Abstract:
Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is
considered one of the oldest cultivated
trees in the world. Low productivity of
some mango cultivars is associate with
low fruit setting and/or high fruit drop of
immature fruits. The self and cross
incompatibility has been reported as one
of the serious factor affecting fruit set in
many mango cultivars. In this respect, five
elite mango cultivars (Alphonse, Ewais,
Hindi khassa, Keitt and Zebda) were
examined for their self and cross-
incompatibility. RAPD analysis was
performed to assess the genetic variation
in cross-incompatibility between them.
The cross-compatibility was estimated by
counting the number of setted fruits per
panicles at 21 days after cross pollination
between every two cultivars. At the same
time, the fluorescence microscope was
used to determine the growth of pollen
tube in the style tissue after pollination.
The obtained results showed that, the five
tested mango cultivars in this study were
highly similar at the DNA level. Ewais,
Hindi khassa and Alphonse can be
grouped together showing high similarity
between them. The highest similarity
value was observed between Hindi khassa
and Ewais cultivars, while the lowest
similarity was recorded between Ewais
and Zebda cultivars. Hindi Khassa and
Ewais which appear to be the most similar
cultivars showed the lowest percentage of
pistils with pollen tubes reaching the base
