X-ray imaging of 30 year old wine grape wood reveals cumulative impacts of rootstocks on scion secondary growth and Ravaz index
Zoë Migicovsky1,20 , Michelle Y. Quigley2 , Joey Mullins2 , Tahira Ali3,4 , Joel F. Swift5 , Anita Rose Agasaveeran6 , Joseph D. Dougherty7,8 , Brendan Michael Grant9,10 , Ilayda Korkmaz3,11 , Maneesh Reddy Malpeddi9,10 , Emily L. McNichol7,8 , Andrew W. Sharp7,12 and Jackie L. Harris13 , Danielle R. Hopkins13 , Lindsay M. Jordan13,14 , Misha T. Kwasniewski15 , R. Keith Striegler13 , Asia L. Dowtin16 , Stephanie Stotts17,18 , Peter Cousins19 , Daniel H. Chitwood,2,7,
1Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, Nova Scotia, B2N 5E3, Canada 2Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 3College of Natural Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 4Department of Neuroscience, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 5Department of Biology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA 6Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 7Department of Computational Mathematics, Science & Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 8College of Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 9College of Social Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 10Department of Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 11Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 12College of Arts and Letters, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 13E. & J. Gallo Winery, Acampo, CA, 95220, USA 14Current affiliation: Constellation Brands, Soledad, CA, 93960, USA 15Department of Food Science, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, 16803, USA 16Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA 17Department of Agriculture, Food, and Resource Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD, 21853, USA 18Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD, 21853, USA 19E. & J. Gallo Winery, Modesto, CA, 95354, USA 20Current affiliation: Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, B4P 2R6, Canada *Corresponding author. E-mail: dhchitwood@gmail.com
Received: 23 Jun 2022 Accepted: 27 Sep 2022 Published online: 07 Oct 2022
Abstract
Annual rings from 30 year old vines in a California rootstock trial were measured to determine the effects of 15 different rootstocks on Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon scions. Viticultural traits measuring vegetative growth, yield, berry quality, and nutrient uptake were collected at the beginning (1995 to 1999) and end (2017 to 2020) of the lifetime of a vineyard initially planted in 1991 and removed in 2021. X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) was used to measure ring widths in 103 vines. Ring width was modeled as a function of ring number using a negative exponential model. Early and late wood ring widths, cambium width, and scion trunk radius were correlated with 27 traits. Modeling of annual ring width shows that scions alter the width of the first rings but that rootstocks alter the decay of later rings, consistently shortening ring width throughout the lifetime of the vine. Ravaz index, juice pH, photosynthetic assimilation and transpiration rates, and instantaneous water use efficiency are correlated with scion trunk radius. Ultimately, our research indicates that rootstocks modulate secondary growth over years, altering physiology and agronomic traits. Rootstocks act in similar but distinct ways from climate to modulate ring width, which borrowing techniques from dendrochronology, can be used to monitor both genetic and environmental effects in woody perennial crop species.
