Effect of viruses infection symptoms on pollen viability in different horticultural crop species

A preliminary in vitro investigation was carried out to assess the impact of virus infection symptoms on in vitro pollen germination in different horticultural crop species. Pollen from healthy and virus-infected papaya (papaya ring spot virus—PRSV), gherkin (Ilar virus), okra (Ilar virus), bottle gourd (mosaic virus), chow-chow (mosaic virus), okra (yellow vein mosaic virus -YVMV), watermelon (mosaic), pumpkin (mosaic), watermelon (bud necrosis) and bitter gourd (yellow mosaic) flowers was collected, and pollen was extracted and to assessed viability in vitro via the hanging drop method. After incubation, the viability profiles of the pollen were computed. There was a significant reduction in the pollen germination profiles of pollen from infected plants compared to those from healthy plants. The impact of virus infection on pollen production, germination and viability is discussed in light of the overall reproductive ability of virus-affected plants.