Effect of rooting preparations on protein, chlorophyll and carotenoid content in leaves of Rosa gallica 'Duchesse d'Angouleme' cuttings

Popularisation of historical rose cultivars is important for overall increase of biodiversity within currently available assortment, however their vegetative propagation is rather difficult. Possible scenario behind it is that commonly used one-bud leafy cuttings have limited storage capacity due to the small size of the stem. We hypothesised that the treatment of cuttings this rose with rooting preparations would positively affect on the condition of their leaves. We tested the effect of preparations based on seaweed extracts (Bio Rhizotonic, Root Juice, Bio Roots) as well as commonly used root stimulants (Ukorzeniacz Aaqua and Ukorzeniacz Baqua containing 0,4% IBA or 0,2% NAA respectively) on the viability potential of the Rosa ‘Duchesse d’Angoulême’ cuttings. We have monitored the senescence process in leaves by the total soluble protein, chlorophyll and carotenoid content measurements. In order to test the potential effect of the mother plant and timing of shoots acquirement cuttings for the experiment were taken from mother plants at four different maturity stages (flower buds closed; all flowers open; just after petal fall and 7–14 days after petal fall). As expected the amount of the measured components in mother plants varied in individual phases of shoot maturity. This feature influenced the positive effect of rooting stimulants on cuttings viability. The most striking effects were in rooted cuttings derived from shoots collected just after flower petal fall. Observed increase in soluble protein and chlorophyll content did not correlate however with the percentage of obtained rooted cuttings. Based on that we can speculate that the biological basis of observed positive effect of natural rooting preparations on the ‘Duchesse d’Angoulême’ rose is complex and does not rely on the delay or inhibition of senescence process.