Variations in morphological characteristics of floral organs and pollen fertility in medicinal landraces and selected segregants in rice

Morphological characteristics of different floret traits are considered as greater importance in rice to increase the self pollination for reliable seed production. Synchrony between floret opening and anther dehiscence may contribute to the high rate of self pollination. However, the synchronization is not always perfect and some rice florets hybridize naturally. The rate of natural hybridization varies among varieties of rice, suggesting that there is a difference in the reliability of self pollination among varieties. The experimental material consisted of four traditionally grown and nutrient rich medicinal landraces, and two improved high yielding varieties along with selected F2 segregants raised in randomized block design during wet season 2012-2013. Among them the medicinal landrace Kavuni of Tamil Nadu recorded hightest significant mean value for anther breadth, stigma length, stigma breadth, style length, style breadth and pollen fertility. Higher values of PCV and GCV were recorded for stigma breadth followed by ovary breadth. All the characters exhibited high heritability. High heritability and genetic advance were observed for stigma breadth, ovary breadth, style length, anther breadth, ovary length, anther length and style breadth revealed the role of additive gene action. This paper reports a correlation between morphological characteristics of floral organs and the reliability of self pollination in rice.


Author : P Savithaand Usha Kumari R