Results
Plant water statusSeedling under control conditions maintained RWC leaf valuesabove 90% during the experiment (Fig. 1). The presence of PEG in thenutrient solution reduced the RWC of the leaves (Fig. 1). At T1 this
effect was more dramatically observed at 7% PEG, and the ungraftedcultivar was the most sensitive (37%; Fig. 1A). The 12/cultivar and14/cultivar plants were less affected (70% and 68%, respectively;P < 0.05). After 14 days (T2) RWC fell, even at 3.5% PEG (Fig. 1B).The ungrafted plants, as well as the 5/cultivar and 8/cultivar plantshad lower RWC values at 80% (P < 0.05). These genotypes showedthe lowest reductions at 7% PEG (Fig. 1B), and the ungrafted plantshad the lowest RWC values (35%), followed by the 5/cultivar and8/cultivar plants (P < 0.05). The 12/cultivar and 14/cultivar plantsmaintained RWC values near 90% under 3.5% PEG without signifi-cant differences with respect to their controls and between 63 and65% at 7% PEG, respectively (P < 0.05).