Nectar and flower traits of different onion male sterile lines related to pollination efficiency and seed yield of F1 hybrids

• Autores: Soto, Verónica S.; Maldonado, Irma B.; Gil, Raul Andres; Peralta, Iris Edith; Silva, Maria Fernanda; Galmarini, Claudio Romulo
• Año de publicación: 2013
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: Allium Cepa L.; Male Sterility; Nectar; Seed Yield; Flora Traits; Nectar Composition
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Honey bees are the main pollinators of onion crops for seed production, but owing to low attractiveness of ßowers, pollination is often inadequate. Pollination problems result in low seed yields. This problem is accentuated when male sterile lines (MSL) are used to produce hybrid onion seeds. In this study, the effect of ßoral attributes and nectar composition on the preference of honey bees of four MSLs and one onion open pollinated cultivar were assessed. The chemical composition of nectar was described through the analysis of sugars, trace elements, volatile organic compounds, and phenol compounds. The samples studied showed qualitative and quantitative differences in the analyzed traits of ßowers and nectar among the differentlines. Furthermore, Þeld observations showed a great difference on the number of bee visits and seed yield among the onion lines analyzed. For the Þrst time, this study demonstrates that there are marked differences in the chemical composition of nectar and ßoral morphology between open pollinated and MSLs and also within MSLs. In addition, these differences were correlated with the number of visits and seed yield. Therefore, it would be possible to select indirectly the most promising productive MSL using simple determinations of chemical compounds or ßoral morphological characters .
Fil: Soto, Verónica S.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Mendoza. Instituto de Biologia Agricola de Mendoza; Argentina;
Fil: Maldonado, Irma B.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Cuyo Mendoza-San Juan. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria La Consulta; Argentina;
Fil: Gil, Raul Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis; Argentina;
Fil: Peralta, Iris Edith. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - CONICET - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de Zonas Aridas; Argentina; Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina;
Fil: Silva, Maria Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Mendoza. Instituto de Biologia Agricola de Mendoza; Argentina;
Fil: Galmarini, Claudio Romulo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Reg.patagonia Sur. Estacion Exptal.agrop.chubut; Argentina; Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; Argentina;