Progress 01/15/21 to 01/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:We have reached out to various stakeholders through in-person meetings, presentations and publications. Apple growers Apple Nurseries Extension educators Crop consultants Students Plant scientists Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have involved and trained two graduate students, three summer scholars (undergraduate students), one technician, and one postdoctoral scientist in this project. In addition, three extension educators from Cornell Cooperative extension were also involved in different activities of the project, intereptations and discussion of results. This included discussion about significance of rootstocks, and root traits for orchard health and its relationship with tree decline. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In this two years project, we have used various means to dessiminate results to the primary stakeholders (apple growers, nurseries, and extension educators) and scientific community. We have held two advisory committee meetings, gave eight presentations, written two extension articles, and one peer-reviewed research article. We have acknowledged AFRI-CARE funding in these presentations and publications. Below is the list of these publications and presentations. Anna Wunsch, Janet van Zoeren, Mario Miranda Sazo, Michael Basedow, Awais Khan and Marc Fuchs. 2021. Decline of young apple trees in high-density orchards: a virologist's perspective. New York Fruit Quarterly. Marc Fuchs.'Could viruses be involved in poor apple tree growth? Presented at a webinar on Why are my trees growing so poorly? Eastern New York Cornell Cooperative Extension team, August 2, 2021, Participants = 117 Awais Khan. "Underground Contributions to Declining Blocks in High-Density Orchards." oral presentation at a summer tour organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension-Lake Ontario Fruit team, August 12, 2021, Participants = 90 Awais Khan. Presentation at summer tour organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension-Lake Ontario Fruit team (in-person), "Underground Contributions to Declining Blocks in High-Density Orchards.", participants=120, length in hours=0.20, total contact hours=24, August 12, 2021. Awais Khan. Presentation at field tour organized by ENY Cornell Cooperative Extension (in-person), "Fire blight Diagnostics and Underground Contributions to Declining Blocks in High-Density Orchards.", participants=50, length in hours=0.30, total contact hours=15, July 12, 2021. Awais Khan. Rapid decline of young apple trees in high-density orchards: Looking into potential causes. Presentation at IOBC, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, June 13, 2022. Wunsch A, and Fuchs M. Are latent viruses affecting apple tree performance in high density orchards? APS Plant Health 2022; August, 2022. Wunsch A, and Fuchs M. Effects of Latent Virus Infections on Apple Trees in High Density Orchards and Their Role in Apple Decline. APS Plant Health 2022; August, 2022. Serrano A, Sabety J, Wunsch A, van Zoeren J, Basedow M, Miranda MS, Fuchs M and Khan A. Characterization Of Root Systems Of Rapidly Declining Apple Trees In Commercial Orchards, APS Plant Health 2022; August, 2022. Sabety J, Khan A. 2023. Root systems of two apple rootstocks. New York Fruit Quarterly. Serrano A, Wunsch A, Sabety J, van Zoeren J, Basedow M, Sazo MM, Fuchs M, Khan A. 2023. Comparative root system architecture of declining and non-declining trees in two apple orchards in New York. Plants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Accomplishments: Objective 1, 2, and 4: Orchards with declining trees: In the begining of the project, we have identified orchard blocks in commercial apple orchards with declining apple trees. Identification of commercial orchards with declining apple trees was done with the support of extension specialists and project team members from Cornell Cooperative Extension at the Lake Ontario Fruit Program, and Eastern New York. Orchard A was planted with 'Honeycrisp' trees grafted onto M.9 Nic29 rootstocks in 2017 in Wayne County (42°55'53"N, 73°53'51"W) in western New York. Orchard B was planted with 'Fuji' trees grafted onto 'Budagovsky 9' (B.9) rootstocks in 2013 in Saratoga County (43°8'40"N, 77°13'22"W) in eastern New York. Assessment of apple tree decline severity: