Use of Carbohydrate Reserves During Growth from Cuttings of Grape Vine

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Abstract
Changes in the carbohydrate status of cuttings of vines (Vitis vinifera cv. Sultana) from which plants were developed in a glasshouse were studied by dry weight measurements and analysis for sugars, starch, and hemicellulose. Treatments consisted of one-node cuttings and two-node cuttings (differing initial quantities of carbohydrate reserves) and one-node cuttings with shade (carbohydrate stress). In all treatments the cane portions lost some 20% of their initial dry weight with a following rapid recovery by unshaded canes, and no recovery by canes of shaded plants during the observed 67 days after planting. Of the 20% loss in cane weight, roughly 1% was accountable for as sugar, 10% as starch, and 7% as hemicellulose. Where dry weight recovery took place starch accumulation was involved, suggesting carbohydrate excess at that time. Plants as a whole lost weight until some 17 days after bud burst irrespective of treatment, at which time the approximate 50 cm2 of leaf present must have been able to photosynthesize at a rate equivalent to whole-plant respiration. Shoot plus root growth in the shaded treatment was greatly retarded after reserves were exhausted, and temporarily retarded in the one-node group compared with the two-node plants. It is concluded that plants developed from cuttings of 2 internodes or longer were not subjected to any degree of carbohydrate stress which might affect physiological processes related to fruitfulness.

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