Interspecific and Intraspecific Pollination Effects in Rabbiteye and Southern Highbush Blueberry

Gupton, C. L.; Spiers, James M.

doi:10.21273/hortsci.29.4.324

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…Greater fruit size and/or a shorter fruit development period with crosspollination compared with selfpollination has been documented in northern highbush, rabbiteye, lowbush, half-high, and SHB cultivars (Chavez and Lyrene, 2009;Ehlenfeldt, 2001;Gupton, 1984;Gupton and Spiers, 1994;Lang and Danka, 1991;Lyrene, 1989;MacKenzie, 1997;Darrow, 1944, 1947;Morrow, 1943;Payne et al, 1989;Rabaey and Luby, 1988;Wood, 1968). In these studies, an increase in the number of fully developed seeds was associated with the increase in fruit size and shorter fruit development period.…”

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confidence: 85%

“…This recommendation is based on previous research describing the benefits of cross-pollination among cultivated blueberry species. Cross-pollination has typically been associated with improved fruit set in northern highbush blueberry [V. corymbosum (Bailey, 1938;Coville, 1921;Dogterom et al, 2000;Ehlenfeldt, 2001;MacKenzie, 1997;Meader and Darrow, 1947;Miller et al, 2011;Morrow, 1943)], rabbiteye blueberry [Vaccinium virgatum (Darnell and Lyrene, 1989;El-Agamy et al, 1981;Gupton and Spiers, 1994;Meader and Darrow, 1944;Payne et al, 1989)], lowbush (Vaccinium angustifolium) and half-high blueberry (V. corymbosum · V. angustifolium hybrids) (Aalders and Hall, 1961;Harrison et al, 1994;Rabaey and Luby, 1988;Wood, 1968), and SHB (Chavez and Lyrene, 2009;El-Agamy et al, 1981;Gupton and Spiers, 1994;Lyrene, 1989). In contrast, greater fruit set in a cultivar after self-pollination compared with cross-pollination has been observed infrequently and has often been attributed to reduced compatibility with the pollen source used for cross-pollination (Ehlenfeldt, 2001;Gupton, 1984;Lang and Danka, 1991;White and Clark, 1939).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Impact of Cross- and Self-pollination on Fruit Set, Fruit Size, Seed Number, and Harvest Timing Among 13 Southern Highbush Blueberry Cultivars

Taber¹,

Olmstead²

2016

hortte

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Cross-pollination has been associated with improved fruit set, weight, and shortened time to ripening in southern highbush blueberry [SHB (Vaccinium corymbosum interspecific hybrids)]. Because of this, growers commonly plant two or more cultivars in small blocks to facilitate cross-pollination. However, many SHB cultivars may vary in the degree of improvement in each parameter after cross-pollination. Understanding the impacts of cross-pollination on a particular cultivar is crucial to forming planting recommendations, particularly as growers begin to transition to fields designed for machine harvest where large solid blocks would increase the harvest efficiency. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of cross- and self-pollination among 13 commonly planted or newly released SHB cultivars. Cross-pollination typically improved fruit set, fruit weight, and seed number while decreasing the average days to harvest. Cross-pollinated fruit always weighed more than self-pollinated fruit from the same cultivar, which was highly correlated to seed number per fruit. Although there was variation for each trait, interplanting with another unrelated cultivar sharing a similar bloom time remains the best recommendation to ensure early, high yield among these SHB cultivars.

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confidence: 85%

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confidence: 99%

Impact of Cross- and Self-pollination on Fruit Set, Fruit Size, Seed Number, and Harvest Timing Among 13 Southern Highbush Blueberry Cultivars

Taber¹,

Olmstead²

2016

hortte

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“…Pollen transferred between varieties can increase yields of blueberries compared to varietal selfing (Free, 1993) by producing more seeds (Harrison, Luby, and Ascher, 1994), heavier and larger berries (Lang and Danka, 1991;Harrison, Luby, and Ascher, 1993), greater fruit set (El-Agamy, Sherman, and Lyrene, 1981), and earlier ripening larger berries (Lyrene, 1989). Generally, pollen from more distantly related blueberry cultivars produces heavier berries (Gupton, 1984) with increased seed number (Hellman and Moore, 1983;Gupton and Spiers, 1994) than does pollen from more closely related types, although this effect depends on pollen donor (Vander Kloet and Tosh, 1984;Rabaey and Luby, 1988). Thus the source of pollen is an important variable to consider in order to improve fruit mass and ripening time.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effect of pollen load size and source (self, outcross) on seed and fruit production in highbush blueberry cv. ‘Bluecrop’ (VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM; Ericaceae)

