'Plant Breeding: Sustaining the Future' Abstracts of the XVIth EUCARPIA Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland, 10-14 September 2001 MORPHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF VITIS SPP. FLOWER M.L. MIAJA, R. VALLANIA, M. PORPORATO, R. CARAMIELLO Centro di studio per il miglioramento genetico e la biologia della vite, CHR, Torino, Italy

Flowers of 6 species of Vitis (V. candicans Englem, V. champinii Planch, V. coriacea Shuttew, V. palmata-rubra Vahl, V. rupestris  ‘du lot’ Scheele, V. solonis Prince) were examined for morphology of gynoecium and androecium in the physiologically female or male entities.  These species, indigenous of America, are interesting for resistance to some parasites (i.e. oidium, phylloxera, vine mildew) and to pedoclimatic conditions.  Observations were carried on flowers, pollen grains and pistils by LM and SEM. Pollen of physiologically male species (V. candicans and V. rupestris du lot) was prolate and tricolpate and showed high germinability (about 80%) while pistils were not well developed.  Pollen grains of physiologically female species were subprolate, inaperaturate and did not germinate, while pistils were well developed.  The examined entities are a genetic resource useful for crossings for the constitution, for example, of new rootstocks.