Breeding Cultivars from Blueberry × Deerberry Hybrids: Progress and Prospects

Vaccinium stamineum (deerberry) is a highly variable diploid species in section Polycodium. Deerberry is native on excessively drained sandy soils from southeastern Ontario, south through the Florida peninsula to Lake Okeechobee, west to eastern Texas and southeastern Kansas. The V. stamineum used in this study were tall plants (2–4 m) native in north Florida, with a plant architecture similar to rabbiteye blueberry (V. virgatum). Starting in 2013 with crosses between tetraploid highbush cultivars (section Cyanococcus) and colchicine-doubled V. stamineum, hundreds of F1 and thousands of later-generation seedlings were grown and evaluated in high-density field nurseries at Citra in North Florida. The populations studied included F1, F2, backcrosses to each parent species, and BC1 × BC1 seedlings. The goal of the study was to assess the feasibility of introgressing into highbush blueberry cultivars desirable traits from V. stamineum (drought tolerance, red-flesh berries, new flavor components, open flowers with short corolla cups and exserted anthers and stigmas) without introducing horticulturally problematic characteristics (bitter skin, berries that shatter when ripe, difficult vegetative propagation). Vigor averaged very low in F1 seedlings, higher in F2 seedlings and in seedlings from backcrosses to V. stamineum, and highest in seedlings from backcrosses to highbush. Most crosses yielded numerous plump seeds, but crosses to produce F1 hybrids yielded fewer than 10% as many seeds as highbush × highbush crosses. Most vegetative, flower, and fruit traits that differentiate highbush from V. stamineum were intermediate in F1 seedlings. Backcross seedlings more closely resembled the recurrent parent. Variability in morphological characters was high in every generation, giving much opportunity for selection. Some seedlings from backcrosses to highbush (≈5%) appeared to have the vigor, berry quality, and yield potential required in commercial cultivars. Producing highbush cultivars that strongly express a particular V. stamineum trait might best be accomplished by growing large, segregating F2 populations from which parents for backcrosses can be selected.

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Comparative Analysis of Genetic and Morphological Variation within the Platanthera hyperborea Complex (Orchidaceae)

Systematic Botany ◽

10.1600/036364420x16033962925303 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 45 (4) ◽

pp. 767-778

Author(s):

Eranga Wettewa ◽

Nick Bailey ◽

Lisa E. Wallace

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Diploid Species ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Evolutionary Patterns ◽

Founding Population ◽

Multiple Origins ◽

Geographic Structure ◽

Species Complexes ◽

Nuclear Its ◽

Cryptic Taxa

Abstract—Species complexes present considerable problems for a working taxonomy due to the presence of intraspecific variation, hybridization, polyploidy, and phenotypic plasticity. Understanding evolutionary patterns using molecular markers can allow for a more thorough assessment of evolutionary lineages than traditional morphological markers. In this study, we evaluated genetic diversity and phylogenetic patterns among taxa of the Platanthera hyperborea (Orchidaceae) complex, which includes diploid (Platanthera aquilonis) and polyploid (Platanthera hyperborea, P. huronensis, and P. convallariifolia) taxa spanning North America, Greenland, Iceland, and Asia. We found that three floral morphological characters overlap among the polyploid taxa, but the diploid species has smaller flowers. DNA sequence variation in a plastid (rpL16 intron) and a nuclear (ITS) marker indicated that at least three diploid species have contributed to the genomes of the polyploid taxa, suggesting all are of allopolyploid origin. Platanthera convallariifolia is most like P. dilatata and P. stricta, whereas P. huronensis and P. hyperborea appear to have originated from crosses of P. dilatata and P. aquilonis. Platanthera huronensis, which is found across North America, has multiple origins and reciprocal maternal parentage from the diploid species. By contrast, P. hyperborea, restricted to Greenland and Iceland, appears to have originated from a small founding population of hybrids in which P. dilatata was the maternal parent. Geographic structure was found among polyploid forms in North America. The area of Manitoba, Canada appears to be a contact zone among geographically diverse forms from eastern and western North America. Given the geographic and genetic variation found, we recommend continued recognition of four green-flowered species within this complex, but caution that there may be additional cryptic taxa within North America.

