INTRODUCTION TO PLANT BREEDING

AGRONOMY 815 / COURSE NOTES

P. STEPHEN BAENZIGER, 338 Keim Hall, 472-1538

DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY / UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA

CHARACTERISTICS OF SELF AND
CROSS POLLINATED PLANTS

1. Characteristics of self pollinated crops:



1. Flowers may not open. Cleistogamy -- flowers never open. Festuca.



2. Pollen grains shed before the flowers open. Chasmogamous -- flowers open, but stigma is pollinated after the flower opens. Wheat, barley, lettuce.



3. Stigma and stamens may be hidden by the floral organs after the flowers open.



4. Stigma may elongate through a staminal column shortly after the anthers open.



2. Characteristics of cross pollinated crops:



1. Mechanical obstructions to self pollination.



2. Different periods of maturity in the pollen and stigma.



3. Self sterility and/or self incompatibility.



4. Presence of imperfect flowers or dioecious flowers.



3. How do you measure the level of cross pollination?



1. Progeny tests (seed and/or seedling markers).



2. Floral structure (are flowers different on plant?).