Growth, cambial activity and phloem structure in compatible and incompatible peach/plum grafts

Peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) shoots grafted onto compatible or incompatible clones of rootstocks of myrobolan plum (Prunus cerasifera L. Ehrh. cv. myrobolan) were observed in a greenhouse for 100 days after grafting. The incompatible grafts showed foliar symptoms of incompatibility and reduced shoot growth about 60 days after grafting. Light microscopic studies revealed that cambial activity stopped earlier in the rootstocks, than in the scions, of incompatible grafts. Structural modifications were also observed in the phloem of incompatible grafts. Compared with the compatible graft rootstock, the number of sieve elements differentiated from the cambial zone was reduced in the incompatible graft rootstock, whereas the production of parenchyma cells was not affected. No important ultrastructural alteration was observed in the sieve tubes of the incompatible grafts. However, osmiophilic granulations near the plasma membrane of sieve plates were observed more frequently in the rootstocks of incompatible grafts than in ungrafted myrobolan controls. It is concluded that the external symptoms of incompatibility are not related to massive structural modifications or degeneration of the conducting tissues.