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Physiological Responses of Tree Fruits to Environmental and Management Factors...
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Physiological Responses of Tree Fruits to Environmental and Management Factors II

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Horticultural Science and Ornamental Plants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2023) | Viewed by 17513

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Riccardo Lo Bianco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 4, Ingresso H, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: water relations; carbon partitioning; deficit irrigation; fruit quality and production systems of tree crops
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today, climatic changes and the sustainability of management practices are two major priorities for tree fruit scientists and growers. In the last few decades, plant molecular techniques have represented, and continue to represent, a very powerful tool. Together, plant molecular biology and biochemistry have boosted advances in basic tree physiology and fruit production. On the other hand, the tremendous advances in sensors (proximal and remote), as well as the application of information, communication, and artificial intelligence technologies to several smart solutions, have opened the doors to a wide array of precision operations for the sustainable management of tree fruits, promising a significant increase in production efficiency.

Nevertheless, trees respond to external stimuli by adjusting several physiological processes. All those physiological adjustments have small or large direct or indirect effects on tree growth and fruit production. Hence, to understand why trees grow and produce differently under various environmental and management regimes, we need to acquire a full comprehension of these complex mechanisms and processes and their modulation in response to external factors.

Today, our understanding of whole-tree functioning as the integration of multiple physiological processes is suffering from, on one side, a knowledge gap with respect to advanced information on basic molecular mechanisms, and on the other side, the potential application of smart technologies for precise orchard management. Such a gap can be filled by fostering studies on applied physiological processes related to tree growth and fruit production modifications mediated by environmental and management factors.

This Special Issue seeks to stimulate and collect these kinds of studies, keeping in mind that whole-tree fruit physiology must represent the basis for sustainable fruit production in a changing environment. All improvements in orchard and vineyard management systems have been, and will continue to be, achieved through advances in tree fruit physiology, from basic molecular processes to integrated whole-tree mechanisms affecting growth and fruit production.

Prof. Dr. Riccardo Lo Bianco
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • branch autonomy
  • carbohydrate metabolism
  • carbon partitioning
  • crop load
  • drought
  • fruit development
  • fruit quality
  • fruit tree growth
  • light interception
  • net assimilation
  • nutrient use efficiency
  • root growth and architecture
  • source–sink relations
  • yield efficiency
  • water deficit
  • water relations
  • water-use efficiency
  • whole-tree physiology

