Reproductive biology and breeding system in Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae) – implication for genetic improvement
Y. Zhang A , C. L. Zhong A C , Q. Han A , Q. B. Jiang A , Y. Chen A , Z. Chen A , K. Pinyopusarerk B and D. Bush B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Longdong, Guangzhou 510520, The People’s Republic of China.
B CSIRO Australian Tree Seed Centre, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: zcl@ritf.ac.cn
Australian Journal of Botany 64(2) 120-128 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT15184
Submitted: 7 August 2015 Accepted: 2 January 2016 Published: 26 February 2016
Abstract
Understanding the reproductive biology of plant species is essential for successful domestication and genetic improvement programs. Casuarina equisetifolia L. is an important plantation species in China and India but information on reproductive biology is limited. To address this issue, grafted ramets of C. equisetifolia were used to study floral biology, breeding system and progeny performance. The female floral longevity of C. equisetifolia reached 28.4 days under non-pollination conditions, which was significantly longer than that of supplementary pollination (5.5 days) and open pollination (12.2 days), implying successful pollination would accelerate senescence of female flowers. Higher fruit set (88.8%) and seed set (35.7%) under supplementary pollination were obtained, compared with 75.9% and 21.7%, respectively, under open pollination, although there were no fruit set and seed set under non-pollination conditions. Pollen limitation was evident based on pollen limitation index (0.39) in seedling plantations of C. equisetifolia. Selfed seedlings had low height and diameter growth in both nursery and field trials and markedly lower survival in field trial, indicating inbreeding depression. Microsatellite-based estimates of selfing rate of open pollinated, monoecious individuals was 42%, suggesting that monoecious C. equisetifolia individuals are self-compatible, and that the breeding system should be classified as facultative xenogamy.
Additional keywords: floral longevity, pollination limitation, selfing rate, inbreeding depression.
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