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Self‐Incompatibility and Seed Set in Colchicine‐, Nitrous Oxide‐, and Sexually Derived Tetraploid Red Clover
Author(s) -
Meglic Vladimir,
Smith R. R.
Publication year - 1992
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/cropsci1992.0011183x003200050013x
Subject(s) - biology , inbreeding , ploidy , botany , colchicine , cultivar , agronomy , horticulture , population , genetics , demography , sociology , gene
Diploid red clover ( Trifolium pratense L.) is a self‐incompatible species, but some tetraploid forms exhibit a degree of self‐compatibility, which could introduce various levels of inbreeding in the tetraploid populations. This study describes self and cross seed set of nine tetraploid populations of red clover derived either sexually (unilateral or bilateral) or chemically (N 2 O or colchicine). Estimates of self fertility, reported as seeds per self pollination, were determined in the greenhouse. Root tips were examined for chromosome number to ensure ploidy level. Cross seed set (grams per head) was determined on plants in the field. The hierarchical design was used to analyze the data. Bilaterally derived populations produced significantly less seed per self (0.02) than unilaterally (0.12), colchicine‐ (0.14), or N 2 O‐derived (0.08) populations. The unilaterally derived populations produced the greatest cross seed per head (0.09 g head ‒1 ) and total seed per plant (4.90 g plant −1 ). Self seed set had a little relationship to cross seed production. The ability to set self seed seems to be a function of the number of common S alleles per plant, a high degree of self seed being observed on plants with at least two alleles in common.