Abstract: Aimed to screen the drought\|endurable rootstocks, using pot experiments, different rootstocks (Benxishanying, Laiyangaiying, Daqingye and Colt) grafted with sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) were analyzed for the physiological responds to drought stress. With the increasing level of drought stress and prolonging of duration time, the content of H2O2 and O-2 of four rootstocks showed a straight increase trend, meanwhile, significant increases were also observed in the contents of proline and the permeability of plasma membrane. However, the increases of those indexes greatly differed among the four grafted seedlings with different rootstocks, the biggest increase was observed in the seedling grafted on Colt rootstock and the smallest increase occurred in the seedlings grafted on Benxishanying rootstock. The changes of praline content showed opposite trends. A comprehensive evaluation on drought resistance was given based on membership function analysis. The results indicated that the order of drought resistance from high to low was Benxishanying, Laiyangaiying, Daqingye and Colt．

Key words: cherry, rootstock, drought resistance, reactive oxygen species, membership function analysis