Tree decline severity was visually assessed from June to Novemebr 2021 using a scale from 0 to 4, with a rating of 0 indicating no decline symptoms, and a rating of 4 corresponding to dead trees with no visible green tissue. Ratings of 1 to 3 indicated increasing decline severity, with 1 corresponding to chlorosis on a few leaves, 2 to chlorosis on most leaves, and 3 to chlorosis throughout the canopy, flagging leaves, and poor tree vigor. Apple tree root system sampling: A total of 31 apple trees, including 16 (eight declining and eight non-declining) in orchard A and 15 (eight declining and seven non-declining) in orchard B were excavated in November 2021. Trees were removed by hand by carefully removing the soil from around the trunks with shovels in a radius equal to half the tree spacing. After excavation, trees were cut above the graft union, placed in an individual bag, labelled, transported to Cornell AgriTech, and kept in cold (4oC) storage prior to processing and evaluation of root traits. Processing and evaluation of RSA and root traits: Each of the excavated root systems was washed with tap water to remove all remaining soil material. Clean root systems were mounted on a horizontal metal rail with a screw threaded into the trunk to maintain them in the same orientation as in the orchard. Four images of each root system were captured using a Canon EOS Rebel T5 camera by rotating the root system from 0 to 270 degrees in four 90-degree increments. These images were analyzed using ImageJ software version 1.8. Next, every root branching from the rootstock stem (primary roots) was counted, cut, and scanned using an Expression 12000XL scanner (Epson Corporation, Suwa, Nagano, Japan) with the transparency unit. Scanned images were analyzed using RhizoVision Explorer version 2.0.3 (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5121845). Apple orchard soil sampling: Concurrently to the tree excavations in November 2021, a soil sample was collected from each orchard using a soil sample probe (2.5 cm diameter). Virus detection: Leaf and root tissue samples of declining and non-declining trees in orchards A and B were screened by reverse transcription (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), and apple stem pitting virus (ASPV). A leaf sample consisting of 5-6 mature leaves from throughout the scaffold of each tree was collected in July 2021, and a root sample consisting of fine root tissue from throughout the excavated root system of each tree was collected in November 2021. Additionally, leaf tissue samples from orchard B were screened for ACSLV, ASGV, ASPV, apple mosaic virus, tomato ringspot virus, and tobacco ringspot virus by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA) with commercial antibodies (Bioreba AG, Reinach, Switzerland). Statistical analysis: The statistical analysis of the data was performed using R (https://www.r-project.org/). Results and conclusions of Objectives 1, 2, & 4: We found significant differences between the RSA of declining and non-declining trees in two commercial apple orchards in New York State: one high-density orchard and one conventional orchard. Scion trunk diameter at the graft union and total root length were significantly reduced in declining trees compared with non-declining trees in orchards A and B. However, most RSA traits were unique to declining trees in only one of the two orchards. Root system width, number of primary roots, dry root weight, and total surface area were significantly reduced in declining trees of orchard A, while root system depth, ratio of rootstock trunk diameter to scion trunk diameter, projected area of the whole root system, and number of root tips were significantly reduced in declining trees of orchard B. Declining trees in both orchards had reduced fine root length and a reduced volume and surface area of coarse roots. The soil of high-density orchard A had a sandy-loam texture with high nutrient content and electric conductivity, as well as a high quality score. In this orchard, unlike in orchard A, a significantly higher ratio of rootstock trunk diameter to scion trunk diameter was observed in declining trees, while no significant differences in total root surface area, number of primary roots, or root system width were observed between declining and non-declining trees. In addition, unlike in orchard A, the