JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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In this study, conducted in Isfahan region over a period of two years, six oilseed sunflower cultivars named Record, Venimek 8931, Chernianka, Zaria, Perdovik and Mehr hybrid were investigated in a split-split plot design. These cultivars were planted on March 29 and April 29, with and without the presence of pollinator insects. The results showed that the yield of different cultivars were significantly different (p<0.01). The planting date of March 29 caused a higher yield than that of April 29. Also the presence of pollinator insects during the bloom increased the amount of yield in all cultivars planted on both dates. Venimek and Record cultivars planted on March 29 with the presence of pollinator insects during the bloom produced the highest, i.e. an average of 3910 and 3821 kilograms of seeds per hectare and Chernianka with an average of 2944 kilograms of seeds per hectare had the lowest amount of seed. In this study, Record and Venimek cultivars in the first place and then Mehr hybrid planted on March 29 with the presence of pollinator insects during the bloom were better than the other cultivars in terms of attractiveness to honeybees, yield per hectare, seed hollowness percent, weight of 1000 seeds, germination percentage, speed of germination and the amount of oil production.

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This research was conducted over a period of one year from the beginning of spring until mid autumn in 1996, during the bloom of all flowering plants in the region, when pollinator bees were collected with insect veil. Some of them were preserved in 80% ethylalcohol and some were dried, coded, kept in insect box and transferred to the laboratory for identification. The collected insects were identified to 7 families and 19 genera as follows 37 species from among them were identified to species level and 40 species were identified to genus level:

 1- Colletidae: Colletes (Colletes sp.)

2- Andrenidae: Andrena (A. thoracica, A. labialis, A. apicata, A. personata, A. erytrogaster, A. kalmiae, Andrena sp.), Melitturga (M. clavicornis, M. sp.)

3- Halictidae: Halictus (H. brunescens, H. senilis, H. squamosus, H. asperulus, H. resurgens), Lasioglossum (L. discum, L. epipygial, L. nigripes, L. villosulum, L. pygmaeum), Nomia (Nomia sp.).

4- Melittidae: Melitta (M. leporina)

5- Megachilidae: Megachile (M. rotundata, M. maritima, M. concina, M. frigida), Chalicodoma (C. georgica, C. rubripes, Chalicodoma sp.), Osmia (O. cornifrons, O. taurus, O. uncinata), Anthidium (A. florentinum, Anthidium sp.)

6- Anthophoridae: Anthophora (Anthophora sp.), Amegilla (A. quadrifasciata, A. albigena, Amegilla sp.), Eucera (E. nitidiventris), Tetralonia (Tetralonia sp.), Xylocopa (X. iranica, X. valga, X. pubescens, Xylocopa sp.), Proxylocopa (P. nitidiventris, P. rufa, Proxylocopa sp.)

7- Apidae: Apis (A. mellifera), Bombus (Bombus sp.)

 A key to the separate genera level and a complete key to the genera level for the Apoidea is produced and presented for each of the above named families collected in the north of Fars province.

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Experiments were conducted during 1996-1997 in Nough of Rafsanjan to evaluate double pollination on fruit set and development of pistachio nut. In the first experiment, Owhadi cultivar was pollinated by a combination of pollen from Beneh (P. mutica F&M), Atlantica (P. atlantica Desf) and Soltani (P.vera L.). In the second experiment, Owhadi cultivar was pollinated by pollen from Beneh, Atlantica and Khinjuk (P. Khinjuk). The results showed that in the double pollination experiment, the nut, kernel and fruit set were affected more by the first pollen than by the second one. Pollen from the wild pistachio species reduced kernel weight, number of split nuts but increased percentage of the deformity and blank nuts in Owhadi. It was concluded that the effectiveness of the first pollen on fruit set, nut and kernel development was independent of the second one. The pollen of P. vera proved to be the best pollen source for pistachio cultivars.

