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Horticulturae
Volume 7
Issue 3
10.3390/horticulturae7030045
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Article

Assessment of Chilling Requirement and Threshold Temperature of a Low Chill Pear (Pyrus communis L.) Germplasm in the Mediterranean Area

by
Filippo Ferlito
1,
Mario Di Guardo
2,*,
Maria Allegra
1,
Elisabetta Nicolosi
2,
Alberto Continella
2,
Stefano La Malfa
2,
Alessandra Gentile
2 and
Gaetano Distefano
2
1
CREA, Research Centre for Olive, Fruit and Citrus Crop, Corso Savoia, 190-95024 Acireale (CT), Italy
2
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, Via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Horticulturae 2021, 7(3), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7030045
Submission received: 2 February 2021 / Revised: 1 March 2021 / Accepted: 3 March 2021 / Published: 6 March 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Fruit Production Systems)
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Abstract

In temperate climates, bud break and shoot and flower emission of deciduous fruit tree species are regulated by precise chilling and heating requirements. To investigate this aspect, sixty-one accessions of European pear (Pyrus communis L.) collected in Sicily were phenotyped for three consecutive years for harvest date, bud sprouting and blooming to determine both the chilling requirements and the threshold temperature using the Chill Days model. The whole germplasm collection was grown in two different experimental fields located at 10 and 850 m above sea level representing two Mediterranean-type climates in which pear is commonly cultivated. Results revealed a mean threshold temperature of 6.70 and 8.10 °C for the two experimental fields, respectively, with a mean chilling requirement ranging from −103 and −120 days. Through this approach, novel insights were gained on the differences in chilling requirement for early flowering cultivars to overcome dormancy. Furthermore, to better dissect differences in chilling requirement between accessions, the sprouting bud rate of six cultivars was assessed on excised twigs stored at 4 ± 0.1 °C from 300 to 900 h followed by a period at 25 ± 0.1 °C varying from seven to twenty-eight days. Results of both experiments highlighted that Sicilian pear germplasm is characterized by a low chilling requirement compared to other pear germplasm, making Sicilian local accessions valuable candidates to be used for selecting novel cultivars, coupling their low chilling requirements with other traits of agronomical interest.
Keywords: global warming; bud break; bud sprouting; chill-day model; dormancy global warming; bud break; bud sprouting; chill-day model; dormancy

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MDPI and ACS Style

Ferlito, F.; Di Guardo, M.; Allegra, M.; Nicolosi, E.; Continella, A.; La Malfa, S.; Gentile, A.; Distefano, G. Assessment of Chilling Requirement and Threshold Temperature of a Low Chill Pear (Pyrus communis L.) Germplasm in the Mediterranean Area. Horticulturae 2021, 7, 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7030045

AMA Style

Ferlito F, Di Guardo M, Allegra M, Nicolosi E, Continella A, La Malfa S, Gentile A, Distefano G. Assessment of Chilling Requirement and Threshold Temperature of a Low Chill Pear (Pyrus communis L.) Germplasm in the Mediterranean Area. Horticulturae. 2021; 7(3):45. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7030045

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ferlito, Filippo, Mario Di Guardo, Maria Allegra, Elisabetta Nicolosi, Alberto Continella, Stefano La Malfa, Alessandra Gentile, and Gaetano Distefano. 2021. "Assessment of Chilling Requirement and Threshold Temperature of a Low Chill Pear (Pyrus communis L.) Germplasm in the Mediterranean Area" Horticulturae 7, no. 3: 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7030045

APA Style

Ferlito, F., Di Guardo, M., Allegra, M., Nicolosi, E., Continella, A., La Malfa, S., Gentile, A., & Distefano, G. (2021). Assessment of Chilling Requirement and Threshold Temperature of a Low Chill Pear (Pyrus communis L.) Germplasm in the Mediterranean Area. Horticulturae, 7(3), 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7030045

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