GENE FLOW BY POLLEN TO “LEMON BERGOMOT” PEAR CULTIVAR USING ISOZYME MARKERS

Study of gene flow using pollen provides genetic knowledge to orchardists, and could help determine the suitable pollinizer to improve fruit set, seed set and fruit shape on the receptive cultivar.
A series of experiments were conducted in a pear orchard located in Adelaide’s hills (South Australia) to understand which pollinizer had more gene flow to ‘Lemon Bergomot’. Testing of probable genetic selection during abscission of ‘Lemon Bergomot’ fruits was another aim of this study.
Two pollinizers were used in this study namely; ‘Josephine’ and ‘Packham’s Triumph’. Frequency of seed number was used to understand the rate of cross pollination in both retained and abscised fruits of ‘Lemon Bergomot’. Two isozyme phenotype markers in GPI and ADH systems applied to distinguish the traces of pollen parents in the random seeds of ‘Lemon Bergomot’ fruits.
Result of this work indicated 60% percentage of total abscised fruits had 4 or less seeds while more than 70% of retained fruits averaged 4 to 7 seed per fruit.
Results of isozyme analysis showed pollen of ‘Packham’s Triumph’ had quite more gene flow to ‘Lemon Bergomot’ in comparison with ‘Josephine’. Furthermore, results of isozyme seed analysis for both the groups seeds of retained and abscised fruits showed a similar phenotypic isozyme pattern.
This indicated that there was no genetic selection during abscission of ‘Lemon Bergomot’ fruits.

VIII International Symposium on Pear

M. Sharifani, J.F. Jackson

“Lemon Bergomot” pear, pollination, gene flow, isozyme, pear, Pyrus communis

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2002.596.19