Fertile Clones of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Abundant around the Tien Shan Mountains

Abstract

Garlic (A. sativum L.) clones were collected around the Tien Shan Mountains of Central Asia in 1994, based on the preliminary survey of 1983 in the wide area of Central Asia. All the 42 collected clones were grown in kagoshima. Regular meiosis of pollen mother cells (PMCs) was observed in all the 39 examined clones, and 31 of the 35 examined clones produced fertile pollen. Pollen fertility varied largely with clones from 86.8 % to 4.0 % and 17 clones showed more than 50 %. All the fertile clones accompanied purple anthers while the sterile clones accom-panied yellow anthers. Pollen germination rate depended on the clones, and it ranged from 31.7 % to 55.6% two hours after pollen release. Three hundred and forty-six seeds were obtained through self-pollination from 17 clones most of which were collected in Almaty, Bishkek, Issyk-kul, Kant and Kashgar.