Linking Changes in Fatty Acid Composition to Postharvest Needle Abscission Resistance in Balsam Fir Trees

Abstract

Balsam fir needle retention and fatty acid profile changes due to cold acclimation throughout autumn, but little is known about the relationship between these two phenomena. The objective was to examine differences in FAs in contrasting needle abscission resistant balsam fir genotypes throughout autumn and early winter. Branches from genotypes with low and high needle abscission resistance (NAR) were collected from September to January and analyzed for FA composition. High NAR genotypes retained needles 120–130% longer than low NAR genotypes and NAR increased through autumn in both genotypes. There was approximately a 3:1 ratio of unsaturated: saturated FAs, which increased by 4% in favor of unsaturated fatty acids through autumn. Palmitic, palmitoleic, and linolenic acid content was significantly higher in high NAR versus low NAR genotypes; arachidic, oleic, linoleic, pinolenic, coniferonic, icosadienoic, and sciadonic acids were lower in high NAR genotypes versus low. Linolenic acid was of particular interest because it tended to decrease throughout autumn, to the point that high NAR genotypes were significantly lower in linolenic acid than low NAR genotypes in January. These changes may be linked to an increase in abscisic acid and/or jasmonic acid synthesis depleting linolenic acid stores and promoting postharvest needle abscission resistance.