Comparing callus growth with discoloration and electrical conductivity as measures of stem injury after freezing woody plants

Abstract

Most of 36 crabapple and 19 other woody plant taxa demonstrated the ability, when dormant, to grow a continuous row of callus along the cambial region on split-stem pieces within 5 to 7 days of incubation at 25 °C. The ability to grow callus after freezing tests was compared with discoloration and electrical conductivity for determining laboratory freeze injury to selected taxa. Hardiness levels were determined using the procedures of callus growth, discoloration, and electrical conductivity after freezing stem pieces of Jack crabapple[Malus baccata (L.) Borkh. 'Jacki'], pink bud Sargent crabapple [M. sargentii Rehd. 'Rosea'], Mary Potter crabapple [Malus sp. 'Mary Potter'], and snowberry mountainash [Sorbus discolor (Maxim.) Maxim.]. Sampling dates for laboratory freezing tests were chosen to represent midwinter cold hardiness and partial hardiness of either late fall or early spring. There was a high correlation between discoloration and callus ratings for most plants; however, the two methods usually did not identify the same critical temperature (T50) for injury. The critical temperatures identified by callus growth was often 3 to 6 °C lower than for discoloration. For many taxa, callus growth was easier to see than discoloration of cambium and phloem, providing a less subjective evaluation of injury. TTC (2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride) treatment was sometimes useful to identify callus growth that died after forming. The critical temperature (T(c)), the highest temperature at which relative electrical conductivity differed significantly from the control temperature, was higher in most cases, indicating less cold hardiness than the T50 for callus and discoloration. The callus procedure may have value for evaluating injury to the cambial zone from freezing and other plant stresses because it determines the ability of the plant to continue growth.