The effect of genotype and temperature interaction on pollen performance in the pistils of autochthonous sour cherry cultivar 'Feketicka'

Abstract

The study of pollen performance in vivo in the pistils of autochthonous sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) cultivar 'Feketicka' under different pollination modes was conducted. The experiment included self-and cross-pollination with sour cherry cultivars 'Cigancica', 'Cacanski Rubin', 'erdi Botermo' and 'Majurka', sweet cherry cultivars 'Early Star' and 'Newstar' as well as open pollination variant. The results were considered in the context of agroecological conditions of Vojvodina Province of the Republic of Serbia, which is typical of 'Feketicka' sour cherry growing. The impact of variability factors on pollen tube growth efficiency manifested as an overlapping effect of polliniser genotype, its requirement for flowering temperatures, the influence of female genotype on pollen performance and the response of male-female relations to air temperature. With less than 6% of fruit set after selfing, 'Feketicka' can be classified as a partially self-compatible. Among the investigated pollinisers for 'Feketicka', the best performance was shown by 'Cigancica', whereas 'Cacanski Rubin' and 'erdi Botermo' showed the lowest parameters of pollen tubes growth in vivo, so they are not recommended as pollinisers. Considering the air temperature during the flowering, 'Feketicka' displayed the opposite behaviour, preferring higher/lower temperatures as polliniser/pollinated cultivar, respectively.