The production and consumption of nuts are increasing in the world due to strong economic returns and the nutritional value of their products. With the increasing role and importance given to nuts (i.e., walnuts, hazelnut, pistachio, pecan, almond) in a balanced and healthy diet and their benefits to human health, breeding of the nuts species has also been stepped up. Most recent fruit breeding programs have focused on scion genetic improvement. However, the use of locally adapted grafted rootstocks also enhanced the productivity and quality of tree fruit crops. Grafting is an ancient horticultural practice used in nut crops to manipulate scion phenotype and productivity and overcome biotic and abiotic stresses. There are complex rootstock breeding objectives and physiological and molecular aspects of rootstock–scion interactions in nut crops. In this review, we provide an overview of these, considering the mechanisms involved in nutrient and water uptake, regulation of phytohormones, and rootstock influences on the scion molecular processes, including long-distance gene silencing and trans-grafting. Understanding the mechanisms resulting from rootstock × scion × environmental interactions will contribute to developing new rootstocks with resilience in the face of climate change, but also of the multitude of diseases and pests.

Phytohormones are of great significance in plant growth, development, immunity, and stress responses. As one of the promising phytohormones, salicylic acid (SA) is a natural phenolic compound synthesized from chorismate through two distinct pathways mediated by isochorismate synthase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, respectively. It plays crucial roles in regulating various biological processes related to plant growth and development, as well as in response to diverse biotic and abiotic stresses. Pathogens and herbivores are the most confronting biotic factors that pose severe threats to plant fitness and crop yield. The significance of SA in defense responses against these biotic stresses has been well addressed in the past decades. This review pays attention to the biosynthesis, metabolism, and signaling pathways of SA, and SA-mediated defense responses against pathogens and herbivores, thereby providing theoretical perspectives on the regulatory mechanism of SA-mediated immunity under biotic stress and improving the plant fitness and resistance to diseases caused by biotic factors.

Pecan is the only native north American tree nut. The USA produces approximately 80% of the world’s pecans. Pecan trees have an extended juvenility, 10 years to the first nut crop. With mature bearing they begin alternate bearing; alternating large and small crops. Theoretically, a heavy crop inhibits flower induction in the current year resulting in a low crop the following year. The flowering of perennial trees involves a complex interplay of multiple hormones. The possible molecular mechanisms regulating tree flowering can be revealed by endogenous plant hormone quantification, exogenous hormone application and RNA-sequencing. In this review, we synthesize the investigations of transcriptomic analysis and exogenous hormone treatments on bud break and flowering in fruit/nut trees with a focus on pecan. Knowledge of how hormones regulate flowering suggest they are a potential tool for improving return bloom and mitigating alternate bearing.

Pecan is native to the United States. The US is the world’s largest pecan producer with an average yearly production of 250 to 300 million pounds; 80 percent of the world’s supply. Georgia, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, California, Louisiana, and Florida are the major US pecan producing states. Pecan trees frequently suffer from spring freeze at bud break and bloom as the buds are quite sensitive to freeze damage. This leads to poor flower and nut production. This review focuses on the impact of spring freeze during bud differentiation and flower development. Spring freeze kills the primary terminal buds, the pecan tree has a second chance for growth and flowering through secondary buds. Unfortunately, secondary buds have less bloom potential than primary buds and nut yield is reduced. Spring freeze damage depends on severity of the freeze, bud growth stage, cultivar type and tree age, tree height and tree vigor. This review discusses the impact of temperature on structure and function of male and female reproductive organs. It also summarizes carbohydrate relations as another factor that may play an important role in spring growth and transition of primary and secondary buds to flowers.

Springtime flail mowing of row middles for weed control in California pistachio ( Pistacia vera L.) orchards blows dust into the leafless canopy if it occurs during bloom. The effect of dust on pistachio pollination and fruit set is unknown. Rachises were bagged prebloom and hand pollinated with pollen and dust mixtures at 1:0, 1:1, 1:4, 1:16, and 0:1 volume/volume ratios on five successive days. The 2016 and 2017 trials demonstrated that the inflorescences treated with a high pollen:dust ratio (0:1, 1:4, and 1:16) had significantly lower split nut rates (commercially less profitable) compared with low dust ratio tests (1:0 and 1:1). Our results also showed that dust damaged both pollen viability and stigma quality, particularly if contaminated with herbicide residues (GlyStar ^® Plus and Treevix ^® ). Decreased yield was a function of decreased fruit set; increased embryo abortion, parthenocarpy, or both; and a lower split nut percentage. The GA ₃ content in flowers of both the pollen and dust treatments was significantly higher than that in nonpollinated flowers, suggesting dust stimulated parthenocarpy, resulting in empty nutshells, “blanks” at harvest.

Knowing a tree crop’s seasonal growth and development as a function of heat accumulation can facilitate scheduling of irrigation, pesticide applications, and harvest. Our objective was to compare the goodness of fit of applied models and determine which provides the best description of pistachio nut growth as a function of thermal unit accumulation. Three fruit growth traits of pistachio—pericarp (hull) + endocarp (shell) size, endocarp thickening and hardening, and embryo (kernel) size—exhibited clear nonlinear dependence on heat accumulation. We tested three nonlinear models—Michaelis–Menten, three-parameter logistic, and Gompertz—fitted to fruit development data to create a tool to forecast pest susceptibility and harvest timing. Observation of development began at full bloom and ended at harvest. Data were collected from six pistachio cultivars in one experimental and eight commercial orchards over 3 years. Analyses of residual distribution, parameter standard errors, coefficient of determination ( R ² ) and the Akaike information criterion (AIC) all demonstrated the Gompertz function was the best model. Cultivars differed significantly in all the three parameters (Asym, b , and c ) for all three traits with the Gompertz model, demonstrating the Gompertz model can adjust to incorporate cultivar differences. The growth curve of the three traits together provided integrated information on nut biomass accumulation that facilitates predicting the critical timing for multiple orchard management practices.