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 839 KiB  
Article
The Pattern of Rare Earth Elements Like a Possible Helpful Tool in Traceability and Geographical Characterization of the Soil-Olive System (Olea europaea L.)
by Marcella Barbera, Filippo Saiano, Livia Tutone, Roberto Massenti and Antonino Pisciotta
Plants 2022, 11(19), 2579; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11192579 - 30 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1271
Abstract
The identification of a product, with its geographical origin, is a guaranty of the value of the foodstuff and protection from potential fraud. Extra virgin olive oil is produced or marketed as a single variety or a blend of two or more cultivars, [...] Read more.
The identification of a product, with its geographical origin, is a guaranty of the value of the foodstuff and protection from potential fraud. Extra virgin olive oil is produced or marketed as a single variety or a blend of two or more cultivars, often of different geographic origins. Therefore, to study a possible link between the soil and olive oil, we accounted crucial to analyse the behaviour of olive of different cultivars. We studied Rare Earth Elements (REE) amounts and their relationship to trace their distribution from soil to the olive pulp (Olea europea L.). The results obtained pointed out that the different cultivars of Olea did not drive significant differences in reciprocal ratios of REE in the uptake from the soil up to olive (except for Eu). However soil-plant Rare Earth relationships depend exclusively on the soil REE composition. This method can be the starting point to enforcing the laws, in fact, it is important to develop analytical methods to measure the authenticity of the samples, and to verify the geographical origin even when olive oil is blended. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological Responses of Tree Fruits to Environmental and Management Factors II)
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17 pages, 3112 KiB  
Article
Physiological and Structural Responses to Prolonged Water Deficit in Young Trees of Two Olive Cultivars
by Roberto Massenti, Alessio Scalisi, Francesco Paolo Marra, Tiziano Caruso, Giulia Marino and Riccardo Lo Bianco
Plants 2022, 11(13), 1695; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11131695 - 27 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1713
Abstract
This study aimed to characterize the physiological and structural responses of potted one-year-old olive trees belonging to two olive cultivars—‘Nocellara del Belice’ and ‘Cerasuola’—exposed to prolonged drought under greenhouse conditions. Two irrigation treatments based on evapotranspiration (ET) were imposed for 69 days, i.e., [...] Read more.
This study aimed to characterize the physiological and structural responses of potted one-year-old olive trees belonging to two olive cultivars—‘Nocellara del Belice’ and ‘Cerasuola’—exposed to prolonged drought under greenhouse conditions. Two irrigation treatments based on evapotranspiration (ET) were imposed for 69 days, i.e., well-watered (WW, 100% ET) and drought-stressed (DS, 10–30% ET). Leaf stomatal conductance (gs), stem water potential (Ψstem), transpiration (E), photosynthetic capacity (Amax), water use efficiency (WUE), stem (Kstem) and root (Kroot) hydraulic conductance, trunk diameter variations (TDV), and leaf patch attenuated pressure fluctuations (pp, a proxy of the inverse of leaf turgor pressure) were measured in WW and DS trees at different stages of the experiment. Leaf gs did not significantly differ between cultivars under DS, whereas differences in Ψstem only became significant at the end of prolonged drought, when ‘Nocellara del Belice’ experienced Ψstem < −4 MPa. ‘Cerasuola’ trees expressed the best WUE under drought, although they were more susceptible to photoinhibition under optimal plant water status. Both cultivars tended to increase their Kstem at the end of the drought period. A marked reduction in Kroot occurred in ‘Cerasuola’ plants after prolonged drought; however, a similar mechanism was not observed in ‘Nocellara del Belice’. The ratio between Kstem and Kroot exponentially increased towards the end of the prolonged drought period in both cultivars, but more markedly in ‘Cerasuola’. TDV and pp trends suggested that ‘Cerasuola’ plants keep better plant water status under severe drought compared to ‘Nocellara del Belice’ by maintaining high leaf turgor and reduced trunk diameter fluctuations. These responses may be related to reduced cell wall elasticity and xylem vessel size and/or wall thickness—drought avoidance mechanisms. The Kstem/Kroot ratio can serve as an indicator of drought stress avoidance mechanisms to compare genotype-specific responses to drought stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological Responses of Tree Fruits to Environmental and Management Factors II)
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Review

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17 pages, 1826 KiB  
Review
Fruit Biology of Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.)
by Fernanda Caro Beveridge, Sundaravelpandian Kalaipandian, Chongxi Yang and Steve W. Adkins
Plants 2022, 11(23), 3293; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11233293 - 29 Nov 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 13872
Abstract
Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is an important perennial crop adapted to a wide range of habitats. Although global coconut demand has increased sharply over the past few years, its production has been decreasing due to palm senility, as well as abiotic and [...] Read more.
Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is an important perennial crop adapted to a wide range of habitats. Although global coconut demand has increased sharply over the past few years, its production has been decreasing due to palm senility, as well as abiotic and biotic stresses. In fact, replanting efforts are impeded due to the lack of good quality seedlings. In vitro technologies have a great potential; however, their applications may take time to reach a commercial level. Therefore, traditional seed propagation is still critical to help meet the rising demand and its practice needs to be improved. To achieve an improved propagation via seeds, it is important to understand coconut fruit biology and its related issues. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the existing knowledge on coconut fruit morpho-anatomy, germination biology, seed dispersal, distribution, fruit longevity and storage. This will help to identify gaps where future research efforts should be directed to improve traditional seed propagation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological Responses of Tree Fruits to Environmental and Management Factors II)
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