Assessment of the germplasm of rosaceous fruits under cultivation in Kashmir Valley. II. Meiotic system and pollen production in almond (Prunus amygdalus L. Batsch), peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) and their hybrid.

Abstract

Almond and peach are cytologically very stable. All the variants of almond and the eleven varieties of peach explored for chromosome count during the investigation are diploid with 2n=16. Meiosis is regular in both the fruits except for occasional cases of nucleolar dispersion and cytomixis. In some varieties of peach namely, Peshawari, Chakli I and Gol II, microspores abort after they are released from the tetrad. Pollen viability is low in peaches and some varieties are totally male sterile. Meiosis is regular in the almond×peach hybrid; however, the Xta frequency is lower as compared to its parents.