Effect of sulfur on pollen germination of Clemenules mandarin and Nova tangelo

[EN] This study aims to elucidate whether sulfur can inhibit citrus pollination by affecting pollen grains. For this, four sulfur-based products (inorganic sulfur, water dispersible granular sulfur, ammonium sulfate, copper sulfate) were tested to evaluate their effect on pollen germination and poll...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: BELTRÁN MARTÍNEZ, ROBERTO|||0000-0001-9808-8335, García-Breijo, Francisco-José|||0000-0002-5468-8758, Garmendia, Alfonso|||0000-0001-6837-1818, Merle Farinós, Hugo Basilio|||0000-0002-0004-7162, Cebrian, Nuria, Zornoza, Carlos, Reig Armiñana, José
Format: article
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repository:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/205782
Online Access:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/205782
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Copper sulfate
Ammonium sulfate
Pollination
Pollen tube
Mandarin
Inorganic sulfur
BOTANICA
Description
Summary:[EN] This study aims to elucidate whether sulfur can inhibit citrus pollination by affecting pollen grains. For this, four sulfur-based products (inorganic sulfur, water dispersible granular sulfur, ammonium sulfate, copper sulfate) were tested to evaluate their effect on pollen germination and pollen tube growth of two citrus varieties: Clemenules mandarin (Citrus clementina) and Nova tangelo (Citrus clementina x [Citrus paradisi x Citrus reticulata]). Pollen grains were extracted from the flowers of these two varieties and subsequently placed in Petri dishes with modified BK (boron and potassium) germination medium with six concentrations of the sulfur-based products (0.2, 2, 20, 200, 2,000, 20,000 mg l-1). All the dishes were incubated and the pollen germination rate was calculated. All the sulfur products showed progressive pollen germination inhibition with a rising sulfur concentration. CTC50 (50% cytotoxicity inhibition) was around 20 mg l-1 , with significant differences among treatments. Total pollen germination inhibition took place at 20,000 mg l-1. These results demonstrate that sulfur application can affect citrus pollination.