Pollination, Pollen Tube Growth and Determination of Suitable Pollinizer for Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium L.) Cultivar Ghermez Rezaeieh

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is one of the most important temperate fruits in the world. Most sweet cherry cultivars are self-incompatible and have usually problem with fertilization and fruit set, so they need suitable pollinizer for good fruit setting and commercial yield. The present study was carried out on sweet cherry cultivar
Ghermez Rezaeieh as seed parent tree and Zarde daneshkadeh, Protiva, Sorati Lavasan, Haj-Yosefi and Meshkinshahr cultivars as pollen parent trees. Treatments (Pollens) were applied in randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with three replicates. All laboratory and microscopic examinations of the collected samples were carried out in the Department of Horticultural Science, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran and Controlled hybridization and pollination performed in the Seed and Plant Improvement Institute (SPII), collection orchard at Kamalabad, Karaj during 2004 and 2005 growing seasons. In order to determine the compatibility or incompatibility of various pollens on Ghermez Rezaeieh two methods were used: controlled pollination and examination of pollen tube growth with fluorescence microscopy. The results based on controlled pollination showed that MeshkinShahr and Protiva cultivars are compatible and Zarde daneshkadeh, Sorati Lavasan and Haj-Yosefi are incompatible cultivars with Ghermez Rezaeieh. The mean of fruit set in Ghermez Rezaehe cultivar with use of pollen grains of Zarde daneshkadeh, Protiva, Sorati Lavasan, Haj-Yosefi and Meshkinshahr were 0.54, 40.49, 0.24, ,0.80 and 61.36 percent respectively .The results also showed that sweet cherry cv. Ghermez Rezaeieh is a self-incompatible cultivar (fruit set=0) and it needs compatible and suitable pollinizer for fruit set. The results based on microscopic examinations showed that pollen tube of Meshkinshahr cultivar reached into the Ghermez Rezaeieh ovary flowers in 96 hours after pollination. These microscopic examinations and observations confirmed the obtained results from controlled hybridization in garden. In conclusion, Protiva and Meshkinshahr were selected as the best pollinizers for Ghermez Rezaeieh cultivar