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Breeding of High Cooking and Eating Quality in Rice by Marker-Assisted Backcrossing (MABc) Using KASP Markers

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants10040804 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 804

Author(s):

Me-Sun Kim ◽

Ju-Young Yang ◽

Ju-Kyung Yu ◽

Yi Lee ◽

Yong-Jin Park ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Background ◽

Amylose Content ◽

Yield Potential ◽

Eating Quality ◽

Breeding Cycle ◽

Recurrent Parent ◽

Rice Varieties ◽

Breeding Programs ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Cooking And Eating Quality

The primary goals of rice breeding programs are grain quality and yield potential improvement. With the high demand for rice varieties of premium cooking and eating quality, we developed low-amylose content breeding lines crossed with Samgwang and Milkyqueen through the marker-assisted backcross (MABc) breeding program. Trait markers of the SSIIIa gene referring to low-amylose content were identified through an SNP mapping activity, and the markers were applied to select favorable lines for a foreground selection. To rapidly recover the genetic background of Samgwang (recurrent parent genome, RPG), 386 genome-wide markers were used to select BC1F1 and BC2F1 individuals. Seven BC2F1 lines with targeted traits were selected, and the genetic background recovery range varied within 97.4–99.1% of RPG. The amylose content of the selected BC2F2 grains ranged from 12.4–16.8%. We demonstrated the MABc using a trait and genome-wide markers, allowing us to efficiently select lines of a target trait and reduce the breeding cycle effectively. In addition, the BC2F2 lines confirmed by molecular markers in this study can be utilized as parental lines for subsequent breeding programs of high-quality rice for cooking and eating.

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Relationship Between Root and Yield Related Morphological Characters in Pea (Pisum Sativum L.)

Plant Breeding and Seed Science ◽

10.2478/v10129-011-0053-7 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 66 (1) ◽

pp. 3-15

Author(s):

Sylwia Ciaglo-Androsiuk

Keyword(s):

Root System ◽

Morphological Traits ◽

Lateral Roots ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Yield Potential ◽

Cultivated Plants ◽

Genetic Determination ◽

Canonical Correlations ◽

Effect On Yield

AbstractRelation between morphological traits of the root system and yield related traits is an important issue concerning efforts aiming at improving of ideotype of cultivated plants species, including pea. In this paper, to analyse the dependency between traits describing the root system morphology and yield potential, Person’s andSpearman's_correlations as well as canonical correlations were used.Root system was analyzed in 14 and 21 day-old seedlings growing in blotting-paper cylinders. Yield potential of pea was analysed in a field experiment. Results of Person’s and Spearman's_correlations revealed that number of lateral roots and lateral roots density were correlated witch yield related traits. Correlation between root length and shoot length was observed only for 14 day-old seedlings. The result of canonical correlations revealed that number of lateral roots and lateral roots density had the largest effect on yield related traits. This work highlights, that in order to improve the yield of pea it might become necessary to understand genetic determination of morphological traits of the root system, especially number of lateral roots.

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Contribution of Wild Relatives to Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) Yield Stability across Contrasted Environments

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11101992 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1992

Author(s):

Hafid Aberkane ◽

Ahmed Amri ◽

Bouchra Belkadi ◽

Abdelkarim Filali-Maltouf ◽

Jan Valkoun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Durum Wheat ◽

Triticum Turgidum ◽

Wild Relatives ◽

Yield Stability ◽

Yield Potential ◽

High Yield ◽

Interspecific Crosses ◽

Aegilops Speltoides ◽

Recurrent Parent ◽

Environment Interaction

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) is mostly grown in Mediterranean type environments, characterized by unpredictable rainfall amounts and distribution, heat stress, and prevalence of major diseases and pests, all to be exacerbated with climate change. Pre-breeding efforts transgressing adaptive genes from wild relatives need to be strengthened to overcome these abiotic and biotic challenges. In this study, we evaluated the yield stability of 67 lines issued from interspecific crosses of Cham5 and Haurani with Triticum dicoccoides, T. agilopoides, T. urartu, and Aegilops speltoides, grown under 15 contrasting rainfed and irrigated environments in Morocco, and heat-prone conditions in Sudan. Yield stability was assessed using parametric (univariate (e.g., Bi, S2di, Pi etc) and multivariate (ASV, SIPC)) and non-parametric (Si1, Si2, Si3 and Si6) approaches. The combined analysis of variance showed the highly significant effects of genotypes, environments, and genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI). The environments varied in yield (1370–6468 kg/ha), heritability (0.08–0.9), and in their contribution to the GEI. Several lines derived from the four wild parents combined productivity and stability, making them suitable for unpredictable climatic conditions. A significant advantage in yield and stability was observed in Haurani derivatives compared to their recurrent parent. Furthermore, no yield penalty was observed in many of Cham5 derivatives; they had improved yield under unfavorable environments while maintaining the high yield potential from the recurrent parent (e.g., 142,026 and 142,074). It was found that a limited number of backcrosses can produce high yielding/stable germplasm while increasing diversity in a breeding pipeline. Comparing different stability approaches showed that some of them can be used interchangeably; others can be complementary to combine broad adaption with higher yield.

