POLYEMBRYONY AND POTENTIAL OF HYBRID PRODUCTION IN CITRUS

Polyembryony. heterozygosity and long pre-reproductive period are the main obstacles for developing citrus hybrid varieties. This study was based on crosses between several varieties. when crossed with Sunki of Florida\' mandarin (TSKFL) as the female parent generated greater amounts of hybrids. contrary to the results obtained when \'Cleopatra\'. Sunki Maravilha\' and Sunki Tropical\' mandarins, as well as \'Dancy\' tangerine and \'Florida\' rough lemon, were used as the female parent, whereas the \'Rangpur Santa Cruz\' lime and the \'CNPMF-001\' rough lemon occupied intermediary positions. Confronting these observations in regard to the level of polyembryony of the female parents used, in general, an inverse relationship was observed between the level of polyembryony and the number of hybrids generated. The crosses TSKFL x (\'Rangpuf lime x Poncirus info/iota), TSKFL x \'Yuma\' citrange. TSKFL x \'Thomasville\' citrangequat, TSKFL x Citrus webberi. TSKFL x \'Argentina\' citrange and TSKFL x \'Coleman\' citrange, notably the first four, produced very high amounts of hybrids.