ISHS Acta Horticulturae 484: Eucarpia Symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics
SEED DORMANCY AND BUD BREAK OF APPLE SEEDLINGS |
| Authors: | E. Pauwels, R. Eyssen, J. Keulemans |
| Keywords: | Malus, seed germination, bud dormancy, stratification, fruit breeding |
| Abstract:
Our aim was to investigate whether selection on seed germination properties can be used in apple breeding. Therefore we investigated relations between seed dormancy, bud dormancy, bud break, flowering time and ripening time of fruits. Seeds were isolated from stored fruits after 5 weeks. They were stratified at 3.5°C, a temperature that allows germination. In one experiment, seeds from open pollinated flowers of several cultivars were used. A clear influence of cultivar was shown in the time of seed germination, but, surprisingly, late-ripening cultivars showed earlier germination than early ripening ones. In a second experiment, germination of seeds from ‘Braeburn’, ‘Gala’, ‘Fuji’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ pollinated with ‘Idared’, ‘Maypole’ and ‘Vanda’ was compared. The female parent influenced the time of seed germination while the pollinator parent had little affect. Again, seeds from late-ripening cultivars germinated earlier. Data on bud break of seedlings from early-, mid- and late-germinated seeds were recorded during this spring but the differences in time of bud break among genotypes were small and thus there was no significant correlation with seed germination. | |
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