Flowering and fruitset of the grapevine FINAL REPORT to GRAPE AND WINE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Project Number: UA 04/02 Project Supervisor: Associate Professor Peter Dry Principal Investigator: Dr Cassandra Collins Research Organisation: University of Adelaide Start Date: September 2004 Flowering and fruitset of the grapevine GWRDC Final Report Project No. UA 04/02 Project Supervisor: Associate Professor Peter Dry Principal Researchers: Dr Cassandra Collins Dr Susan Wheeler (2007-2008) Dr Mardi Longbottom (PhD) University of Adelaide August 2008 Any recommendations contained in this publication do not necessarily represent current GWRDC policy. No person should act on the basis of the contents of this publication, whether as to matters of fact or opinion or other content, without first obtaining specific independent professional advice in respect of the matters set out in this publication. 2 ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................6 1. BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................9 2. PROJECT AIMS ...........................................................................................................13 3. EFFECT OF SITE AND SEASON ON REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF TEN VARIETIES..............................................................................................................15 3.1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................15 3.2 METHODS AND MATERIALS........................................................................................................16 3.3 RESULTS..................................................................................................................................19 3.3.1. Effect on flower and berry number, fruit set, CI and MI of site (means of all seasons).19 3.3.2. Effect on fruitset of season (means of all sites).............................................................28 3.3.3. Effect on fruitset of variety .............................................................................................32 3.3.4. Effect of region and site: summaries by variety.............................................................33 3.3.5. Relationship between flower number per inflorescence and berry number per bunch .37 3.4 DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................37 4. PHENOLOGY AND PREDICTION OF FLOWERING TIME. .............................40 4.1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................40 4.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS........................................................................................................40 4.2.1. Phenological data ..........................................................................................................40 4.2.2. Ganzin Glory Vines........................................................................................................41 4.3 RESULTS..................................................................................................................................41 4.3.1. Accumulated heat degree days.....................................................................................41 4.3.2. Ganzin Glory vines ........................................................................................................42 4.4 DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................42 5. RESPONSE TO CULTURAL PRACTICES..............................................................44 5.1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................44 5.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS........................................................................................................44 5.2.1. CCC experiment ............................................................................................................45 5.2.2. Shoot topping experiments............................................................................................45 5.3 RESULTS..................................................................................................................................46 5.3.1. Effect of shoot topping...................................................................................................46 5.3.2. Effect of CCC.................................................................................................................51 5.4 DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................53 5.5 CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................................................................55 6. INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL PRACTICES ON FRUIT SET, OVULE MORPHOLOGY AND POLLEN TUBE DEVELOPMENT........................................56 6.1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................56 6.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS........................................................................................................56 6.2.1. Ovule Morphology..........................................................................................................57 6.2.2. Pollen tube growth.........................................................................................................57 6.3 RESULTS..................................................................................................................................58 6.4 DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................63 6.5 CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................................................................64 7. SUMMARY OF PHD THESIS BY MARDI LONGBOTTOM: THE REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF GRAPEVINES — FACTORS THAT AFFECT FLOWERING AND FRUITSET .....................................................................................65 3 7.1 MOLYBDENUM EXPERIMENTS.....................................................................................................65 7.1.1. Effects of molybdenum deficiency on the vegetative growth and yield of Vitis vinifera cv. Merlot .................................................................................................................................65 7.2.2. Effects of mode of pollination on yield of Merlot and the interacting effects of sodium molybdate sprays.....................................................................................................................67 7.2 THE OCCURRENCE OF ‘STAR’ FLOWERS IN AUSTRALIA ................................................................68 8. POLYAMINES IN MOLYBDENUM DEFICIENT MERLOT VINES ..................69 8.1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................69 8.1.1 The polyamine biosynthetic pathway..............................................................................69 8.1.2 Polyamines, Bound and Conjugated Forms...................................................................70 8.1.3 Ethylene and Polyamine Interactions .............................................................................71 8.1.4 Molybdenum ...................................................................................................................71 8.1.5 Grapes and Polyamines .................................................................................................71 8.1.6 Nitrogen ..........................................................................................................................72 8.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS........................................................................................................72 8.2.1 Molybdenum Field Experiment .......................................................................................72 8.2.2 Preparation of grape RNA and cDNA synthesis.............................................................73 8.2.3 Quantitative real-time (qReal-Time) PCR analysis.........................................................73 8.2.4 Polyamine extraction and analysis .................................................................................73 8.3 RESULTS..................................................................................................................................74 8.4 DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................76 9. THE PRESENCE OF EXTRACELLULAR CALCIUM CRYSTALS IN THE ANTHERS OF VITIS VINIFERA. ..................................................................................79 9.1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................79 9.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS........................................................................................................80 9.3 RESULTS..................................................................................................................................80