Sources of variation between apple fruits within a season, and between seasons

A Compartment Model of the Effect of Early-season Temperatures on Potential Size and Growth of 'Delicious' Apple Fruits

“…For apples, the 4-6 week period after pollination has a strong influence on final fruit size. Physiological and anatomical evidence suggest that development rate during this period, particularly the rate of cell division, determines final fruit size (Smith, 1950 ;Bain and Robertson, 1951 ;Denne, 1963 ;Westwood, Batjer and Billingsley, 1967 ;Roth, 1977 ;Pratt, 1988 ;Marguery and Sangwan, 1993 ;Goffinet, Robinson and Lakso, 1995). This interpretation is consistent with similar studies of dicot leaves (Milford et al, 1985 ;Ong and Baker, 1985) and may explain why apple size is influenced by early-season temperatures (Green, 1981).…”

“…The view that the number of cells created in the early post-pollination period determines apple size is widely held (Smith, 1950 ;Bain and Robertson, 1951 ;Westwood et al, 1967 ;Quinlan and Preston, 1968 ;Pratt, 1988 ;Marguery and Sangwan, 1993 ;Goffinet et al, 1995). Early-season fruit thinning increases fruit size and cell number, rather than cell size (Quinlan and Preston, 1968 ;Goffinet et al, 1995), and year-to-year variation in apple fruit size is linked most strongly to variation in cell number .…”

“…One contains tissues contributing to the increase in potential size, the other contains those that are not. They were labelled ' meristematic ' and ' non-meristematic ', respectively, since anatomical and experimental studies suggest final apple fruit size is related to cell number (Smith, 1950 ;Bain and Robertson, 1951 ;Westwood et al, 1967 ;Pratt, 1988 ;Marguery and Sangwan, 1993 ;Goffinet et al, 1995). On this basis the first compartment would include tissue where cells divide as they expand whereas the second would include tissue where they do not.…”

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase 1 (HMG1) is highly associated with the cell division during the early stage of fruit development which determines the final fruit size in Litchi chinensis

“…Any factors affecting the cell division and cell enlargement, such as genetic characteristics, phytohormones, nutrients, and culture practices, will contribute to the final fruit-size determination. In addition to these, the time of anthesis is an important factor in many fruits, including apple (Marguery and Sangwan, 1993), kiwifruit (Cruz-Castillo et al, 2002;Lai et al, 1990), peach (Scorza et al, 1991), grape (Coombe, 1973), citrus (Praloran et al, 1981), strawberry (Cheng and Breen, 1992) and litchi (Li et al, 2004). In general, flower buds of early anthesis within the same tree tend to give rise to larger fruits at maturity compared to those of later anthesis.…”

The roles of cytokinins and abscisic acid in the pericarp of litchi (Litchi chinensisSonn.) in determining fruit size

“…Fruit weight is strongly affected by cultivar and by the environment, especially temperature, during fruit development. Fruit from early flowers have been found to be larger at harvest than fruit from later blooms in kiwifruit (Cruz-Castillo et al, 1991), apple (Marguery and Sangwan, 1993), strawberry (Cheng and Breem, 1992), persimmon (Hasegawa and Nakajima, 1990), grape (Coombe, 1973) and apricots (Jackson and Coombe, 1966).…”