Analysis of pollen germination performance of pistachio hybrids and their male parents

Abstract

This study was carried out at the hybrid pistachio plot of the Pistachio Research Institute, Turkey. Pollen of pistachio hybrids, by hybridizations of Kallahghochi, Siirt and Ohadi female cvs and Uygur, Atli and Kaska male cvs, was used in the study. The study compared the pollen germination percentage and pollen tube length of some pistachio male cvs with their offspring and showed that pollen germination of male parents was generally higher than that of their hybrids, except for Siirt × Uygur. The highest pollen germination percentage among the all hybrids and their male parents was obtained from Siirt × Uygur-Hybrid-2 (98.89%) and followed by Siirt × Kaska-Hybrid-2 (97.85%), which showed rather high pollen germination rates, while Siirt × Atli-Hybrid-2 had the lowest pollen germination (82.41%). The pollen tube length of the genotypes ranged from 680 µm (Ohadi × Kaska-Hybrid-3) to 1210 µm (Kallahghochi × Atli-Hybrid-1 and 2) and pollen tube development of Uygur was lower than of their offspring. In terms of pollen performance, Siirt × Kaska-Hybrid-2 was determined as the best F1 hybrid. The results of the study suggest that pollen germination and pollen tube growth may indicate pollinator performance of hybrid pistachio trees.