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- Author or Editor: John H. Loughrin x
Volatile compounds, commonly produced by flowers during bloom, have been described as insect attractants. Some of these compounds stimulate Pinus pollen germination in vitro (French et al., 1979, J. Agric. Fd. Chem., 27184-187), suggesting that such compounds may do the same in vivo. Red Delicious apple pollen was germinated on agar in a simple, enclosed in vitro bioassay system in the presence of a number of plant tissues, including apple, tomato, and chrysanthemum leaves, apple flowers, rose petals, and apple fruit slices. These tissues represent a diversity of types of volatile compounds, Pollen germination was recorded by microphotography after 1 and 2 hours, and percent germination was determined. Although stimulation of germination was not observed, macerated tomato leaves inhibited it. To determine if the volatile characteristics of cultivars differ, flowers of Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apple were harvested at full bloom. Their volatiles were collected, identified, and quantitated by capillary GC-MS. Among 8 major compounds common in the two cultivars, several quantitative differences were observed. These results will be discussed in relation to the potential role of volatiles in pollen germination.