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Comparison of different pollen viability assays to evaluate pollen fertility of potato dihaploids

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Summary

The main obstacle in breeding potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) dihaploids is the severe limitation of male fertility. To determine pollen viability assays that correlate well to fertility in crosses, results of five different pollen viability assays were compared by correlation analysis with fruit and seed set characters in test crosses, and to pollen tube growth in situ (PL-test). The methods used were: staining the pollen cells with carmino acetic acid (CAA-test); in vitro pollen germination (PG-test); and detection of pollen staining rates after incubation with fluoresceine diacetate (FDA-test), 2-3-5-triphenyle tetrazolium chloride (TTC-test), and 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyle-β-galactoside (X-Gal-test).

The results of test crosses and pollen tube growth in situ correlated with the results of all other assays with the following ranking, from highest to lowest: enzyme activity assays (X-Gal-test, FDA-test, TTC-test), in vitro pollen germination (PG-test), and pollen staining by CAA. The newly developed X-Gal-test for monitoring β-galactosidase activity showed the least variation of all assays investigated. Thus, this highly reproducible simple procedure is recommended for male fertility screening.

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Abbreviations

B/F:

Berries obtained per 100 flowers

CAA:

Carmino acetic acid

FDA:

Fluoresceine diacetate

PG:

Pollen germination rate in vitro

PL:

Pollen tube growth in situ

S/B:

Seeds per berry

S/F:

Seeds per pollinated flower

TTC:

2-3-5-triphenyle tetrazolium chloride

X-Gal:

5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyle-β-galactoside

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  1. Bodo R. Trognitz

    Present address: International Potato Center (CIP), Apartado 5969, Lima, Peru

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  1. Institute of Potato Research, Gross-Luesewitz, Germany

    Bodo R. Trognitz

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Trognitz, B.R. Comparison of different pollen viability assays to evaluate pollen fertility of potato dihaploids. Euphytica 56, 143–148 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042057

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