Development of a rapid screening method for selection against high temperature susceptibility in garden roses
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2015, American Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved. The decline of garden rose sales over the past 20 years can be partially attributed to the lack of material adapted to a wide range of landscapes, which includes adaptation to high temperature stress. Current methods for evaluating high temperature susceptibility in garden roses are based on field observations, which are time consuming and subjected to ever-changing environmental conditions. A series of experiments were conducted to optimize protocols and compare the use of chlorophyll fluorescence (CFL) and cell membrane thermostability (MTS) by way of electrolyte leakage as methods to screen for high temperature susceptibility. Immature leaves proved better than mature leaves for both CFL and MTS measurements, using either detached leaf or whole plant stress assays. MTS measured on immature leaves stressed in a water bath at 50 C for 45 minutes proved most consistent in separating rose clones based on high temperature susceptibility. Stressing actively growing plants with flower buds of 2 mm in diameter in a heat chamber at 44 C for 3 hours resulted in increased flower abscission and leaf necrotic lesions on more susceptible clones when compared with those that were heat tolerant. Combining MTS measurements from immature leaves stressed in a water bath with the flower abscission and leaf necrosis responses 10 days after stress in a heat chamber could be the first step to screen and select against the more susceptible clones in a garden rose breeding program. Power analyses suggest that the proposed MTS protocol would be efficient in detecting differences between clones when the difference in electrolyte leakage is greater than 10%.
