Apple Mosaic Viruses Host Reactions and Strain Interference

The annual growth of an apple tree in the vegetative condition is distributed in a definite pattern between leaves, stems and roots ; when a crop is borne, this constitutes an additional end-point for growth materials. The disturbances in the pattern of vegetative growth caused by this additional region of utilization are described. Two-year-old apple trees were deblossomed at flowering or defruited on 30th May, and their growth was compared with that of cropping trees. The increments in weight were estimated by samples taken at treatment times.

After deblossoming, the trees made extra growth in terms of dry weight, more and larger leaves, and longer stems. The periods of greatest and least growth were the same as for cropping trees. Defruiting also resulted in extra growth, but this came later, and so was out of phase with the growth of fruiting trees. This extra vegetative growth (including more trunk thickening and root growth as well as leaves and new shoots) weighed more than the crop on the fruiting trees. Defruiting had slightly less effect than deblossoming.

The diversion of metabolites to the crop changed the pattern of growth in the rest of the tree. Cropping trees had 50% more leaf proportionate to total vegetative increment, and 50% less root, than deblossomed ones. The intervening regions varied roughly according to their position. Despite this greater leafiness of cropping trees, they produced significantly more total dry matter (vegetative growth plus crop) per unit area of leaf.

These results are attributed to the greater demanding power of the growing crop in diverting photosynthates from the lower parts of the tree and in increasing the rate of removal of photosynthates from the leaves.