Skip Navigation


JXB Advance Access originally published online on February 13, 2004
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
55/397/719    most recent
erh084v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by De la Barrera, E.
Right arrow Articles by Nobel, P. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by De la Barrera, E.
Right arrow Articles by Nobel, P. S.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by De la Barrera, E.
Right arrow Articles by Nobel, P. S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 55, No. 397, pp. 719-729, March 1, 2004
© 2004 Oxford University Press

Regulation of Growth, Development and Whole Organism Physiology

Carbon and water relations for developing fruits of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller, including effects of drought and gibberellic acid

Received 23 May 2003; Accepted 16 December 2003

Erick De la Barrera and Park S. Nobel*

Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +1 310 825 9433. E-mail: psnobel{at}biology.ucla.edu

Growth, gas exchange rates, and carbohydrate content were studied for developing fruits of the cultivated cactus Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller, including effects of drought and exogenous gibberellic acid (GA3). Fruit development required 110 d from the time of bud differentiation to ripening at 80 d after anthesis, when the fruit mass averaged 67 g. Stomatal conductance and net CO2 uptake rates for fruits were higher during the night; they were maximal at 7 d before anthesis and decreased as development progressed. Fruits undergoing drought, imposed by detaching terminal stems bearing fruits, were 50% smaller than the control at 80 d after anthesis and did not ripen. Fruits injected with 2 ml of 500 ppm GA3 were 30% smaller than the control at 80 d after anthesis; they contained a large proportion of aborted seeds that produced a weak sink signal for dry mass accumulation. Gas exchange was higher at 21 d after anthesis for fruits treated with GA3. Total soluble sugars represented 40% of the fruit’s dry mass until 45 d after anthesis, when the sugar content rapidly increased, reaching 90% at 73 d after anthesis. Such an increase was not observed for fruits treated with GA3, and the sugar content for fruits undergoing drought remained low throughout development. Starch content increased for developing fruits of O. ficus-indica until 14 d after anthesis and, except for the fruits undergoing drought, decreased thereafter. Fruit development for O. ficus-indica is apparently regulated by water availability as well as hormonal signals originating both within and outside the fruit.

Key words: Abscisic acid, cactus pear, fruit development, fruit photosynthesis.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.