root system depth was significantly lower in declining versus non-declining trees in orchard B. Internal necrosis was observed at, below, and above the graft union in declining trees in orchard A. These observations do not directly suggest a failure of the graft union, but we cannot entirely exclude this hypothesis. Latent viruses were not associated with rapid apple decline in either of the two orchards selected for this study. Several latent viruses were found in declining but also in non-declining trees in orchard A, but none were detected in any of the trees in orchard B. Objective 3: Characterization of root traits and root growth rate over time in controlled conditions for optimal spacing and resource uptake for high density orchards. Results: We have established controlled greenhouse and field experiments in 2021. In the field we had at least 10 replications of following scion-rootstock combinantions each in four blocks. Each block was sequently harvested to evaluated root traits. G.935 self grafted Honeycrisp onto G.935 M.9 Nic29 self grafted Honeycrisp onto G.935 During the growing season each plant was evaluated for trunk diameter (Scion and rootstock), plant high, and shoots number and length. One block of thesescion-rootstock combinantions was pulled out at 12 months and second block was pulled out after 18 months of planting. After carefully pulling oujt trees with their rootsystem, root system of plants was imaged to evaluate root traits.Root were washed and processed for scanning and pictures were analyzed with ImageJ and RizhoVision. Samples were also taken for virus analysis. Our analysis so far, indicates that Honeycrisp grafted onto G.935 has bigger greater root length than grafted onto M.9 Nic29. In general, G.935 rootstock has more vigorous root system than M.9 Nic29 rootstock. Our results also show that genetic differences between rootstocks not only affect the root system vigour. Objective 5: Dissemination of results to apple grower communities, nurseries, extension educators and service providers. In this two years project we gave eight presentations, have written two extension articles, and one peer-reviewed research article acknowledging AFRI-CARE funding in these presentations and publications. We also anticipate at least three additional peer-reviewed articles from this research particulalry related to objective 3, and 4.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Sabety J, Khan A. 2023. Root systems of two apple rootstocks. New York Fruit Quarterly.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Serrano A, Wunsch A, Sabety J, van Zoeren J, Basedow M, Sazo MM, Fuchs M, Khan A. 2023. Comparative root system architecture of declining and non-declining trees in two apple orchards in New York. Plants.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Serrano A, Sabety J, Wunsch A, van Zoeren J, Basedow M, Miranda MS, Fuchs M and Khan A. Characterization Of Root Systems Of Rapidly Declining Apple Trees In Commercial Orchards, APS Plant Health 2022; August, 2022.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Awais Khan. Presentation at summer tour organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension-Lake Ontario Fruit team (in-person), Underground Contributions to Declining Blocks in High-Density Orchards. , participants=120, length in hours=0.20, total contact hours=24, August 12, 2021.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Awais Khan. Presentation at field tour organized by ENY Cornell Cooperative Extension (in-person), Fire blight Diagnostics and Underground Contributions to Declining Blocks in High-Density Orchards. , participants=50, length in hours=0.30, total contact hours=15, July 12, 2021.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Awais Khan. Rapid decline of young apple trees in high-density orchards: Looking into potential causes. Presentation at IOBC, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, June 13, 2022.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Wunsch A, and Fuchs M. Are latent viruses affecting apple tree performance in high density orchards? APS Plant Health 2022; August, 2022.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Wunsch A, and Fuchs M. Effects of Latent Virus Infections on Apple Trees in High Density Orchards and Their Role in Apple Decline. APS Plant Health 2022; August, 2022.
