Fig. 4

Proposed inter-graft signalling in 3 month-post grafted avocado trees - leaves on the rootstock contribute to graft-signalling. Intact leaves in the rootstock affect transcript abundance in the scion: a avocado grafts with leaves on rootstock, where miR172 and PaTPS1 were upregulated. On the other hand, removing leaves results in an increase in miR156 abundance and downregulation of miR172/PaTPS1 in the scion b avocado grafts without leaves on clonal rootstock. This suggests a possibility of leaf-regulated graft transmissibility of signals affecting miR156, miR172 and TPS1 transcript abundance in the scion