Combined effects of inflorescence developmental age and environmental conditions during microgametogenesis on pollen viability, germination and size in Musa acuminata ssp.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Male fertility is often suboptimal in parthenocarpic banana cultivars, hindering their use as male parents in current banana breeding schemes. Next to genotype-specific traits, such as ploidy and structural heterozygosity, inflorescence developmental age and environmental factors can significantly influence male reproductive performance.

Methods

In this study, pollen viability, germination capacity and diameter, were closely monitored throughout the entire male flowering phase of Musa acuminata wild diploids and diploid and triploid cultivars. Additionally, environmental parameters, including temperature, light radiation and humidity, were monitored up to 40 days before anthesis to determine their influence on microgametogenesis.

Key results

Wild a

SUBMITTER: Severyns A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12823240 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature