IADIZA   20886
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE INVESTIGACIONES DE LAS ZONAS ARIDAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Nectar and Flower Traits of Different Onion Male Sterile Lines Related to Pollination Efficiency and Seed Yield of F1 Hybrids
Autor/es:
SOTO, V. C; MALDONADO I.B.; GIL. R.A.; PERALTA, I. E.; SILVA, M.F.; GALMARINI, C.R.
Revista:
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY
Editorial:
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC AMER
Referencias:
Lugar: Lanham; Año: 2013 vol. 106 p. 1386 - 1394
ISSN:
0022-0493
Resumen:
Honey bees are the main pollinators of onion crops for seed production, but due to low attractiveness of flowers, pollination is often inadequate. Pollination problems result in low seed yields. This problem is accentuated when male sterile lines (MSL) are used to produce hybrid onion seeds. In this study the effect of floral attributes and nectar composition on the preference of honey bees of four MSLs and one onion open pollinated (OP) cultivar were assessed. The chemical composition of nectar was described through the analysis of sugars, trace-elements, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and phenol compounds. The samples studied showed qualitative and quantitative differences in the analyzed traits of flowers and nectar among the different lines. Furthermore, field observations showed a great difference on the number of bee visits and seed yield among the onion lines analyzed. For the first time, this study demonstrates that there are markedly differences in the chemical composition of nectar and floral morphology between OP and MSL and also within MSLs. In addition, these differences were correlated with the number of visits and seed yield. Therefore it would be possible to select indirectly the most promising productive MSL using simple determinations of chemical compounds or floral morphological characters.