In-hive pollen transfer in mango.
Dag A., Degani C., Gazit S.
Author Affiliation: The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Institute of Animal Science, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
: 61-65
Abstract : In-hive pollen transfer was studied in caged mango (Mangifera indica) cv. Irwin trees in an orchard in Bet Dagan, Israel in 1997. Small beehives with two openings, internal and external, were introduced into the cages, enabling bees foraging outside the cage to come in contact, in the hive, with bees foraging on the caged tree. The pollen parent of mature fruit embryos was determined by isoenzyme analysis of mature leaves from seedlings. The hybrid percentage was determined by means of the isoenzyme loci Pgm-1 and Idh; Irwin is homozygous for both isoenzyme loci and the potential pollenizers are heterozygous in one of them. Thus, the actual hybrid rate was double the observed rate of heterozygosity. The rates of hybrids were calculated as 18 and 6% in fruits from caged trees with a double-opening and a single-opening hive, respectively. This difference was highly significant. Foreign pollen brought to the hive by bees foraging outside the cage was responsible for the 12% increase in the hybrid rate. This is clear proof that in-hive pollen transfer occurs in mango. The novel introduction of two-opening hives with caged flowering plants and parental analysis of the progeny may serve as an effective technique for studying in-hive pollen transfer in self-fertile plants.