area index, which affects the interception of solar radiation used for photosynthesis and biomass production and ultimately defines crop yield. The objectives of this paper were to estimate the base temperature for leaf appearance and to determine the phyllochron of two strawberry cultivars considering several planting dates. A two-year field experiment was conducted during 2008 and 2009 in Santa Maria (RS). The cultivars Arazá (early) and Yvapitá (late) were used at three planting dates in both years. Base tempera- ture (Tb) was estimated using the Mean Square Error (MSE) approach of the regression between accumulated leaf number (LN) and accumulated thermal time (ATT). The phyllochron was calculated as the inverse of the slope of the regression of LN against ATT. Estimated Tb for leaf appearance in both cultivars was 0 °C. Variations in phyllochron were observed among the two cultivars, among planting dates and also during the plant developmental period of each cultivar. Before flowering, the Agrometeorology | phyllochron was similar in both cultivars and after flowering it was higher in cultivar Arazá. Phyllochron was greater for later planting dates and increased at short photoperiods in Fall and Winter. Results showed that both cultivars have a typical long- day plant response because phyllochron decreased as photoperiod increased up to approximately 11.8 hours, and phyllochron was the lowest at longer photoperiod. Key words: Fragaria x ananassa, leaf development, plant development, temperature, thermal time. Temperatura-base de emissão de folhas e filocrono de algumas cultivares de morangueiro em ambiente subtropical Resumo O desenvolvimento foliar é caracterizado pelo aparecimento de novas folhas e relacionado com o índice de área foliar da cultura, que afeta a interceptação de radiação solar usada na fotossíntese e produção de biomassa e que, em ultima análise, define a produtividade da cultura. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram estimar a temperatura-base de aparecimento de folhas e determinar o filocrono em duas cultivares de morangueiro em diferentes datas de plantio. Um experimento de campo foi desenvolvido em 2008 e 2009 em Santa Maria (RS). Foram utilizadas as cultivares Arazá (precoce) e Yvapitá (tardia) em três datas de plantio em cada ano. A temperatura-base (Tb) foi estimada pela metodologia de menor Quadrado Médio do Erro (QME) da regressão linear entre o número de folhas acumuladas (NF) e a Soma Térmica acumulada (STa). O filocrono foi cal- culado pelo inverso do coeficiente angular da regressão linear entre NF e STa. A Tb estimada para o aparecimento de folhas das cultivares foi de 0 °C. O filocrono variou durante o ciclo de desenvolvimento, sendo maior após a floração. Até a floração, o filocrono foi similar nas duas cultivares e após o início do florescimento o filocrono foi maior na cultivar Arazá. O filocrono é maior em datas de plantio mais tardias, durante o outono e o inverno, quando o fotoperíodo é menor, uma resposta típica de planta de dia longo; o filocrono diminuiu quando o fotoperíodo aumentou em até aproximadamente 11,8 horas, sendo menor em fotoperíodos mais longos. Palavras-chave: Fragaria x ananassa, desenvolvimento folhas, desenvolvimento vegetal, temperatura, soma térmica. Bragantia, Campinas, v. 70, n. 4, p.939-945, 2011 939 H.T. Rosa et al. 1. INTRODUCTION there is a breakpoint in leaf appearance rate at flowering in strawberry. We tested this hypothesis by defining three In strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa), the development and phyllochron phases: a single phyllochron for the entire growth of leaves, inflorescences and stolons are control- growing season (PHYLTOT), a phyllochron from planting led by complex interactions among environmental varia- to flowering (PHYLVEG), and a phyllochron after the onset bles mainly temperature, photoperiod and daily thermal of flowering (PHYLFLO). amplitude (Heide and Sonsteby, 2007; Oliveira and The objectives of this study were to estimate the base Scivittaro, 2009; Bradford, 2010). A main variable temperature for leaf appearance and to determine the that has been used to describe leaf development of agricul- phyllochron of two strawberry cultivars considering seve- tural crops is the number of accumulated leaves (LN) on ral planting dates. the main stem (Streck et al., 2003a). The LN is a result of the integration of leaf appearance rate (LAR) over time, and LN is related to crop leaf area index, which affects 2. MATERIAL AND METHODS the interception of solar radiation used for photosynthesis and biomass production that ultimately defines crop yield A two-year field experiment with strawberry was conduc- (Sinclair et al., 2004). One way to estimate LAR is using ted during 2008 and 2009 at Santa Maria, RS, Brazil (la- the concept of phyllochron, defined as the time interval titude 29°43’ S; longitude 53°43’ W and altitude 95 m), between the appearance of successive leaves on a stem, located in the Central Region of Rio Grande do Sul State. with dimension of [time].