Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Nutritional disorders in temperate fruit trees like apples (Malus domestica) occur due to the deficiency or toxicity of essential macro- and micro-nutrients.
Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient that plays a critical role as an enzyme activator and is required for the biosynthesis of the plant hormone auxin (IAA).
Auxin is responsible for cell division and internodal elongation.
A deficiency in zinc restricts auxin synthesis, leading to shortened internodes and stunted leaf expansion.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Statement (I) is true:
Zinc deficiency in apples leads to a characteristic symptom known as “Rosette” or “Little Leaf” disease.
Because auxin levels are low, the internodes of the young shoots fail to elongate properly.
This stunting causes the leaves to develop in a crowded, clustered whorl at the terminal ends of branches, resembling a rose flower (hence “rosette”).
The leaves themselves remain small, narrow, thick, and often display interveinal chlorosis.
Statement (II) is false:
These rosette symptoms do not first appear on summer growth.
Instead, they are most pronounced and appear first on the new spring growth.
In early spring, when active vegetative bud break and rapid shoot elongation take place, the demand for zinc and auxin is highest.
If the soil or plant zinc levels are inadequate, the early spring flush fails to elongate, and the terminal rosette becomes immediately visible.
During the mid-to-late summer, the plant's growth rate slows, and some latent zinc may be translocated, occasionally masking or diluting the symptoms on later summer flushes.
Therefore, Statement (I) is correct while Statement (II) is incorrect.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Thus, the correct choice is that Statement (I) is true but Statement (II) is false.