A Study on Juvenility and Nodal Aging of Papaya by Vegetative Propagation

Abstract

Rejuvenation traits in papaya (Carica papaya L.) 'Taino No.2' were studied in relation to the number of leaf lobes, and leaf and internodal lengths, depending on the nodal orders. Papaya consistently differentiated new nodes at definite intervals, the number of differentiated nodes corresponds with the age (days of culture). Likewise, the number of leaf lobes increased with node height. The relationships between leaf and internodal lengths with nodal orders were straight lines with considerable variation, whereas that between the number of leaf lobes and nodal orders were close and curvilinear. However, with rooted cuttings, the number of leaf lobes varied, depending on the nodal order of the mother plants from which the cuttings were taken, indicating that the age of the mother plants was reflected by the young derivatives. The number of leaf lobes in cultured plantlets closely approximated that of seedlings regardless of the nodal order from which original cuttings were obtained. Hence, it seems that cultured plantlets revert to the juvenile seedling stage. The number of leaf lobes that reflects the age of young papaya plants, is useful for estimating their juvenile status during their growth and development.