Dormancy in temperate fruit trees in a global warming context: A review

Dormancy is the mechanism that plants use to protect sensitive tissue from unfavourable climatic conditions. In a changing global environment, temperate fruit crop adaptation might be at risk due to changes in temperature cues. A complete picture of dormancy is shown in this review, using results from the early, pioneering work to the molecular basis, also emphasising dormancy modelling and measurement and their implication in temperate fruit production. This description is completed by the variability that climatic change might induce in plants through direct or indirect changes in dormancy. Future avenues for the correct adaptation of temperate fruit crops are proposed that span basic questions, from temperate fruit distribution to more-applied questions of dormancy, such as application of rest-breaking agents, depth-of-dormancy markers, breeding strategies, cross-pollination and host-pest interaction. In the context of global climate change, a linkage among the cited fields is intended in this review in order to raise awareness in the scientific community. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.