Cross-(in)compatibility in apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.)

Eight apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars and selections were self- and cross-pollinated in order to determine their pollen and stylar compatibility. Overall, 40 pollination combinations were examined. Pollen-tube growth in pistils pollinated in the laboratory was analysed using fluorescence microscopy. Three inter-incompatiblity groups of cultivars were found, of which two had not been described previously, while an existing group was expanded with one additional cultivar. The first group consisted of three Hungarian cultivars ('Ligeti Orias', 'Cegledi Orias', and 'Szegedi Mammut') and a Moldavian cultivar ('Kostjuzhenskyi'). The second group consisted of two American cultivars ('Stark Early Orange' and 'Nugget'). The third group consisted of two Serbian selections (Novi Sad Early' and 'Frushka Gora Early'). In the incompatible cultivar combinations, pollen-tube growth stopped in the style with the formation of the characteristic swelling. In the compatible combinations, the pollen tubes reached the ovary in the majority of the pistils examined.