Phytohormone Changes and Carbohydrate Status in Sweet Orange Fruit from Huanglongbing-infected Trees

Huanglongbing (HLB) infection alters citrus fruit growth and development, resulting in small, misshapen, and poorly colored fruit containing aborted or partially developed seeds. Typically, symptomatic fruit have delayed maturation and abscise prematurely. We studied carbohydrate and phytohormone changes in HLB-affected fruit to explain symptom development because (1) carbohydrate shortage has been linked to fruit growth arrest and eventually abscission and (2) hormonal signals regulate, at least partially, fruit set and development. Symptomatic fruit (S), asymptomatic fruit (AS) from symptomatic trees, and healthy fruit (H) from asymptomatic trees were harvested from 'Valencia' sweet orange trees [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] infected with the HLB pathogen or not, as verified by PCR. Mature S weighed less, had lower A degrees Brix, were smaller, had more aborted seeds, and were greener than AS or H. Starch and sucrose contents were lower in mature S flavedo compared with that of H and AS. S and AS harvested 7 and 12 months after full bloom produced significantly less ethylene than H. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) contents in flavedo removed from the stylar end, middle section, or stem end of fruit generally were higher in S flavedo than in AS and H. ABA content was fourfold higher in flavedo from the middle section of S than in AS and H. Flavedo excised from the large shoulder of misshapen S had significantly higher IAA content when compared with the normal-sized area of the same fruit on the opposite side. This increase corresponded to an increase in hypodermal cell area in S flavedo. Overall, these data reveal an imbalance of carbohydrate and phytohormone status in fruit from HLB-infected trees and suggest a role of such changes in fruit symptom development.