New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science
abstracts
Apricot (Prunus armeniaca) pollen morphological characterisation through
scanning electron microscopy, using multivariate analysis
K. Arzani
Department of Horticultural Science
Faculty of Agriculture
Tarbiat Modarres University
P.O. Box 14155 336
Tehran, Iran
email: arzani_k@modares.ac.ir
M. A. Nejatian
Qazvin Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Centre
Qazvin, Iran
G. Karimzadeh
Department of Plant Breeding
Faculty of Agriculture
Tarbiat Modarres University
P.O. Box 14155 336
Tehran, Iran
Abstract Pollen grains of 11 Iranian apricot (Prunus armeniaca)
cultivars were examined, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Pollen was
collected in the 2002 growing season from mature apricot trees grown in The
Apricot Collection Orchard, Ismailabad Horticultural Research Station, Qazvin,
Iran. For SEM evaluation, pollen grains were observed and photographed at 1000× for
whole grain and at 10 000× for sectioning of exine pattern (surface
topography). The length (L) and the width (W) of grain, L/W ratio, distance
between two furrows and the width of ridges in elliptical pollen, and the base,
the altitude and the width of grain and ridges in triangular pollen were measured.
Substantial variability in the size, shape, and exine patterns among pollen
grains was clearly distinguished. The apricot cultivars were easily separated
into two groups according to their pollen grain shapes: (1) elliptical trizonocolpate
(five cultivars); and (2) obtuse-triangular (six cultivars). The pollen grains
of all studied apricot cultivars were medium in size: 51.32 × 25.51 µm(length × width)
for the elliptical shape, and for the triangular shapes: 39.03 × 31.22 µm
(base × altitude). The resultant data from the two types of pollen shapes
were analysed using completely randomised design (CRD) with unequal replications.
Moreover, multivariate statistical analysis was carried out to distinguish
morphometric information from measured parameters of the two pollen grain shapes.
The projections of the loadings defined by the first two principal components
allowed for the visualisation of the position of apricot cultivars, demonstrating
between-cultivar-pollen shape variations. Hence, the differences in both exine
pattern and surface topography, in particular ridges and pore characteristics,
can potentially be used as a diagnostic tool to aid in the identification of
apricot cultivars.
Keywords apricot;
Prunus armeniaca; exine pattern; pollen
morphology; scanning electron microscopy
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 2005, Vol. 33:
381–388
0014–0671/05/3304–0381 © The Royal
Society of New Zealand 2005
H05027; Online publication date 9 November 2005
Received 11 March 2005; accepted 17 May 2005
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