ISHS Acta Horticulturae 586: IV International Symposium on Olive Growing
POLLEN VIABILITY IN SEVERAL 'ARBEQUINA' OLIVE OIL CLONES |
| Authors: | M. Rovira, J. Tous |
| Keywords: | olive, ¿Arbequina¿, pollen, FCR test |
| Abstract:
'Arbequina' is an olive oil cultivar with good agronomic and technological characteristics. This variety has been found to be self-fertile in many studies. A clonal selection of ‘Arbequina’ olive population was started in 1986 in Catalonia (north-east of Spain); the most promising trees were pre-selected and in 1992 they were included in a comparative trial at IRTA-Centre de Mas Bové (Reus, Tarragona), where their flowering aspects and agronomic and commercial characters are being evaluated. Pollen quality studies of 20 'Arbequina' clones were carried out for two years (1998 and 1999). Pollen samples were collected at blooming time and their quality was tested by the fluorocromatic procedure (FCR), which principally tests the integrity of the plasmalema of the vegetative cell. Since this integrity seems to be closely correlated with viability, the FCR provides an effective method for assessing pollen quality. Results showed that pollen viability of all ‘Arbequina’ cultivar clones analysed was enough to guarantee a good pollination. Nevertheless, significant differences in pollen viability among them were detected, from 27 % to 63 % in 1998 and from 37 % to 79 % in 1999. Interaction between clones and year was also significant. Three categories were established according to pollen viability: high (>45 %), medium (25-44 %) and low (<25 %) in 1998, and high (>58 %), medium (25-57 %) and low (<25 %) in 1999. There was not any clone with low pollen viability detected in the study. | |
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