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Home → Publications → Tree Improvement and Genetics → Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference → 19th Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference (1987) → An Operational Trial of Supplemental Mass Pollination in a Loblolly Pine Seed Orchard

An Operational Trial of Supplemental Mass Pollination in a Loblolly Pine Seed Orchard

Five ramets each of two second-generation loblolly pine seed orchard clones were supplementally mass pollinated (SMP'd) with pollen heterozygous for a rare, electrophoretically detectable marker allele. Pollen was applied once to all strobili clusters on a tree at or shortly before its period of maximum female receptivity. A pole duster was used to apply freshly processed pollen. Four ramets each of the two study clones were reserved as untreated controls to be pollinated by the orchard pollen cloud. SMP success was quantified for each ramet as the proportion of embryos fertilized by marker pollen in a 100-seed sample. Ramets of clone 11-1027 averaged 48% SMP success; those of clone 8-1048 averaged 69%. Levels of the marker allele in 100- seed samples of untreated control ramets were negligible. Differing SMP success rates among ramets of a clone are probably due to the timing of application as well as the quality of the application technique. Supplemental mass pollination appears promising as a pollen management tool in loblolly pine seed orchards.


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Author(s): T. D. Blush

Publication: Tree Improvement and Genetics - Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference - 1987