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Occurrence of viable unreduced pollen in a Begonia collection

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Abstract

Polyploidy is widespread in plants and has played a major role in the evolution and diversification of the plant kingdom. Unreduced (2n) gametes are an interesting tool for polyploidisation and the creation of genetic variation in plant breeding. Especially in ornamentals, polyploidisation can broaden attractive features within a species. A Begonia collection was screened on the occurrence of 2n pollen with the aid of four different techniques: pollen size measurement, flow cytometric analysis of nuclei isolated from germinated and non germinated pollen, investigation of the microsporogenesis and analysis of progeny. In ten of the 70 screened genotypes (B. dregei, B. pearcei, B. ‘Anna Christina’, B. ‘Bubbles’, B. ‘Florence Rita’, B. ‘Orococo’, B. ‘Rubaiyat’, B. ‘Spatflacier’, B. ‘Tamo’ and B276), large pollen were observed with a rather spherical than normal ellipsoidal shape. Flow cytometric data proved that these aberrantly shaped pollen were associated with 2n ploidy levels, although they were not always viable. Meiotic aberrations in these large pollen producers resulted mainly in dyads although also monads, triads and polyads were observed. Successful crosses were obtained with B. dregei, B. ‘Orococo’, and B276 as pollinators; DNA content had increased in all or a part of the progeny. The results show that the occurrence of 2n pollen is not a rare phenomenon in Begonia.

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Acknowledgment

The authors want to thank the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO) and IWT-Flanders (project 40696) for supplying financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ILVO, Plant Unit, Applied Genetics and Breeding, Caritasstraat 21, 9090, Melle, Belgium

    Angelo Dewitte, Tom Eeckhaut, Johan Van Huylenbroeck & Erik Van Bockstaele

  2. Department for Plant Production, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Erik Van Bockstaele

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  1. Angelo Dewitte
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  2. Tom Eeckhaut
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  3. Johan Van Huylenbroeck
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  4. Erik Van Bockstaele
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Correspondence to Johan Van Huylenbroeck.

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Dewitte, A., Eeckhaut, T., Van Huylenbroeck, J. et al. Occurrence of viable unreduced pollen in a Begonia collection. Euphytica 168, 81–94 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-009-9891-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-009-9891-x

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