• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.617-622
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• 2011

The study was conducted to determine the efficiency in producing spontaneous polyploids in some mandarin hybrids with different seed embryony. Seed formation by open pollination, frequency of spontaneous polyploids, and plant growth characteristics were evaluated in four mandarin hybrids with polyembryony such as 'Amakusa', 'Haruka', 'Hayaka', and 'Seminole' and two with monoembryony such as 'Benibae' and 'Harehime'. The mean number of the developed seeds per fruit was 10.0 and frequency of small seeds was 25.1%. Polyploids were selected from plants germinated in vitro by a flow cytometry and confirmed by chromosome analysis. One triploid was produced from 'Harehime', one tetraploid, 'Amakusa', and one tetrapoid, 'Benibae'. There were little differences in leaf shape, thickness, petiole length, and internode length between diploids and polyploids such as tri- or tetraploid. However, polyploids had larger stomata and lower density of stomata in abaxial epidermis than diploids. SPAS indicating chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate were significantly affected by ploidy level. The results indicated that spontaneous polyploids might be produced by open pollination in some mandarin hybrids and monoembryony had higher frequency in polyploid occurrence than polyembryony.