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Influence of temperature on the in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube growth of various native Iranian almonds (Prunus L. spp.) species

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Abstract

Pollen germination and pollen tube growth was quantified among various native Iranian wild almonds (P. dulcis (Mill.) D. A. Webb, P. eleaegnifolia Mill., P. orientalis Mill., P. lycioides Spach, P. reuteri Bioss. et Bushe, P. arabica Olivier, P. glauca Browick and P. scoparia Spach in order to identify differences in the tolerance of pollen to temperature variations. Pollen germination and pollen tube growth were observed after incubation in darkness in a germination medium for 24 h at 10–50°C at 5°C intervals. Maximum pollen germination of the wild almond species and specify that 60% was obtained for P. orientalis pollen and 98% for P. scoparia. Pollen tube length ranged from 860 μm was obtained in P. lycioides and 1490 μm in P. scoparia. A modified bilinear model best described the response to temperature of pollen germination and pollen tube length. Almond species variation was found for cardinal temperatures (T min, T opt and T max) of pollen germination percentage and pollen tube growth. Mean cardinal temperatures averaged over eight almond species were 14.7, 24.2, and 43.7°C for maximum percentage pollen germination and 14.48, 25.3, and 44.4 °C for maximum pollen tube length. The principal component analysis (PCA) identified maximum percentage pollen germination and pollen tube length of the species, and T max for the two processes as the most important pollen parameters in describing a species tolerance to high temperature. PCA also classified Prunus L. spp. into four groups according to the tolerance of pollen to temperature variations. The T min and T opt for pollen germination and tube growth, rate of pollen tube growth were less predictive in discriminating species for high temperature tolerance.

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Acknowledgments

The authors offer grateful thanks to Shahrekord University for financial assistance, as well as to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center of Shahrekord for access of various wild species of almond trees. We are grateful to Ms. Kh. chenaneh-Hanoni for her kind help in undertaking this study.

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  1. Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, P.O. Box 115, Iran

    Karim Sorkheh, Behrouz Shiran, Vahid Rouhi & Mahmood Khodambashi

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  1. Karim Sorkheh
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Sorkheh, K., Shiran, B., Rouhi, V. et al. Influence of temperature on the in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube growth of various native Iranian almonds (Prunus L. spp.) species. Trees 25, 809–822 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0557-7

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