Dogterom

Winston

Mukai

2000

American J of Botany

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Reproductive fitness of a plant is ultimately determined by both number and quality of seed offspring. This is determined by sexual selection of pollen microspores and ovules during pollination and fertilization. These processes may include pollen competition and seed abortion, which reduce the number of microspores and ovules available for final seed production. Thus, even an excess of pollen microspores to ovules does not result in fertile seeds equal to ovule number. We investigated pollen requirements of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum cultivar 'Bluecrop') for maximal seed production and how fertile seed number translates into fruit quality, since fruit quality would ultimately determine the dispersal of its offspring. We demonstrate that individual blueberry flowers with a mean of 106 ovules reach their maximum fruit set and mass and minimum time to ripen when 125 outcross pollen tetrads pollinate a flower, compared to 10 or 25. Three hundred tetrads resulted in the increase of fertile seeds, but did not result in a further increase of fruit mass or fruit set, or decrease in time to ripen. We also examined the effect of pure and mixed loads of self and outcross pollen (25 and 125 tetrads), and found no differences in fertile seed number, fruit mass, or percentage fruit set when pollen loads were either 25 self or outcross pollen tetrads, although number of days to ripen was significantly shorter by 8 d with 25 outcross tetrads. When the pollen load of 125 tetrads consisted of self or a 50:50 mixture of self and outcross pollen, fruit mass, days to ripen, and percentage fruit set were not different from loads of 125 outcross pollen. In addition, a pollen load of 25 outcross tetrads resulted in fertile seed number and fruit quality in between that of 25 self, and 125 self, 125 mixed, or 125 outcross tetrads. Large, small, and flat seed types were identified, and only large seeds (length = 1.7 mm) were fertile. These results improve our understanding of pollen load size and source requirements of a crop plant and the limits to pollen transfer when translated to fruit growth.

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“…For Suziblue and Twilight, intervarietal pollination also led to significant reductions in developmental time. Inter-varietal pollination has also been shown to decrease developmental time in other blueberry varieties such as Bluecrop, Bluegold, Legacy, Sierra, Toro and Patriot (Dogterom et al, 2000;Ehlenfeldt, 2001;Gupton and Spiers, 1994;Mackenzie, 1997;Müller et al, 2013;Taber and Olmstead, 2016). Choosing the correct pollen source appears to be especially important for varieties such as Eureka, Suziblue and Twilight as pollen quality is likely to have large consequences for yields and interplanting varieties to promote outcrossing therefore seems to be the best strategy for increased fruit mass and decreased developmental times.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Blueberry fruit quality is directly affected by pollen source, where inter-varietal pollination often positively affects fruit size, weight, and developmental time when compared to pollination within varieties (Bell et al, 2012;Dogterom et al, 2000;Ehlenfeldt, 2001;Gupton and Spiers, 1994;Harrison et al, 1993;Huang et al, 1997;Müller et al, 2013;Taber and Olmstead, 2016;Usui et al, 2005). In response to this constraint, growers often plant different varieties in adjacent rows in an orchard in attempt to increase yield through inter-varietal pollination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-compatibility of five highbush blueberry varieties and ideal crossing combinations

Martin

Minnaar

Jager

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Blueberry plants require large quantities of pollen deposited on stigmas to produce commercialquality fruit. Like many agricultural crops, the interaction between pollen-source variety and pollenrecipient variety can be a major determinant of fruit quality in blueberries. However, little information exists to guide growers in optimising fruit set and quality. Using five commonly grown blueberry varieties, I determined whether crossing between varieties (inter-varietal) increased fruit mass and decreased developmental time relative to crossing within a variety (intra-varietal), and if so, what the best crossing combinations are. While intra-varietal pollination often produced fruit, for certain varieties the fruit set and fruit mass were highly reduced compared to inter-varietal pollination. Furthermore, intra-varietal pollination resulted in longer fruit developmental time in comparison to pollination between varieties. For the same pollen-recipient variety, inter-varietal crosses typically outperformed intra-varietal crosses in fruit mass and developmental time; however, the extent to which inter-varietal crosses outperformed intra-varietal crosses differed between pollen-donor varieties. This result suggests that combinations of varieties are not trivial as some inter-varietal combinations may outperform others. Furthermore, some varieties appear to be more susceptible to the negative effects of intra-varietal crosses than others and that less susceptible varieties may be better suited to conditions where pollinator movement is poor. While our study can guide growers in determining optimal co-planting schemes for the varieties tested, for example in South Africa where these varieties are frequently grown. It also serves as a blueprint for similar compatibility studies that can easily be performed prior to planting to determine the best intervarietal combinations.

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Interspecific and Intraspecific Pollination Effects in Rabbiteye and Southern Highbush Blueberry

Cited by 26 publications

References 5 publications

Impact of Cross- and Self-pollination on Fruit Set, Fruit Size, Seed Number, and Harvest Timing Among 13 Southern Highbush Blueberry Cultivars

Impact of Cross- and Self-pollination on Fruit Set, Fruit Size, Seed Number, and Harvest Timing Among 13 Southern Highbush Blueberry Cultivars

Effect of pollen load size and source (self, outcross) on seed and fruit production in highbush blueberry cv. ‘Bluecrop’ (VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM; Ericaceae)

Cross-compatibility of five highbush blueberry varieties and ideal crossing combinations

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