The rooting of stem cuttings is a highly efficient procedure for the vegetative propagation of ornamental plants. In cultivated carnations, an increased auxin level in the stem cutting base produced by active auxin transport from the leaves triggers adventitious root (AR) formation from the cambium. To provide additional insight into the physiological and genetic basis of this complex trait, we studied AR formation in a collection of 159 F1 lines derived from a cross between two hybrid cultivars (2003 R 8 and 2101-02 MFR) showing contrasting rooting performances. In three different experiments, time-series for several stem and root architectural traits were quantified in detail in a subset of these double-cross hybrid lines displaying extreme rooting phenotypes and their parental genotypes. Our results indicate that the water content and area of the AR system directly contributed to the shoot water content and shoot growth. Moreover, morphometric data and rooting quality parameters were found to be associated with some stress-related metabolites such as 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), the ethylene precursor, and the conjugated auxin indol-3-acetic acid-aspartic acid (IAA-Asp).
Keywords: ACC; IAA-Asp; hormone profiling; root architectural traits; shoot growth; stress-related hormones; vegetative plant propagation; water content.