[cwkoss]

I wonder to what extent cuttings are effected by these epigenetic memories?

Ex.

- Grow plant A. Expose it to stimuli to make it form a 'memory'

- Take a cutting from plant A and root it, making plant B.

- Test plant B for response to the stimulus.

Does plant B have the memory? If so, how many cutting-generations does it take for the memory to decay?

[seszett]

There's probably no reason cuttings should be different than a whole plant as they don't have any fundamental difference. Unless the roots themselves have an importance in the process (since the cuttings will then grow new "inexperienced" roots) but I doubt it.

I'm more intrigued by what would happen with grafts.

Does rootstock transmit memories ("memories") to a scion, does a scion transmit memories to rootstock, does it work with interspecific grafts, does it work with intergeneric grafts? Do multiple scions transmit memories between each other?

[pvaldes]

> There's probably no reason cuttings should be different than a whole plant

Its uncommon, but it happens sometimes... and there can be in fact a fundamental difference: different hormone gradient. A well known case is with ivy. If you take cuttings on flowered stems of common ivy, the new plants retain the rombic leaf shape typical of reproductive stems and the effect last for the life of this first leaves. The ivy born from seeds do not have this rombic leaves until many years later, when they mature.

> Does rootstock transmit "memories" to a scion

Not, because memories are stored in neurons and plants do not have this, but is a well known fact also that rootstock can change the scion behaviour (for example improving the sugar in fruits and advancing the age of first maturation). If you change 'memories' by 'chemicals', the answer could be yes, of course. It depends on the definition of what could be loosely called as 'memory' in a plant.

[hluska]

That's very interesting and I'm going to search for answers to this! Thanks for this comment.