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Progress 01/15/21 to 01/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:During this project reporting period we have reached out to various stakeholders through in-person meetings, presentations and publications. 1) Apple growers 2) Extension educators 3) Crop consultants 4) Students 5) Plant scientists Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have been training and educating students, a postdoc, and extension educators to understand the role of roots, rootstocks, and viruses for orchard health, and productivity. This training included several technical skills including image analysis, ELISA tests, statistical analysis and interpretation of multivariate data. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have made two presentations to introduce the project to stakeholders and submitted an extension article for publication. Communication (Presentations and articles) Marc Fuchs presented 'Could viruses be involved in poor apple tree growth? Webinar on Why are my trees growing so poorly? Eastern New York Cornell Cooperative Extension team, August 2, 2021, participants = 117 Awais Khan presented "Underground Contributions to Declining Blocks in High-Density Orchards." at a summer tour organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension-Lake Ontario Fruit team on August 12, 2021, participants = 90 Extension article An extension article was prepared and submitted to New York Fruit Quarterly winter 2021 issue. Anna Wunsch, Janet van Zoeren, Mario Miranda Sazo, Michael Basedow, Awais Khan and Marc Fuchs. 2021. Decline of young apple trees in high-density orchards: a virologist's perspective. New York Fruit Quarterly. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue making progress towards specific objectives as outlined in the proposal. Below are a few specific tasks for the next reporting period, 1) Complete the scanning, imaging and analysis of the root system and root traits of the trees excavated from three commercial orchards 2) Evaluate virus status, root system and root traits of grafted apples over time in the greenhouse and research orchard 3) Perform multivariate analysis to identify the role of viruses, root traits and their interaction in apple tree health and tree vigor 4) Continue communication of results through presentations at extension and scientific meetings and pubications
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Overall, we have made significant progress towards main goal, and five specific objectives of the project and tasks during this reporting period. We have detailed progress report with pictures, figures, graphs and tables but unformtunately online reporting system does not allow us to attach files. Recruitment of students/staff We have recruited a graduate students (Anna Wunsch) and a postdoctoral scientist (Alicia Serrano Gomez) to work on this project. Objective 1: Establishing the role of root traits of two major rootstocks in the rapid decline of apple trees in high density orchards. Identified orchards with declining trees Together with our extension specialists and project team members from Cornell Cooperative Extension at the Lake Ontario Fruit Program, and Eastern New York, we identified orchard blocks in three commercial apple orchards with declining apple trees. These orchards include: J.L. Knight Son & Family Farm, 319 Goode St, Burnt Hills, NY 12027 Morgan Apple Orchard, 3821 Cory Corners Rd, Marion, NY 14505 The Apple Shed, 3391 Fairville Maple Ridge Rd, Newark, NY 14513 Evaluation of tree vigor Throughout the growing season (June-November), we monitored declining and healthy trees in the selected orchard blocks in three orchards listed above. A qualitative scale (0-4) was established to evaluate the level of tree decline based on vigor and leaf chlorosis as follows: 0 = Non-declining (strong & healthy canopy growth, no discoloration, green foliage, high vigor) 1 = Mild decline (strong canopy growth, some yellowing of foliage) 2 = Moderate decline (moderate canopy growth, widespread yellowing of foliage) 3 = Severe decline (weak canopy growth, widespread yellowing of foliage, low vigor) 4 = Dead tree Objective 2: Assessing the influence of viruses on root traits of apple trees grafted onto two major rootstocks in high density orchards. Sampling for virus, and soil testing Leaf and root samples for virus were collected from declining trees from different symptomatic classes and were brought to the lab at Cornell AgriTech for further processing. Virus tests relied on RT-PCR using specific primers and ELISA using appropriate antibodies for apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), apple stem pitting virus (ASPV), apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), tomato ringspot virus (ToRSV) and tobacco ringspot virus (TRSV). Preliminary results showed the presence of ACLSV and ASPV in the three select orchard blocks. ASGV was also found but its prevalence was limited. We also collected at least five bulk soil samples from each orchard for soil analysis to test physical and chemical properties. Leaf sampling for nutrient analyses Leaf samples were collected early August from select apple trees in four of the