6533b7d6fe1ef96bd126598d
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Pollen‐tube growth rate and seed‐siring success among Betula pendula clones
A. BlomP. PulkkinenMarkku KäpyläH. L. Pasonensubject
Betulaceaeeducation.field_of_studybiologyPhysiologymedia_common.quotation_subjectPopulationfood and beveragesPlant Sciencebiology.organism_classificationmedicine.disease_causeCompetition (biology)HorticultureBetula pendulaPollenBotanyotorhinolaryngologic diseasesmedicinePollen tubeeducationSeed orchardFertilisationmedia_commondescription
The aim of this study was to investigate whether genetically different pollen donors (Betula pendula clones) differed in pollen-tube growth rate across 11 maternal plants and in vitro, and whether the differences between the donors were consistent across the recipients. To compare the seed-siring success of competing pollen donors, a two-donor hand-pollination experiment with six donors and six recipients was conducted. The experiments were performed at a plastic-house seed orchard. The donors showed significant variation in pollen-tube growth rate on all the 11 recipients. The rankings of the pollen donors were statistically consistent across different maternal plants. A significant positive correlation between pollen tube growth in vivo and in vitro was found. The seed-siring success of two competing pollen donors was unequal in 20 of 29 cases and there was a significant positive correlation between seed-siring success and pollen-tube growth rate in vivo and in vitro. The results show that fertilizations are not random and pollen competition operates in a B. pendula seed orchard population.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-08-01 | New Phytologist |