Abstract

Pollen vigor is a prerequisite for fertilization and seed development. In the present research, the pollen of two tobacco varieties of Yunyan87 and K236 were collected in four different flowering stages. Pollen germination rate and the length of pollen tube were tested. Nine physiological and biochemical parameters of putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), spermine (Spm), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), malondialdehyde (MDA) and relative electrolyte leakage (REL) were examined. Multiple linear regression was adopted to determine the relationship between all parameters and pollen vigor. The results suggested that Spd could be used as a valuable parameter to predict pollen vigor for Yunyan87 and MDA could be used as a valuable parameter to predict pollen vigor for K236 in different flowering stages. The results also suggested that tobacco pollen collected in petals unfurling stage and full blooming stage had the highest vigor and unfurling stage was the best stage for pollen collection.

Key words: Pollen vigor, polyamine, antioxidant enzyme, pollen germination.