Summary
Pollen mixtures with two components, one of which carried a dominant marker gene for red or white bulb skin colour, were used to pollinate flowers on onion umbels from several cultivars. Scoring progenies for the marker revealed that pollen components differed in their ability to effect fertilization, suggesting that gametophytic competition can occur in onions. In many cases, self-pollen appeared to have a competitive advantage over cross-pollen. Both of the male components and the female parent played a part in determining the final ratio obtained from a mixed pollination.
Crossed seeds were slightly but significantly heavier than selfed seeds in nine out of ten umbels studied.
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Currah, L. Pollen competition in onion (Allium cepa L.). Euphytica 30, 687–696 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00038797
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00038797