Abstract: In order to evaluate the capacity of Chistock 1 on resistance to low iron stress，this experiment was conducted on the phenotypic，physiological and biochemical characteristics of 2-year-old Golden Delicious/Chistock 1（GD/Cs）under different iron conditions of 0，4，10，20，30 or 40 μmol ? L-1 Fe-EDTA. Compared to Golden Delicious/Malus baccata（GD/Mb），GD/Cs at 30 μmol ? L-1 Fe showed no chlorosis in the whole growth period，and had no significant differences at Fe levels between the normal concentration（40 μmol ? L-1）and low Fe stress（30 μmol ? L-1）on shoot growth，leaf area，young leaf chlorophyll，photosynthetic rate，or active iron content. Furthermore，at 0 to 20 μmol ? L-1 Fe，GD/Cs showed much slighter chlorosis than GD/Mb. However，GD/Mb showed severe chlorosis after 15 days at 30 μmol ? L-1 Fe，and reduced leaf area with shoot tip dieback from 0 to 20 μmol ? L-1 Fe in autumn growth stage. Thus，the experiment lead a preliminary conclusion that Golden Delicious can grow normally under long-term low iron stress on rootstock of Chistock 1.

Key words: apple, rootstock, low iron stress, growth and development