Abstract

COELHO, Ana P. D. et al. Pollen grain viability in accessions of Crotalaria juncea L. (FABACEAE). Agrociencia [online]. 2012, vol.46, n.5, pp.481-487. ISSN 2521-9766.

Studies on pollen viability are useful for breeding Crotalaria juncea L. since they provide information that will increase the chance of successful intraspecific crossing. The aim of this study was to evaluate pollen viability in C. juncea accessions cultivated in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Inflorescences of 10 accessions of C. juncea were collected, fixed in absolute ethanol: glacial acetic acid (3:1) for 72 h at room temperature and placed in 70 % ethanol. Analysis of pollen viability was performed with slides of anthers using the squashing technique and staining with acetic orcein 2 % and Alexanders stain. Means were compared using the Tukey test (p≤0.05). Pollen viability was high and significantly different among the accessions; the highest value was 99.67 % and the lowest 45.34 %. However, unviable pollen grains were also observed in all accessions.

Keywords : Crotalaria juncea Alexander's stain; acetic orcein; pollen viability; plant cytogenetics.