Use of irradiated pollen as mentor pollen to induce self-fertilization of two self-incompatible Upper Amazon cacao clones

Two self-incompatible Upper Amazon cacao clones, T85/799 and T79/501, were pollinated with compatible Amelonado pollen subjected to varying doses of gamma irradiation (10-100 Gy). The proportion of flat non-viable beans to fully formed, viable beans in the pods increased with an increase in dosage of gamma rays. At 60 Gy all the beans produced were flat and non-viable, beyond this dosage fruit set was zero. Pollinating the self-incompatible cacao clones with a 1:1 mixture of compatible mentor pollen irradiated at 60 Gy and normal self pollen produced a mixture of flat, non-viable beans and fully-formed viable beans. Similar experiments using irradiated pollen with a marker gene suggested that the fully-formed viable beans resulted from selfing.