Khan, I.; Naeem, M.K.; Shahzad, A.; Zhang, Z.; Chen, J.; Sajjad, M. Optimizing Wheat Pollen Preservation for Enhanced Viability and In Vitro Germination. Agronomy2024, 14, 201.
Khan, I.; Naeem, M.K.; Shahzad, A.; Zhang, Z.; Chen, J.; Sajjad, M. Optimizing Wheat Pollen Preservation for Enhanced Viability and In Vitro Germination. Agronomy 2024, 14, 201.
Khan, I.; Naeem, M.K.; Shahzad, A.; Zhang, Z.; Chen, J.; Sajjad, M. Optimizing Wheat Pollen Preservation for Enhanced Viability and In Vitro Germination. Agronomy2024, 14, 201.
Khan, I.; Naeem, M.K.; Shahzad, A.; Zhang, Z.; Chen, J.; Sajjad, M. Optimizing Wheat Pollen Preservation for Enhanced Viability and In Vitro Germination. Agronomy 2024, 14, 201.
Abstract
Wheat pollen, characterized by its short lifespan, exhibits rapid germination after anthesis. The preservation of wheat pollen is contingent upon environmental factors, including temperature, relative humidity, light, and wind. The objective is to develop a method for preserving wheat pollen effectively, specifically for the purpose of breeding. The short longevity of wheat pollen grains renders it impractical to conduct tests for pollen viability and in vitro germination on a large scale. Herein, the impact of storage temperatures and duration was assessed on pollen viability and in vitro germination to optimize storage conditions for preserving pollen viability. Pollen grains from 50 diverse spring wheat genotypes, each with three replicates, were harvested and stored at temperatures of 22°C, -20°C, and 4°C. Subsequently, pollen viability and in vitro germination rates were determined after storage of 1, 3, and 6 days. The results revealed that storage temperatures, durations, genotypes, and their interactions had a statistically significant impact on both pollen viability and in vitro germination. Notably, when pollen was kept at 22°C, almost all genotypes exhibited a loss of pollen viability and in vitro germination after 1, 3, and 6 days of storage. Likewise, storage at -20°C failed to extend pollen germination. However, at a storage temperature of 4°C, the pollen of 36 wheat genotypes exhibited a range of 6-14% in vitro pollen germination and remained viable even for 6 days. Simple linear regression analysis further revealed a significant negative correlation between pollen viability, in vitro germination, and storage time and temperature. In conclusion, our findings underscore 4°C as the optimal temperature for preserving pollen viability and in vitro pollen germination in spring wheat for up to 6 days. The results of the present study suggests that pollen viability of wheat is genotype de-pendent, storage temperature and storage duration. Thus, the 36 wheat genotypes identified during the present work could be efficiently maintained at 4◦C for short-term storage (6 days) and could be further used for genetics and breeding purposes.
Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
