PLANT WATER-CARBON RELATIONS IN HUANGLONGBING-AFFECTED CITRUS TREES AND THE IMPACT OF HLB EXPOSURE DURATION, FRUIT DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE, AND SOURCE-SINK MANIPULATION ON THESE RELATIONS

Abstract

Bulk phloem flow is driven by pressure gradients generated by water drawn from the xylem, coupling source-sink transport with water status. Huanglongbing (HLB), a phloem-affecting bacterial disease of citrus, disrupts phloem transport, and causes canopy water deficit. Although improved water management can enhance HLB-affected tree health, the effects of HLB on water-driven source-sink relations are unknown. Fruits function as both carbon sink and water reservoir, but the role of fruit in regulating whole-tree water status remain poorly understood. We examined leaf-fruit water relations in HLB-affected citrus and evaluated how HLB exposure duration, fruit developmental stage, and source-sink manipulation shape these dynamics. Source-sink relations were manipulated in branches of symptomatic trees with long-term (four years) and recent (six months) HLB exposure. We girdled branches with a single fruit as the sink and defoliated at (0%, 50%, or 75%), and an ungirdled, non-defoliated branch served as control. We measured stomatal conductance, leaf hydraulic traits, leaf and fruit soluble sugars, diurnal fruit shrinkage (to estimate xylem backflow) and fruit water loss. Source-sink manipulation did not affect shoot total soluble sugar. HLB-exposure resulted in less negative osmotic potential, more negative turgor potential and reduced modulus of elasticity and relative water content at turgor loss point. HLB exposure also increased diurnal fruit shrinkage, with shrinkage responses to source-sink manipulation varying across fruit development stages. Collectively, these findings suggest that long-term HLB exposure promotes leaf acclimation to water deficits, however, high sink demand may diminish the leaf water status regulation at Stage II, when fruit sink carbon demand is highest.