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 Printable version |
Production of date palm (Phœnix dactylifera L.) fruit and diploid embryos following gibberellic acid treatment of unpollinated female inflorescences |
Cahiers Agricultures. Volume 9, Number 6, 467-73, Novembre - Décembre 2000, Etudes originales
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 Résumé
Article gratuit
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Author(s) : Abdallah Ben Abdallah, Philippe Lepoivre |
Summary : Gibberellic acid (GA3), a plant growth regulator, induced date palm fructification when applied to four unpollinated female date palm cultivars: “Deglet nour”, “Allig”, “Kentichi” and “Menakher”. One plant and eight inflorescences were selected for each cultivar. GA3 was applied at spathe opening and one week after opening. For comparison, and unpollinated inflorescence (T1), with no GA3 treatment, was covered with a kraft bag until fruit set and the untreated inflorescence (T2) was pollinated with pollen from a T23 genotype.
Fruit set rate and fruit characteristics were determined upon removal of the protection bags. Germination tests were performed on the seeds an flow cytometry was used to analyse the plants. They exhibited 80% germination (table 4); the germinated plantlets appeared to be diploid under flow cytometric analysis.
Results showed that application of aqueous solutions of GA3 on unpollinated female inflorescences gave a frequency of fruit set ranging from 20% to 64% (depending on the cultivars and concentrations) compared to a 9% maximum on unpollinated and GA3-untreated inflorescences. Seeds obtained through GA3 treatment grew normally and contained a kernel and a viable embryo (tables 1 and 2).
Giberellic acid (GA3) treatments increased the fresh weight of fruits. Total sugar and saccharose content dropped in GA3-treated “Deglet nour”, while glucose and fructose levels remained stable (figure 1).
The possible origin of embryos formed following GA3 treatment is discussed (apomixis or self pollination resulting from the development of staminodes). |
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