HORTSCIENCE 44(1):196197. 2009.

Felinem, Garnem, and MonegroAlmond Peach Hybrid RootstocksAntonio J. FelipeUnidad de Fruticultura, Centro de Investigacion y Tecnologa Agroalimentariade Aragon (CITA), Av. Montanana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain

Additional index words. stone fruits, nematode resistance, Meloidogyne, Prunus, clonalpropagation

Abstract. Felinem, Garnem, and Monegro are three almond peach hybridrootstocks released to address the problems of Prunus growing in Mediterraneanconditions not solved by the presently available rootstocks. These new rootstocks arecharacterized by red leaves, good vigor, easy clonal propagation, resistance to root-knotnematodes, adaptation to calcareous soils and other Mediterranean agroecologicalconditions, and graft compatibility with the whole range of peach and almond cultivarsas well as some plum and apricot cultivars.

Stone fruit growing has limitations in theMediterranean area as a result of the preva-lence of calcareous soils, where most root-stocks show lime-induced chlorosis. Inaddition, the presence of root-knot nemato-des (Meloidogyne spp.) in many irrigatedorchards renders fruit growing extremelydifficult, especially after the ban on the useof methyl bromide for soil fumigation. Thus,the need for rootstocks to overcome theseshortcomings has become essential for grow-ing stone fruit in many regions, not just theMediterranean area (Felipe, 1989). Feli-nem, Garnem, and Monegro had beenreleased as potential rootstocks for severalstone fruit species that are grown in soilshaving these limitations.

Origin

These three clones were selected amongthe progeny obtained in the cross between theSpanish almond Garfi [Prunus amygdalusBatsch, syn. P. dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb] asthe female parent and the North Americanpeach Nemared [P. persica (L.) Batsch] asthe pollen donor. Garfi is an open-pollinatedseedling of Garrigues almond previouslyselected because of its good morphologicalcharacteristics and ease of clonal propagation(Felipe, 1992; Felipe et al., 1995). Nemared

was chosen mainly as a source for root-knotnematode resistance (Ramming and Tanner,1983). Selection of this progeny was carriedout at the then Servicio de InvestigacionAgraria de la Diputacion General de Aragon,now Centro de Investigacion y TecnologaAgroalimentaria de Aragon (CITA).

Description

Unbudded trees of Garnem, Felinem,and Monegro are vigorous and no differ-ences in size are noticeable between them.The vigor induced in grafted cultivars iscomparable to that induced by GF-677 orHansen 536 with a similar productivity.Nongrafted plants are vigorous and in thenursery exhibit an erect growth with little orno feathering during the first season (Felipe,1989). Leaves are red, big, lanceolate, andintermediate in morphology between almondand peach. Active growing shoots exhibit anintense redpurplish color similar to its maleparent, Nemared. Because the leavesmature during the growing season, they turnbrownish green to green. The first-yearshoots are straight with little or no lateralbranching. Shoots are green with red areasfrom which stem color turns to an intense andcontinuous redpurplish during winter dor-mancy. Internode length is medium to long(5 to 7 cm).

The three rootstocks bloom early, at thesame time as Nemared peach and Non-pareil almond, exhibiting similar low chill-ing requirements. Flowers are large (3.5 to4 cm), of the rosaceous type, with largepale pink petals. The flowers have between30 and 45 stamens and one pistil. Fruitsare small (4 to 5 cm in width) and roundedwith a pubescent epidermis. Fruits aregreen with reddish overtones. The mesocarpis thin, nonedible, and has a free stone orendocarp.

Despite their similar morphology andperformance, the three clones may be distin-guished by molecular markers (Serrano et al.,2002).

Resistances and Susceptibilities

Evaluation was conducted in Zaragozaand under other Mediterranean conditionssuch in the hotter climate of southern Spainand the mild climate of eastern Spain both inheavy and sandy soils. The three clones wereselected because of an important soil chem-ical limitation that is inherent in Mediterra-nean environments, which is tolerance to ironchlorosis (De la Guardia et al., 1995; Saidet al., 1993) as a result of alkaline soils (pH =8.0 to 8.5) that contain high levels of activelime (10% to 12%). Their level of toleranceto iron chlorosis is similar to that of GF-677and Adafuel (Felipe, 1989) with Felinemshowing the highest tolerance. They alsotolerate drought conditions well with a higherresistance to water stress in Monegro,mainly selected for almond in nonirrigatedconditions. Felinem and Garnem aremostly adapted to irrigated conditions. Adap-tation to poor soils is good if the soils are welldrained.

