Production of nonaploid (2n = 9x) Japanese persimmons (Diospyros kaki) by pollination with unreduced (2n = 6x) pollen and embryo rescue culture

Abstract

To produce nonaploid Japanese persimmon (diospyros kaki L.f.) by artificial hybridization, we surveyed the natural occurrence of unreduced (2n) pollen among hexaploid cultivars and sorted them from normal reduced (n) pollen. The sorted 2n pollen was crossed with a hexaploid female cultivar and the resultant embryos were rescued by in vitro culture techniques to obtain plantlets. Three out of six male-flower-bearing cultivars (2n = 6x = 90) produced 2n pollen at rates of 4.8% to 15.5% varying with the cultivars, which was estimated by both pollen size and flow cytometry. After sorting giant (2n) from normal pollen grains by using nylon mesh, they were crossed with a hexaploid female cultivar. The seeds obtained from pollination with normal pollen were perfect, but those obtained from pollination with giant pollen were mostly imperfect, with embryo growth being suspended at the globular stage. Although the rate of survival was very low, some embryos at the globular stage were rescued successfully and grown in vitro. Both flow cytometric analysis and chromosome counting proved that the plantlets obtained were nonaploid.