Solanum commersonii subsp. commersonii Dun. and Solanum commersonii subsp. malmeanum Bitt. (2n=2x=24 -1EBN) cannot be directly crossed with the cultivated Solanum tuberosum subsp. Tuberosum L. (2n=4x=48 - 4EBN) species due to ploidy barriers and endosperm balance number (EBN). However, non-reduced pollen production by the wild species S. commersonii ssp. (2x=2n=24 -1EBN), allows the crossing of these species with dihaploids of potato and with the diploids species, S. phureja Juz. & Bukasov. and S. chacoense Bitt., all with 2EBN. The aim of this work was to determine the meiotic mechanism and frequency of non-reduced pollen production of five clones of S. commersonii ssp. Three different clones of S. commersonii subsp. commersonii Dun. (SCC) and two of S. commersonii subsp. malmeanum Bitt. (SCM) were evaluated. In the evaluation, two hundred viable pollen grains were stained (2% acetic carmin) and measured. The pollen grains measuring 25 µm in diameter or more were considered nonreduced. The clone Solanum commersonii subsp. commersonii Dun. (SCC 100) produces 26.1% of non-reduced pollen grains caused by parallel spindles and fusion spindles, which may be used in breeding program.
Potato; non-reduced pollen; plant breeding