Incorporation of root-knot nematoderesistance was the primary breeding objec-tive to replace several widespread nematodesusceptible almond peach hybrid rootstocksused for peach production in Spain, espe-cially in replant situations (Pinochet, 1997).All three rootstocks have a high level ofresistance to the main root-knot nematodespecies attacking Prunus, including Meloi-dogyne arenaria (Neal) Chitwood, M. haplaChitwood, M. hispanica Hirschmann, M.incognita (Kofoid and White) Chitwood,and M. javanica (Treub) Chitwood (Marullet al., 1991; Pinochet et al., 1996a, 1999). Thethree rootstocks were evaluated over severalyears with up to 13 root-knot nematode pop-ulations from different geographical areas ofthe world, showing all rootstocks a broadspectrum of resistance (Esmenjaud et al.,1997; Marull et al., 1994). In addition,Felinem shows a moderate resistance tothe root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus vul-nus (Pinochet et al., 2000). Resistance mech-anisms to nematode are determined byhypersensitive reactions (Marull et al.,1994). Partial resistance breaking may occurunder extreme heat conditions of mean soiltemperature over 35 C (Esmenjaud et al.,1996; Fernandez et al., 1993).

Like most almonds and almond peachhybrids, they exhibit a low tolerance to rootasphyxia caused by waterlogging and aresusceptible to crown gall caused by Agro-bacterium tumefaciens (unpublished data).Monegro and Garnem are also susceptibleto the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchusvulnus (Pinochet et al., 1996b).

Propagation and Compatibility

Garnem, Felinem, and Monegropropagate well by hardwood and herbaceouscuttings in aerated and well-drained soils(Gomez Aparisi et al., 2002). Best resultsfor hardwood cuttings are obtained in the fall.Cuttings are easily obtained thanks to the low

Received for publication 29 July 2008. Acceptedfor publication 23 Sept. 2008.The development of these rootstocks has involvedmany research projects from INIA as well as thecollaboration of department colleagues, the lateDr. M. Carrera, Dr. J. Gomez Aparisi, and Dr. R.Socias i Company, the nematode resistance evalu-ation of Dr. J. Pinochet (IRTA, Cabrils), and thetechnical assistance of J.M. Anson. I acknowledgethe help and comments from Drs. R. Socias iCompany, J. Pinochet, M.J. Rubio-Cabetas, andP. Errea.The contact for reprint requests is Rafael Socias iCompany; e-mail rsocias@aragon.es

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level of shoot branching. They also propagatevery well in vitro.

Nursery operations are facilitated by thelow presence of feathers and the red leaves aswell as by the long vegetative period of theplants, allowing the production of nurseryplants in a shorter period. The percentage ofbud take is high for all known peach, nectar-ine, and almond cultivars (personal commu-nication by different nurserymen).

These rootstocks have been selected pri-marily for almond and peach and haveexhibited total graft compatibility with numer-ous almond, peach, and nectarine cultivars asshown in the almond and peach germplasmcollections of the CITA, which maintain themost important Spanish and foreign cultivars(Carrera et al., 2002; Espiau et al., 2002). Theyare also compatible with some diploid plums(P. salicina Lindl. and related plums) such asSanta Rosa and Golden Japan. Compati-bility has also been observed with someapricot cultivars belonging to the more com-patible apricot group such as Paviot but notwith the apricot cultivars of the more exigentgroup such as Moniqu.

Availability

Felinem, Garnem, and Monegrohave been granted European CommunityPlant Variety Rights numbers 16366, 16363,and 16362, respectively. They are available tonurseries through commercial licenses byGeslive, A.I.E. (C. Juan de Mena 19-3-D,28014, Madrid, Spain).

Literature Cited

Carrera, M., R. Socias i Company, and M.T.Espiau. 2002. The Spanish germplasm bank

of almond, peach and pear. XXVI Int. Hort.Congr, Toronto, Canada.

