Artificial pollination in <i>Vitis coignetiae</i> Pulliat

Abstract

Artificial pollination experiments were conducted on female vines of Vitis coignetiae and the effects of pollen variety and pollination methods on pollen tube growth were analyzed. Pollination by dusting pure pollen from Muscat of Alexandria (V. vinifera), Cabernet Sauvignon (V. vinifera), Campbell Early (V. vinifera x V. labrusca) and male V. coignetiae vines resulted in a large number of pollen tubes penetrating the stigma and an average of more than four tubes per pistil reached the micropyles. Dry pollinations with pollen from Muscat of Alexandria diluted in powdered milk or Lycopodium spores at the proportion of 1:2 or 1:10 (pollen : diluent w/w) resulted in pistils with ca. 140 to 250 pollen grains on the stigma. Forty to 60 pollen tubes per pistil penetrated the style and foils or more pollen tubes reached micropyles in all treatments. Clusters sprayed with or dipped in a 10 % sucrose solution containing 0.1, 0.5 or 1.0 g pollen/l produced stigmas with an average of 5.2 to 38.5 pollen grains. Pollen germination was poor both for spray and dipping treatments and less than one pollen tube per pistil reached micropyles for any of the pollen concentration used.