Reproductive characteristics of citrus rootstocks grown under greenhouse and field environments

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible effect of environmental factors on meiosis, meiotic index, pollen viability and in vitro germination of pollen from stock plants of the rootstocks Trifoliate, ‘Swingle’, ‘Troyer’, ‘Fepagro C13’, ‘Fepagro C37’ and ‘Fepagro C41’ grown in a protected environment in comparison with stock plants grown in the field. The results showed that values for the characteristics analyzed in 2008, 2009 and 2010 were always higher in the field than in the greenhouse conditions. In the field, the average of normal meiotic cells was 60.05%, 44.44% and 60.12%, respectively, and in the greenhouse, 52.75%, 30.95% and 52.82%, respectively. Mean pollen viability in the field was 90.28%, 56.23% and 74.74%, and, in the greenhouse, 64.25%, 41.41% and 66.71%, respectively. As temperature oscillations were higher in the greenhouse than in the field, we suggest that this negatively affects the reproductive characteristics analyzed.