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Cytological identification of some trisomics of Russian wildrye (Psathyrostachys juncea)

Genome ◽

10.1139/g95-167 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 38 (6) ◽

pp. 1271-1278 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jun-Zhi Wei ◽

W. F. Campbell ◽

G. J. Scoles ◽

A. E. Slinkard ◽

R. Ruey-Chyi Wang

Keyword(s):

Crop Improvement ◽

Diploid Species ◽

Pollen Grains ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Cereal Crop ◽

Banding Patterns ◽

C Banding ◽

Psathyrostachys Juncea ◽

Double Deletion ◽

Russian Wildrye

Russian wildrye, Psathyrostachys juncea (Fisch.) Nevski (2n = 2x = 14; NsNs), is an important forage grass and a potential source of germplasm for cereal crop improvement. Because of genetic heterogeneity as a result of its self-incompatibility, it is difficult to identify trisomics of this diploid species based on morphological characters alone. Putative trisomies (2n = 2x + 1 = 15), derived from open pollination of a triploid plant by pollen grains of diploid plants, were characterized by Giemsa C-banding. Based on both karyotypic criteria and C-banding patterns, four of the seven possible primary trisomics, a double-deletion trisomic, and two tertiary trisomics were identified.Key words: Russian wildrye, Psathyrostachys juncea, trisomic, C-banding, karyotype.

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Discovery and Transfer of Genes from Wild Zea Germplasm to Improve Grain Oil and Protein Composition of Temperate Maize

10.32747/1998.7580683.bard ◽

1998 ◽

Author(s):

Margaret Smith ◽

Nurit Katzir ◽

Susan McCouch ◽

Yaakov Tadmor

Keyword(s):

Protein Content ◽

Oil Content ◽

Grain Quality ◽

Yield Potential ◽

Absolute Difference ◽

Recurrent Parent ◽

Agricultural Commodity ◽

Advanced Backcross ◽

Maize Varieties ◽

Project Objectives

Project Objectives 1. Develop and amplify two interspecific populations (annual and perennial teosintes x elite maize inbred) as the basis for genetic analysis of grain quality. 2. Identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) from teosinte that improve oil, protein, and essential amino acid composition of maize grain. 3. Develop near isogenic lines (NILs) to quantify QTL contributions to grain quality and as a resource for future breeding and gene cloning efforts. 4. Analyze the contribution of these QTLs to hybrid performance in both the US and Israel. 5. Measure the yield potential of improved grain quality hybrids. (NOTE: Yield potential could not be evaluated due to environmentally-caused failure of the breeding nursery where seed was produced for this evaluation.) Background: Maize is a significant agricultural commodity worldwide. As an open pollinated crop, variation within the species is large and, in most cases, sufficient to supply the demand for modem varieties and for new environments. In recent years there is a growing demand for maize varieties with special quality attributes. While domesticated sources of genetic variation for high oil and protein content are limited, useful alleles for these traits may remain in maize's wild relative, teosinte. We utilized advanced backcross (AB) analysis to search for QTLs contributing to oil and protein content from two teosinte accessions: Zea mays ssp. mexicana Race Chalco, an annual teosinte (referred to as Chalco), and Z diploperennis Race San Miguel, a perennial teosinte (referred to as Diplo). Major Conclusions and Achievements Two NILs targeting a Diplo introgression in bin 1.04 showed a significant increase in oil content in homozygous sib-pollinated seed when compared to sibbed seed of their counterpart non-introgressed controls. These BC4S2 NILs, referred to as D-RD29 and D-RD30, carry the Diplo allele in bin 1.04 and the introgression extends partially into bins 1.03 and 1.05. These NILs remain heterozygous in bins 4.01 and 8.02, but otherwise are homozygous for the recurrent parent (RD6502) alleles. NILs were developed also for the Chalco introgression in bin 1.04 but these do not show any improvement in oil content, suggesting that the Chalco alleles differ from the Diplo alleles in this region. Testcross Fl seed and sibbed grain from these Fl plants did not show any effect on oil content from this introgression, suggesting that it would need to be present in both parents of a maize hybrid to have an effect on oil content. Implications, both Scientific and Agricultural The Diplo region identified increases oil content by 12.5% (from 4.8% to 5.4% oil in the seed). Although this absolute difference is not large in agronomic terms, this locus could provide additive increases to oil content in combination with other maize-derived loci for high oil. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed report of a QTL from teosinte for improved grain oil content in maize. It suggests that further research on grain quality alleles from maize wild relatives would be of both scientific and agricultural interest.

