Trehalose plus Chloramphenicol Prolong the Vase Life of Tulip Flowers

Abstract

<jats:p>The tepals of cut tulips (<jats:italic>Tulipa gesneriana</jats:italic> L. cv. Ile de France) kept at 20 °C had severely wilted 7 days after flower opening. Suppression of abscission and undesirable growth of tepals is required to extend vase life. Treatment with 50 m<jats:sc>m</jats:sc> trehalose in combination with 50 μ<jats:sc>m</jats:sc> chloramphenicol (CAP) delayed abscission by 4 days compared with stems placed in distilled water or CAP without trehalose. Only 4% of trehalose+CAP-treated flowers exhibited tepal abscission 7 days after harvest, while 82% and 60% of flowers held in distilled water and CAP, respectively, did so; the tepals of trehalose+CAP-treated flower stems contained 50% more water than did those treated with CAP alone. Further, trehalose did not promote elongation of epidermal parenchyma cells in tepal tissues, but maintained radial enlargement of the cells. Thus, trehalose+CAP treatment is effective in prolonging vase life without abscission, water loss, or elongation of cells in tulip tepals, but slight wilting occurs in leaves.</jats:p>

Hydraulic Conductance in Tepal Growth and Extension of Vase Life with Trehalose in Cut Tulip Flowers

“…To assess the vase life of cut fl owers daily, we used the partially modifi ed degree of opening defi ned by Iwaya-Inoue and Takata (2001). The state of opening of tepals was defi ned as follows: 0, unopened; 0.2, half-opened; 0.4, fully opened; 0.6, slightly changed color at the tepal edge; 0.8, slightly changed color in the whole tepal and partially wilted; Ψ p , the slope of the line is m and Y is the intercept of the Ψ p axis when G = 0, provided that m and Y do not change.…”

“…Since petal growth occurs continuously until cell expansion is completed, petal growth is dependent mainly on cell expansion rates of petal tissues and determines the longevity of cut fl owers (van Doorn, 1997). Recently, it was reported that trehalose, a nonreducing disaccharide consisting of two α-glycosidically linked glucose units, enhanced the vase life of cut tulip fl owers (Iwaya-Inoue and Nonami, 2003;Iwaya-Inoue and Takata, 2001). Trehalose is also known to enhance tolerance against desiccation and high temperature, probably by protecting membranes and enzymes from various stresses (Crowe et al, 1984;Hottiger et al, 1994;Lee et al, 1989).…”

“…ʻOxfordʼ bulbs were also cultivated in an unheated greenhouse in Ehime Univ. in 1999-2001 were planted in the beds with soil at 20-cm intervals per plant with a depth of 15 cm from the soil surface on 13 Oct. Nutrients were supplied with 6250 kg•ha -1 of 2N-1.7P-0.8K composted poultry manure, 2031 kg•ha -1 of 0.7N-0.3P-0.7K composted dairy farm manure, and 2500 kg•ha -1 of dolomitic limestone as basal fertilizer, followed by 1176 kg•ha -1 of 8N-3.5P-6.6K compound fertilizer as supplemental fertilizer on 12 Mar. (during the fi rst leaf expansion).…”

Effects of Trehalose and Sucrose on the Vase Life and Physiology of Cut Astilbe (<i>Astilbe</i> × <i>arendsii</i> Arends) Flowers

“…Trehalose is found in bacteria, yeast, fungi, insects, and invertebrate animals but is only rarely present in higher plants (Müller et al, 1995b). However, trehalose prolonged the vase life of cut flowers of several species, including the gladiolus (Otsubo and Iwaya-Inoue, 2000;Yamada et al, 2003;Yamane et al, 2005) and tulip (Iwaya-Inoue and Takata, 2001). Trehalose maintains turgor in petal tissues of cut tulip flowers (Iwaya-Inoue and Takata, 2001).…”

“…However, trehalose prolonged the vase life of cut flowers of several species, including the gladiolus (Otsubo and Iwaya-Inoue, 2000;Yamada et al, 2003;Yamane et al, 2005) and tulip (Iwaya-Inoue and Takata, 2001). Trehalose maintains turgor in petal tissues of cut tulip flowers (Iwaya-Inoue and Takata, 2001). In addition, trehalose has been reported to be a retardant of programmed cell death in gladiolus (Yamada et al, 2003).…”