[leaf]-1 (Klepper et al., 1982). The region has a humid subtropical climate with warm One approach to take into account the effect of tem- summer, which corresponds to a Cfa formula according perature on plants is the thermal time, with units of °C to the Köppen system. The soil at the experimental site day (Streck, 2002). The assumption when using the is a transition between the Unidade de Mapeamento thermal time approach is that when temperature is below São Pedro (Argissolo Vermelho distrófico arênico) and a lower threshold (Tb), plant development does not take the Unidade de Mapeamento Santa Maria (Alissolo place or it does at very low rates that can be neglected, and Hipocrômico argilúvico típico) according to the Brazilian when temperature increases above Tb, developmental rate Soil System (Embrapa, 1999). increases in a linear fashion up to the optimum tempera- Two strawberry cultivars were used in this stu- ture (McMaster and Wilhelm, 1997; Streck, 2002). dy: INIA-Arazá and INIA-Yvapitá (INIA, Uruguay). Using the thermal time approach, the phyllochron is the These cultivars were developed by Instituto Nacional number of degree-days between the appearance of two de Investigación Agropecuaria - INIA – Uruguay, adap- successive leaves, with unit of (°C day) (leaf)-1 (Xue et al., ted for growing at low altitudes such as in Santa Maria 2004). For strawberry, 7.2 ºC has been considered as the and surrounding areas, and have been recently introdu- Tb to break dormancy (Durner et al., 1984; Serçe and ced in the Central Region of Rio Grande do Sul State. Hancock, 2005). For thermal time calculations during Furthermore, these cultivars are very different in deve- plant development of four Californian strawberry culti- lopment and growth habit. Arazá has low vigor, early vars grown in Passo Fundo, RS, Antunes et al. (2006), harvesting and is adapted to protected cultivation while used the Tb of 7 °C from the literature. This base tem- Yvapitá has high vigor, late harvesting and is adapted to perature was also used for calculating chilling hours for open field cropping. Six planting dates (three each year) breaking dormancy in cold dormant cultivars (Gimenez were performed (month/day/year): 4/3/2008, 5/7/2008, et al., 2003) while Strand (1994) argued that the base 6/2/2008, 2/2/2009, 4/2/2009 and 6/2/2009. These temperature for crown growth and development is 10 °C. planting dates were chosen in order to have plants gro- Tanino and Wang (2008) reported the range of effective wing at different environmental conditions as they re- chilling temperatures from -2 to 15 °C. These Tb values present planting dates before, during and after the re- reported in the literature are not for leaf appearance, but commended planting time for this location, which is for other developmental processes such as flower diffe- from 04/15 to 05/30 (Embrapa, 2005). Seedlings were rentiation at the apex. A literature search yielded neither produced in a soilless growing system inside a plastic report on Tb for leaf appearance nor attempts to determi- greenhouse (Gimenez et al., 2008) and planted at the ne the phyllochron in strawberry, which constituted the 4-6 leaves stage. rationale for this study. Soil was plowed and disked, and 1.2 m width rai- A first look at our data by plotting LN against ATT sed beds were prepared with a microtractor. Beds were -1 -1 showed a change in the slope of the relationship, indi- fertilized with 20 kg ha of N, 60 kg ha of P2O5 and -1 cating change in the rate of leaf appearance throughout 50 kg ha of K2O. Beds were mulched with 50μm black the growing season. Such change occurred nearly flowe- opaque polyethylene film and drip irrigation lines laid on ring suggesting the hypothesis that leaf appearance on the the beds surface under the mulch provided water and fer- main crown is different before and after flowering, i.e. tilizers (Embrapa, 2005). Seedlings were planted on the 940 Bragantia, Campinas, v.