Linking vegetative growth,reproduction and irregular bearing in the mango tree

Frédéric Normand (1) , Frédéric Boudon (2) , Mathilde Capelli (1) , Anaëlle Dambreville , Pierre-Eric Lauri (3)

1 UPR HORTSYS - Fonctionnement agroécologique et performances des systèmes de cultures horticoles
2 UMR AGAP - Amélioration génétique et adaptation des plantes méditerranéennes et tropicales
3 UMR SYSTEM - Fonctionnement et conduite des systèmes de culture tropicaux et méditerranéens

Irregular bearing is a major agronomic issue with economic consequences for many temperate and tropical fruit species. In particular, the mango tree, characterized by terminal flowering, is prone to irregularity, with a clear cultivar effect. Mango trees within a monoclonal orchard exhibit contrasted patterns of bearing, suggesting that irregularity is triggered and/or maintained by endogenous factors and not only by genetic or environmental factors. In several species, architectural traits of shoots can affect flowering. In this paper we summarize and discuss the results obtained in different studies on the reciprocal interactions between vegetative development and f lowering and fruiting at different scales in the mango tree, namely the terminal growth unit, the scaffold branch and the whole tree. The topology, morphology and phenology of the mango terminal growth units affect their probability of flowering and fruiting, indicating that structural and temporal vegetative traits are clearly involved in reproduction. Conversely, the reproductive fate of a terminal growth unit affects the occurrence, intensity and phenology of its subsequent vegetative growth, which represents the potential flowering points for the following cycle. These results show that, at the mango growth unit scale, irregular bearing results from the effects of the flowering and fruiting behavior during a cycle on the reproductive behaviour during the following cycle, these effects being partly mediated by vegetative growth occurring between the two reproductive events. Three points are discussed: what are the physiological mechanisms underlying these relationships at the growth unit scale? What happens at larger scales, i.e., at the scaffold branch and the whole tree scales? And what could be the effects of climate change and cultivation practices on these relationships? (Résumé d'auteur)

Mots clés: Costs of reproduction flowering; fruiting; growth unit; Mangifera indica L.; phenology; mangoes

Mots clés: mangue; fruit tropical

Domaines: Biologie végétale

Frédéric Normand, Frédéric Boudon, Mathilde Capelli, Anaëlle Dambreville, Pierre-Eric Lauri. Linking vegetative growth,reproduction and irregular bearing in the mango tree. International Symposium on Flowering, Fruit set and Alternate Bearing, Jun 2017, Palermo, Italy. University of Palermo, Sicile, p.90, 1diaporama (17vues), 2017, Book of abstracts. ⟨hal-01606235⟩