Experirnental Modification of Sex Expression in the Cucumber Plant : I. Alternative grafting between sub-androecious and sub-gynoecious lines

Abstract

Sex modification was investigated in the cucumber plants differing in sex expression when they had been alternatively grafted. Understocks were petioles of the 16-17 th nodes of main stems, main and side stems. Scions were seedlings immediately after cotyledon expansion and apical parts of main stems. Survival rate in grafting was higher when understocks were main and side stems and when scion were seedlings. Sex modification was not induced when seedlings were used as scions independently of understocks. On the other hand, hermaphrodite flowers were induced in the staminate flower clusters when apical parts of androecious plants were grafted as scions. This might have resulted from the transformation of staminate flower primordia at physiological bisexual stage till completion of grafting union.