Differences in hydraulic traits of grapevine rootstocks are not conferred to a common Vitis vinifera scion

Abstract

Cultivars of grapevine are commonly grafted onto rootstocks to improve resistance against biotic and abiotic stress, however, it is not clear whether known differences in hydraulic traits are conferred from rootstocks to a common scion. We recently found that Vitis riparia and Vitis champinii differed in drought-induced embolism susceptibility and repair, which was related to differences in root pressure generation after rewatering (Knipfer et al. 2015). In the present study, we tested whether these and other physiological responses to drought are conferred to a common V. vinifera scion (Cabernet Sauvignon) grafted on V. riparia and V. champinii rootstocks. We measured xylem embolism formation/repair using in vivo microCT imaging, which was accompanied with analysis of leaf gas exchange, osmotic adjustment and root pressure. Our data indicate that differences in scion physiological behaviour for both rootstock combinations were negligible, suggesting that the sensitivity of Cabernet Sauvignon scion to xylem embolism formation/repair, leaf gas exchange and osmotic adjustment is unaffected by either V. riparia or V. champinii rootstock in response to drought stress.