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High-density QTL mapping of leaf-related traits and chlorophyll content in three soybean RIL populations

BMC Plant Biology ◽

10.1186/s12870-020-02684-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kaiye Yu ◽

Jinshe Wang ◽

Chongyuan Sun ◽

Xiaoqian Liu ◽

Huanqing Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chlorophyll Content ◽

Photosynthetic Efficiency ◽

Plant Architecture ◽

Seed Quality ◽

Leaf Size ◽

Yield Potential ◽

Size And Shape ◽

Genetic Components ◽

Leaf Size And Shape ◽

Mapping Populations

Abstract Background Leaf size and shape, which affect light capture, and chlorophyll content are important factors affecting photosynthetic efficiency. Genetic variation of these components significantly affects yield potential and seed quality. Identification of the genetic basis for these traits and the relationship between them is of great practical significance for achieving ideal plant architecture and high photosynthetic efficiency for improved yield. Results Here, we undertook a large-scale linkage mapping study using three mapping populations to determine the genetic interplay between soybean leaf-related traits and chlorophyll content across two environments. Correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between leaf size and shape, while both traits were positively correlated with chlorophyll content. This phenotypic relationship was verified across the three mapping populations as determined by principal component analysis, suggesting that these traits are under the control of complex and interrelated genetic components. The QTLs for leaf-related traits and chlorophyll are partly shared, which further supports the close genetic relationship between the two traits. The largest-effect major loci, q20, was stably identified across all population and environments and harbored the narrow leaflet gene Gm-JAG1 (Ln/ln), which is a key regulator of leaflet shape in soybean. Conclusion Our results uncover several major QTLs (q4–1, q4–2, q11, q13, q18 and q20) and its candidate genes specific or common to leaf-related traits and chlorophyll, and also show a complex epistatic interaction between the two traits. The SNP markers closely linked to these valuable QTLs could be used for molecular design breeding with improved plant architecture, photosynthetic capacity and even yield.

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Introgression of the Afila Gene into Climbing Garden Pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10101537 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 1537

Author(s):

Oscar Checa ◽

Marino Rodriguez ◽

Xingbo Wu ◽

Matthew Blair

Keyword(s):

