Determination of the Most Suitable Pollinizer for the New Sweet Cherry Genotype 'G-1'

Abstract

The new sweet cherry genotype 'G-1' is a chance seedling that was discovered in Grocka near Belgrade. It ripens 2 to 3 days after 'Biggareau Burlat' and has large red fruits (around 10 g) of medium firmness. The main disadvantage of the genotype 'G-1' is self-incompatibility. In this paper, the fertilization process when cross-pollinated with different pollinizers ('Biggareau Burlat', 'Early Lyons', 'Seneca', 'Emperor Francis', 'Van' and 'Bing') was observed by fluorescent microscopy. Growth of pollen tubes through upper, middle and lower third of the style and through locule, micropyle and nucellus was observed the second, fourth and sixth day after pollination. Results of this study showed that the average number of pollen tubes that reached the ovary was highest when 'Emperor Francis' (0.42%) was the pollen donor. The highest pollen tube penetration in the locule during the fourth day after pollination was observed with 'Emperor Francis' (34.6% of pistils) as pollinizer and the lowest with 'Biggareau Burlat' (10.3% of pistils). Pollen tube penetration in the micropyle, during the sixth day after pollination, was the lowest when 'Biggareau Burlat' (3.6% of pistils) was the pollinizer and highest when cross-pollinated with 'Emperor Francis' (14.8% of pistils). The results showed that the most suitable pollinizer for the new sweet cherry genotype 'G-1' was the cultivar 'Emperor Francis'.