ISSN 2375-091X
African Journal of Tropical Agriculture Vol. 1 (1), pp. 001-006, September, 2013. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Banana nectar as a medium for testing pollen viability and germination in Musa
Moses Nyine1 and Michael Pillay*2
1International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), P.O Box 7878, Kampala, Uganda.
2Vaal University of Technology Private Bag X 021 Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].
Accepted 4 September, 2013
Abstract
A quick and reliable method for evaluating pollen quality is essential in a breeding program, especially in a crop such as banana that is characterized by high male and female sterility. In this study the germination and viability of banana pollen was evaluated in a sucrose solution and diluted banana nectar. Twenty banana accessions were used to evaluate pollen germination in the two media after 3 and 24 h. Nineteen genotypes (95%) showed significantly higher pollen germination potential (PGP) in diluted nectar than in 3% sucrose solution. The accession TMB2x 8075 - 7 showed no significant pollen germination in nectar and sucrose. Eleven genotypes (55%) showed significant increase in pollen germination by increasing the time of incubation whereas pollen germination for nine genotypes (45%) was not affected by increase in incubation time. Nectar from different banana clones influenced pollen germination suggesting a genotype effect for pollen germination in Musa.
Key words: Banana, pollen germination, sucrose solution, diluted nectar.