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Fertility of Eight Bermudagrass Clones and Open‐Pollinated Progeny from Them 1
Author(s) -
Richardson W. L.,
Taliaferro C. M.,
Abring R. M.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1978.0011183x001800020035x
Subject(s) - biology , cynodon dactylon , open pollination , clone (java method) , fertility , progeny testing , cynodon , genetic gain , selfing , botany , zoology , agronomy , horticulture , genetic variation , pollen , pollination , selection (genetic algorithm) , genetics , population , artificial intelligence , sociology , gene , computer science , demography , dna
We determined the percent of open‐pollinated (OP) seed set for eight bermudagtass ( Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.) clones and for 420 of their OP progeny in 1969 and 1970, respectively. After selecting 30 of the most fertile of the 420 progeny, we determined their percent of OP and self‐pollinated (SP) seed set for 3 and 2 years, respectively. Objectives of the studies were to characterize the seed‐set potential of the clones and their progeny, thereby estimating the variation that exists among bermudagrass genotypes for cross and self‐fertility, and to provide information pertinent to the genetic improvement of bermudagrass seed production. The OP seed set was significantly different (P < 0.01) among the eight clones, ranging from 2.8 to 43.2%. Seed set of the 420 OP progeny ranged from 0 to 78.8%. Mean OP seed set of progeny families paralleled rather closely that of the maternal parent. Standard deviations for OP fertility of progeny clones increased as the OP fertility of the maternal clone increased. The 30 selected clones differed significantly in both OP and SP seed set each test year and for the combined averages. The seed set percentages averaged over clones differed significantly between years for OP but not SP seed set. The year ✕ clone interaction was not significant for either OP or SP seed set. The OP seed set of the 30 progeny clones averaged over 3 years ranged from 15 to 57%, most values being considerably lower than the initial ones used as indices for their selection. The 2‐year averages for SP seed set ranged from 0.10 to 8.09%. The selffertility of 24 of the clones was, however, less than 1%.