The Use of Gibberellins and Prohexadione-Ca Treatments for Fruit Set improvement on 'Conference' Pear

Abstract

Since the growth regulator chlormequat chloride (CCC) was removed from the market in Belgium in 1998, pear growing in intensive training systems has become more difficult and fruit growers are looking for alternative ways to control the vegetative growth of the pear trees. Prohexadione-Ca, a new growth regulator with good reported results oil apple trees, is much less effective on pear trees and call have a negative effect on return bloom. The best way to control the vegetative vigour of a fruit tree is to induce regularity in its productivity, which can be achieved by a treatment with gibberellins, but the results of these treatments are not consistent. In this study, we investigate the effect of treatments on 'Conference' pear trees with Prohexadione-Ca and different gibberellins on proteome and gene expression, in order to obtain a better understanding of the physiological background of the process of flower initiation and fruit set oil 'Conference' pear. The data could indicate differences in internal flower bud quality and fruit set capacity between the objects. We found significant differences between the proteomes of shoots, depending on the location on the tree, as well as between the treatments.