Ks. Woo et al., Differences in needle morphology between blister rust resistant and susceptible western white pine stocks, CAN J FORES, 31(11), 2001, pp. 1880-1886
Citations number
41
Categorie Soggetti
Plant Sciences
Journal title
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH-REVUE CANADIENNE DE RECHERCHE FORESTIERE
Needle traits were evaluated on three groups of western white pine (Pinus m
onticola Dougl.) seedlings: four open-pollinated families that ranked high
for the "reduced needle lesion frequency" type of resistance to blister rus
t; four blister rust susceptible families; and two bulk lots from a seed or
chard selected for blister rust resistance. No statistically significant di
fferences were found for most traits in pairwise comparisons among the thre
e groups. However, needles of susceptible families had significantly wider
and larger stomata (greater area) than did those of resistant families and
seed orchard lots; their stomata were also rounder (smaller ratio of stomat
al length to width) than those of the seed orchard lots. Needles of the res
istant stocks were significantly shorter than those from seed orchard bulks
. Contact angles of water droplets on adaxial needle surfaces were also sig
nificantly larger on resistant families compared with the other genetic sto
cks. Results suggest the possibility of some threshold stomatal size and (o
r) critical stomatal shape related to infection by the blister rust fungus,
Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch. ex Rabenh., and possible differences among
the groups in wax chemistry and (or) surface textures, both of which may a
lter behavior of blister rust germ tubes and (or) be altered by blister rus
t infection.