title: Apospory and parthenogenesis may be uncoupled in Poa pratensis: a cytological investigation.
abstract: Despite the potential that apomixis has for agriculture, there is little information regarding the genetic control of its functional components. We carried out a cytohistological investigation on an F1 segregating population of Poa pratensis obtained from a cross between a sexual and an apomictic parent. About half of the F1 progeny plants were parthenogenic, as adjudicated by an auxin test. The degree of parthenogenesis ranged from 1.44% to 92.9%. Apospory was detected in parthenogenetic plants as well as in two non-parthenogenetic individuals. These results indicate that two distinct genetic factors control apospory and parthenogenesis in P. pratensis and that apospory and parthenogenesis may be developmentally uncoupled.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale e Biotecnologie Agroambientali, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy, emidalb@unipg.it.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Albertini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porceddu
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferranti
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reale
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barcaccia
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falcinelli