Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4567736 | Scientia Horticulturae | 2012 | 4 Pages |
To find out the possibilities of propagation by selfing and production of pure lines through anther culture, pollen fertility and seed fertility were investigated in three functional male-sterile lines of eggplant developed by continuous backcross method using wild Solanum species Solanum kurzii, Solanum violaceum and Solanum virginianum as a cytoplasm donor and Solanum melongena ‘Uttara’ as a nucleus donor. Pollen fertility was assessed by pollen stainability in acetocarmine, in Lugol's solution and in vitro germination rate of pollen at three different stages of pollen maturation, such as, 2 days before anthesis, at anthesis and 2 days after anthesis. Pollen stainability with acetocarmine and in vitro germination rate of pollen in all three stages of pollen maturation were comparatively lower in the male-sterile lines. Pollen stainability with Lugol's solution revealed that, the low pollen fertility of the male-sterile lines would be caused by incomplete degradation of starch during pollen maturation. The male-sterile lines showed high percentage of fruit set with large number of seeds in the fruits obtained from selfing. Our results confirm that, it is possible to propagate the male-sterile lines by selfing and to produce pure male-sterile lines through anther culture.
► Pollen and seed fertility of three functional male-sterile eggplants were investigated during pollen maturation. ► Pollen fertility of the male-sterile lines was low but seed fertility was high both in selfing and backcrossing. ► The low pollen fertility was caused by the incomplete starch degradation during pollen maturation.