De la Guardia, M.D., A.J. Felipe, E. Alcantara,J.M. Fournier, and F.J. Romera. 1995. Evalu-ation of experimental peach rootstocks grownin nutrient solutions for tolerance to iron stress,p. 201205. In: Abada, J. (ed.). Iron nutritionin soils and plants. Kluwer Acad. Publ., Dor-drecht, The Netherlands.

Esmenjaud, D., J.C. Minot, and D. Voisin. 1996.Effect of durable inoculum pressure and hightemperature on root galling, nematode numbersand survival of Myrobalan plum genotypes(Prunus cerasifera Ehr.) highly resistant toMeloidogyne spp. Fundam. Appl. Nematol. 19:8590.

Esmenjaud, D., J.C. Minot, R. Voisin, J. Pinochet,M.H. Simard, and G. Salesses. 1997. Differen-tial response to root-knot nematodes in Prunusspecies and correlative genetic implications.J. Nematol. 29:370380.

Espiau, M.T., J.M. Anson, and R. Socias i Com-pany. 2002. The almond germplasm bank ofZaragoza. Acta Hort. 591:275278.

Felipe, A.J. 1989. Patrones para frutales de pepita yhueso. Ed. Tecnicas Europeas, S.A. Barcelona,Spain.

Felipe, A.J. 1992. Aptitude pour la propagationchez lamandier Garrigues et sa descendence.Rap. EUR 14081:7379.

Felipe, A.J., J. Gomez-Aparisi, and R. Socias iCompany. 1995. Garfi: Una nueva variedadde almendro (P. amygdalus Batsch) seleccio-nada por su aptitud al enraizamiento. VI Congr.Nac. SECH, 102.

Fernandez, C., J. Pinochet, and A. Felipe. 1993.Influence of temperature on the expression ofresistance in six Prunus rootstocks infectedwith Meloidogyne incognita. Nematropica24:185202.

Gomez Aparisi, J., M. Carrera, A.J. Felipe, and R.Socias i Company. 2002. Garnem, Monegroy Felinem: Nuevos patrones hbridos almen-dro melocotonero resistentes a nematodos y

de hoja roja para frutales de hueso. Inf. Tecn.Econ. Agrar. 97V:282288.

Marull, J., J. Pinochet, A.J. Felipe, and J.L. Cenis.1994. Resistance verification in Prunus selec-tions to a mixture of 13 Meloidogyne isolatesand resistance mechanisms of a peachalmondhybrid to M. javanica. Fundam. Appl. Nematol.16:8592.

Marull, J., J. Pinochet, S. Verdejo, and A. Soler.1991. Reaction of Prunus rootstocks to Meloi-dogyne incognita and M. arenaria in Spain. J.Nematol. 23:564569.

Pinochet, J. 1997. Breeding and selection forresistance to root-knot and lesion nematodesin Prunus rootstocks adapted to Mediterraneanconditions. Phytoparasitica 25:271274.

Pinochet, J., M. Angles, E. Dalmau, C. Fernandez,and A. Felipe. 1996a. Prunus rootstock evalu-ation to root-knot and lesion nematodes inSpain. J. Nematol. 28:616623.

Pinochet, J., C. Fernandez, E. Alcaniz, and A.Felipe. 1996b. Damage by a lesion nematode,Pratylenchus vulnus, to Prunus rootstocks.Plant Dis. 80:754757.

Pinochet, J., C. Calvet, A. Hernandez Dorrego, A.Bonet, A. Felipe, and M. Moreno. 1999. Resis-tance of peach and plum rootstocks from Spain,France and Italy to root-knot nematode Meloi-dogyne javanica. HortScience 34:12591262.

Pinochet, J., C. Fernandez, C. Calvet, A. HernandezDorrego, and A.J. Felipe. 2000. Selectionagainst Pratylenchus vulnus populations attack-ing Prunus rootstocks. HortScience 35:13331337.

Ramming, D.W. and O. Tanner. 1983. Nemaredpeach rootstock. HortScience 18:376.

Said, A., A.J. Felipe, and J. Gomez-Aparisi. 1993.Patrones hbridos de almendro y melocotonero:Comportamiento en condiciones clorosantes.Actas Hort. 9:254261.

Serrano, B., J. Gomez-Aparisi, and J.I. Hormaza.2002. Molecular fingerprinting of Prunus root-stocks using SSRs. J. Hort. Sci. Biotechnol.77:368372.

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