Growth of Trifolium pratense L. Pollen tubes in compatible and incompatible styles of excised pistils

Summary The excised pistil technique was used to study effects of pollen treatments on self-incompatibility in red clover. Pollen was treated directly with infrared or ultraviolet radiation, and indirectly with chemicals that were applied to the stigmas before pollination. The chemicals (boric acid, calcium nitrate, colchicine, cyclohexamide, gibberellic acid, glycine, and indole butyric acid) were each used at five concentrations. High dosage rates of most treatments inhibited pollen growth in styles that were genetically compatible, but none of the treatments had a specific effect on the self-incompatibility mechanism.The effects of growth of compatible or incompatible pollen tubes in a style on subsequent growth of both types of pollen tubes in the same style were studied in an experiment with 6 hr between pollinations. The passage of some compatible pollen tubes through the style did not influence either self- or cross-compatibility in the style after the second pollination. The passage of some self-incompatible tubes into the styles caused a slightly higher number of incompatible tubes to penetrate the style after the second pollination. Each pollen tube appeared to traverse the style independently of other tubes.Cooperative research by Crops Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. This article (70-3-163) is published with approval of the Director of the Kentucky Agr. Exp. Sta.