The Experimental Induction of Parthenocarpic Strawberries

Abstract

The parthenocarpic development of strawberry fruits was induced by spraying unpollinated blossoms with solutions of indolylbutyric acid, 1-naphthylacetic acid, and colchicine, and by dusting the blossoms with powdered acenaphthene. Fruits also developed from blossoms that had not been directly treated. This is explained on the basis of translocation of the chemical, or some other substance, from treated to untreated blossoms.It is suggested that colchicine, and possibly the phytohormones, induce parthenocarpy by acting as mobilizers of another substance or substances that move into the ovary and there initiate development.

Growth and Morphogenesis of the Strawberry as Related to Auxin

“…It has been suggested (Nitsch, 1949) that some substance of a hormone nature diffuses from the achene to the receptacle and stimulates its growth. Hunter (1941) and Swarbrick (1943) have been able to induce the growth of un pollinated strawberries by spraying the flowers with synthetic growth substances. Since unfertilized achenes do not induce any growth around them, and yet the receptacle grew in the cited experiments as a result of the hormone treatment, it seems probable that the function of the achenes in causing growth of the receptacle is to supply it with auxin.…”

Plant biostimulants as natural alternatives to synthetic auxins in strawberry production: physiological and metabolic insights

“…Results of the agronomic trial demonstrated that synthetic auxins (SA) and bacterial filtrate (BF) significantly enhanced early yield of strawberry fruits due to a positive effect of auxins on flowering and fruit set. Several researches reported the role of SA in inducing fruit set in many species ( Srivastava, 2002 ; Stern et al., 2007 ; Sun and Hong, 2009 ; Yan et al., 2014 ) and in strawberry plants ( Hunter, 1941 ; Thompson et al, 1969 ; Mudge et al., 1981 ) thus increasing the early fruit production. On the other hand, the protein hydrolysate (PH) favored a more gradual and prolonged fruit set over time with a greater development of the shoot biomass and total fruit number at the end of the growing cycle.…”

Wide Crosses and Pollen Contamination in Strawberry1

“…Because some previous studies using growth regulators to induce parthenocarpy had indicated formation Achenes per flower 0.0 0.9 0.03 0.0 of a few viable seed (5,9), pollination experiments were conducted using Rubus pollen with and without IAA (0.3% in lanolin paste applied to the receptacle base). The first of this series of experiments was conducted with 'Surecrop' strawberry and 'Eldorado' and 'Darrow' blackberry pollen with and without IAA.…”