The Determination of Self-Compabilitiy Status of Thermopsis turcica Through Histological Analysis

Thermopsis turcica Kit Tan, Vural & Kucukoduk (Fabaceae) is a rare and endemic Turkish species grown around Aksehir Lake and Eber Lake of the southern areas of Central Anatolia. T. turcica has a gynoecium of 2-4 functional carpels. This characteristic of T. turcica is unique in the subfamily Papilioideae of Fabaceae. Although this genotype is valuable as female plants, to date there is no consideration given to the fertilization biology of T. turcica. In the present study, 2 populations of species T. turcica (Eber and Aksehir populations) were used. Selfing and reciprocal crosses between two populations of T. turcica were performed at Nezahat Gokyigit Botanical Garden during the pollination period between May and June 2012. Pistil samples were collected from the 1 to 10 day of the pollination without damaging the population. All pistils collected were fixed in FPA-70 solution and stored at +4 °C until microscopic observations. Pistil samples were stained with aniline blue. After staining, pistils were cut into two parts (stigma with style and ovary) and were further cut longitudinally, split into two parts. All samples were observed under a fluorescent microscope. In all third day-old samples of T. turcica (both of selfand reciprocal crossed samples), ovule fertilization was observed. Based on histological analysis’s results, all samples of T. turcica have been clearly identified as self-compatible.