ISHS Acta Horticulturae 716: VII International Protea Research Symposium
EMBRYO RESCUE OF INTERSECTIONAL AND INTERSUBSECTIONAL HYBRIDS IN LEUCADENDRON |
| Authors: | H. Liu, G. Yan, R. Sedgley |
| Keywords: | plant breeding, interspecific hybridisation, Proteaceae |
| Abstract:
To meet the market demand for high quality cut flowers of Leucadendron, interspecific crosses were used to try to combine useful qualities of different wild species. In this study, 24 interspecific cross combinations of eight female genotypes from seven species and four male genotypes from three species were hand-pollinated in the 2003 flowering season. Flower heads were collected at 10, 20, 40 and 80 days after pollination. Embryos or whole ovules were dissected from the fruits and rescued in MS medium. The results showed that hybrid embryos of some Leucadendron species could be rescued as early as 40 days after pollination. Rescued young embryos could develop into plantlets in MS medium. Pollen-pistil interaction observations indicated that pre-zygotic barriers might also exist for some cross combinations. Chromosome numbers of 11 species, not previously reported, were found to be 2n=26, the same as for other species observed. | |
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