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Germination of strawberry seeds from self- and cross pollination of 4 commercial cultivars were evaluated under mist and in vitro cultures. The study was conducted in McGill University in Quebec, Canada, during 1994 and 1995. Self-pollination of Chambly and Redcoat cvs., and cross pollination of Oka × Chambly as well as Redcoat × Veestar and their reciprocals were used. At maturity, fruits were harvested and their seeds were separated. A sample of each seed lot was grown in greenhouse under mist condition and in vitro using MS medium. In the latter, both intact and cut seeds were used. Germination index (containing germination velocity and rate) was used as a criterion for germination evaluation. The results showed that there was no sign of germination in intact seeds 40 days after cultivation on MS medium however, cut seeds containing plantlets started germination 2 days after cultivation and obtained 90 percent of the germination after one week of culturing on the medium. Germination of seeds under mist condition began 15 days after sowing and showed a minimum of 55 to 87 percent in different genotypes till the end of the experiment period (60 days). Germination index (GI) under this condition ranged from 15.4 to 26.1. GI comparison of seeds under in vitro and mist conditions indicates a lower germination rate in different genotypes under mist condition. This study also showed that the rate of germination in strawberry seeds could range from 0 to 100 percent depending on genotype and type of treatment used. The best treatment for a synchronized and rapid germination was found to be using cut seeds containing the plantlets on MS medium.

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Canola (Brassica napus) is one of the important oil seed crops cultivated in many parts of Iran. One of the main problems of seed production of canola is pollination and fertilization of flowers. Insects are the major pollinators. In order to study the fauna of insect pollinators of 3 cultivars of canola including Talaye, Okapi and S.L.M. and the difference between the attractiveness of these cultivars to insects during the flowering period, insects were collected by sweeping net and identified. Their abundance was determined at different periods of time during a day. Results showed that insect pollinators belonged to five orders and 18 families. The most abundant pollinators were Hymenopterous insects specialy honey bees (Apis mellifera) which were about 50%. Irrespective of Apis mellifera, the most abundant insects captured belonged to Diptera. Three Dipterous insects, Bibio hortulanus, Metasyrphus corollae and Platypalpus sp. were collected and identified. During the flowering period (March to mid April) in Isfahan, honey bees were more abundant in the warmer hours of the day, mostly noon and afternoon, but were less active in the early hours of the day, morning, because of cold weather and low nectar production. Honey bees were more active than other pollinators on Talaye at 9 a.m. and on Okapi at mid-day, noon, and during afternoon. Results also showed that insect pollinators could increase seed yield by 53%.

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Pollination and fertilization of canola flowers are the main factors of canola seed production. In order to study the effects of insect pollinators on seed quantity and quality of three chosen cultivars of canola, namly, S.L.M., Okapi and Talaye, a split plot experiment in a complete randomized block design with four replications was carried out in Isfahan region. Main plots consisted of canola cultivars, and subplots consisted of open pollination and non-pollination by insects. Results indicated that the time to seed ripening in pollinated plots was 10.5 days less than those of non-pollinated plots. Pollination by insects increased the number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and weight of 1000 seeds, by 14.3%, 23.5% and 10%, respectively. Grain yield also increased by 53% in pollinated plots. Pollination decreased seed moisture percentage by 3.15%, but its effect on seed oil percentage and germination percentage were not significant. Time to seed germination of plants of pollinated plots decreased three hours. Cultivars were significantly different in seed oil percentage and time to seed germination. Talaye cultivar produced the highest amount of oil (45.5%), while Okapi produced the lowest (40.8%). There were significant interactions between cultivars and pollination in terms of seed ripening, oil percentage and moisture of seeds, and the effects of pollination was different in different cultivars.

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A population of offspring from a cross between ‘Golden Smoothee’ × ‘Shafi Abadi’ apple which was developed by two methods of controlled pollination (with and without covering after controlled pollination) was used to investigate the inheritance of microsatellite alleles and the necessity of covering in controlled pollination of apple. DNA was extracted from 60 seedlings (30 from each method) as well as corresponding parents and the probable source of unwanted pollen. Four microsatellite loci (CH03d12, CH03d07, CH04a12 and CH03c07) which were polymorphic among parents were selected and their florescent primers were prepared. DNA amplification was carried out using different colored florescent primers, and alleles size were determined using ABI377 automatic gene sequencer and Gene Scan Software version 2.0 according to internal standards. Results showed that all seedlings shared one allele at each locus with each parent indicating their hybrid and true to type nature. There were no differences between two methods of controlled pollination in terms of unwanted pollination and there were no off type seedling originating from unwanted pollen source. Allele distribution among the progenies showed their co-dominant mode of inheritance, and no significant difference with Mendelian co-dominant ratio (1:1:1:1) was observed using chi square (x2) test. These results showed that there was no need for covering after controlled pollination of apple at least for less sensitive cases such as cultivar breeding which takes lots of time and cost for controlled pollination of many flowers in a limited time span. Results also showed the importance and potential of microsatellite loci in detecting parent-offspring relationship prior to inheritance study of characters and alleles, bulk segregation analysis, gene and linkage map and historical reconstruction of fruit tree pedigree.