five (0 to 4) declining categories in the orchard block at Morgan Apple Orchard to assess the status of nutrients. Tests were performed at the Cornell Nutrient Analysis Laboratory. Results showed a deficiency of most nutrients in declining trees compared with non-declining trees, with the exception of boron and zinc. These results clearly indicated a nutrient imbalance in declining trees, suggested a suboptimal flow of nutrients and water throughout the trees. Rootstock excavations, and root analysis We have excavated approximately 15 trees from each orchard block. The root system of each tree was carefully excavated using shovels and several traits for tree health and vigor were evaluated and visual symptoms were noted. Afterwards, root systems were labelled, packed, and shipped to the lab for further analysis. Setup for imaging root system architecture and root scanning We have established and tested a setup to image whole root system architecture of rootstocks that were excavated and brought to the lab. This setup included cleaning the root system, a stage to hang and rotate the root system to every 10° and a calibration scale for imaging with a digital camera. We used ImageJ software to extract various root system architectural parameters. In addition to imaging whole root systems of apple rootstocks, we also established a setup to scan the roots on an Epson scanner to extract additional traits including diameters, and fine roots, etc. High-resolution scan of apple roots are being analyzed with RhizoVision software to evaluate root traits. Objective 3: Characterization of root traits and root growth rate over time in controlled conditions for optimal spacing and resource uptake for high density orchards. Relationship of root traits and grafted scion in controlled experiments We ordered G.935 and M.9 NIC 29 rootstocks from commercial nurseries and grafted Honeycrisp on them. We also self-grafted G.935 and M.9 NIC 29 rootstocks as a control. Before grafting, images of the root system of rootstocks were taken to evaluate the initial root traits. Then, grafted plants were grown in large pots in the greenhouse and another set of plants was planted in 3 blocks in a research orchard at Cornell Agritech for destructive root analysis every 6-8 months after planting. Distance between the trees and rows was set to mimic a high-density planting apple orchard production system. Objective 4: Analyzing research results to circumscribe the role of rootstock roots in rapid decline of apple trees and identify management solutions. Preliminary results of the image analysis carried out in RhizoVision software. So far, we have captured and analyzed images of some of the root systems of select trees that were excavated at Morgan Apple Orchard. Preliminary results suggest that roots of non-declining trees (score 0 on the declining severity scale) have larger roots, i.e. larger maximum diameter (mm) value than roots of declining trees, either with mild (declining scores of 1 and 2) or with severe declining (scores of 3 and 4). Non-declining trees also appear to have greater root length (mm), area (mm2) and volume (mm3) than roots of symptomatic trees. We have also analyzed various root traits in different root types in declining and non-declining trees. Our preliminary results show that the surface area (mm2) of fine roots (diameter <2mm), roots of 2-5mm, 5-10mm, and >10mm is greater in healthy trees (declining severity score of 0). Objective 5: Dissemination of results to apple grower communities, nurseries, extension educators and service providers. Communication (Presentations and articles) Marc Fuchs presented 'Could viruses be involved in poor apple tree growth? Webinar on Why are my trees growing so poorly? Eastern New York Cornell Cooperative Extension team, August 2 (participants = 117) Awais Khan presented "Underground Contributions to Declining Blocks in High-Density Orchards." at a summer tour organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension-Lake Ontario Fruit team on August 12, 2021 Extension article An extension article was prepared and submitted to New York Fruit Quarterly winter 2021 issue. Anna Wunsch, Janet van Zoeren, Mario Miranda Sazo, Michael Basedow, Awais Khan and Marc Fuchs. 2021. Decline of young apple trees in high-density orchards: a virologist's perspective. New York Fruit Quarterly.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Anna Wunsch, Janet van Zoeren, Mario Miranda Sazo, Michael Basedow, Awais Khan and Marc Fuchs. 2021. Decline of young apple trees in high-density orchards: a virologists perspective. New York Fruit Quarterly.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Marc Fuchs.Could viruses be involved in poor apple tree growth? Presented at a webinar on Why are my trees growing so poorly? Eastern New York Cornell Cooperative Extension team, August 2, 2021, Participants = 117
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Awais Khan. Underground Contributions to Declining Blocks in High-Density Orchards. oral presentation at a summer tour organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension-Lake Ontario Fruit team, August 12, 2021, Participants = 90
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