Pisum Sativum ◽

Production Costs ◽

Yield Potential ◽

Recurrent Parent ◽

Linkage Drag ◽

Progeny Testing ◽

High Biomass ◽

Garden Pea ◽

Pisum Sativum L ◽

Field Peas

The pea (Pisum sativum L.) is one of the most important crops in temperate agriculture around the world. In the tropics, highland production is also common with multiple harvests of nearly mature seeds from climbing plant types on trellises. While the leafless variant caused by the afila gene is widely used in developing row-cropped field peas in Europe, its use for trellised garden peas has not been reported. In this study we describe a pea breeding program for a high-elevation tropical environment in the Department of Nariño in Colombia, where over 16,000 hectares of the crop are produced. The most widespread climbing varieties in the region are ‘Andina’ and ‘Sindamanoy’, both of which have high-biomass architecture with abundant foliage. They are prone to many diseases, but preferred by farmers given their long production season. This plant type is expensive to trellis, with wooden posts and plastic strings used for vine staking constituting 52% of production costs. The afila trait could reduce these costs by creating interlocking plants as they do in field peas. Therefore, our goal for this research was to develop a rapid breeding method to introduce the recessive afila gene, which replaces leaves with tendrils, into the two commercial varieties used as recurrent parents (RPs) with three donor parents (DPs)—‘Dove’, ‘ILS3575′ and ‘ILS3568′—and to measure the effect on plant height (PH) and yield potential. Our hypothesis was that the afila gene would not cause linkage drag while obtaining a leafless climbing pea variety. Backcrossing was conducted without selfing for two generations and plants were selected to recover recurrent parent characteristics. Chi-square tests showed a ratio of 15 normal leaved to one afila leaved in the BC2F2 plants, and 31:1 in the BC3F2 generation. Selecting in the last of these generations permitted a discovery of tall climbing plants that were similar to those preferred commercially, but with the stable leafless afila. The method saved two seasons compared to the traditional method of progeny testing before each backcross cycle; the peas reached the BC2F2 generation in five seasons and the BC3F2 in seven seasons. This is advantageous with trellised peas that normally require half a year to reach maturity. Leafless garden peas containing the afila gene were of the same height as recurrent parents and, by the third backcross, were equally productive, without the high biomass found in the traditional donor varieties. The value of the afila gene and the direct backcrossing scheme is discussed in terms of garden pea improvement and crop breeding.

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Phenotypic, Genetic and Biochemical Characterization of Five Tunisian Varieties of Chickpea

Journal of Agricultural Studies ◽

10.5296/jas.v5i1.10808 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 77 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mongi Melki ◽

Abir Gsouri ◽

Mariem Bouhadida ◽

Hnya Chograni ◽

Mohsen Rezgui

Keyword(s):

Amino Acids ◽

Biochemical Characterization ◽

Block Design ◽

Field Trials ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Yield Potential ◽

Polymorphism Analysis ◽

Sulfur Amino Acids ◽

Semi Arid Region

Five Tunisian varieties of Kabuli chickpea were characterized based on agro morphological, molecular and biochemical parameters to investigate their genetic variability and yield potential. Randomized complete block design field trials were carried out in the upper semi-arid region of Kef in Tunisia during the 2013-2014 seasons. Data analysis showed significant differences between genotypes for several parameters. The results indicated that these genotypes could be set into two different groups. The first group composed of Bochra and Chetoui genotypes. Kasseb, Neyer and Beja1 were in the second group. Genotypes in each group were closely related to each other according to their common morphological characters such as pod number, one hundred seeds weight and yield. Chetoui and Kasseb varieties are later in comparison to other varieties. Genetic diversity was studied using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Four loci (TA64, TA71, TA96, TA194) were multiallelic. Whereas while two loci (TA72, GAA47) were monomorphic. Polymorphism analysis showed a phylogeny related to genotypes differentiation according to their relatives, origin and several morphological characters. Bochra variety had high amino acids content followed by Chetoui variety. All the varieties were deficient in sulfur amino acids. Chickpeas protein contents were variable and high ranging from 18% to 25%.

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Hybridization of Cultivated Highbush Blueberry with Vaccinium stamineum: Phenotype and Fertility of Backcross1 Populations

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci12650-17 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 159-166

Author(s):

Paul M. Lyrene

Keyword(s):

Fruit Set ◽

Highbush Blueberry ◽

Drought Tolerant ◽

Flavor Components ◽

Berry Quality

Nine F1 hybrids produced by crossing seven tetraploid highbush blueberry cultivars with three tetraploid Vaccinium stamineum genotypes were backcrossed to an array of highbush blueberry cultivars to produce 2500 Backcross1 (BC1) seedlings. Thirty of the most vigorous BC1 plants were intercrossed in a greenhouse. Fertility of the BC1 plants was studied by examining their pollen at 250× and by determining the number of well-developed seeds per pollinated flower after the crosses. Percent well-formed microspores averaged 62.7% for BC1 plants compared with 30.9% for their F1 hybrid parents. Fruit set percentage was high from the BC1 intercrosses, with an average of 9.29 plump seeds per pollinated flower. The 2500 BC1 seedlings in the field were highly variable in vigor, but fewer than 10% were as vigorous as the median vigor of highbush × highbush seedlings. BC1 plants in the field averaged ≈1 month later ripening than highbush × highbush seedlings and berries averaged slightly smaller. Berry clusters were very loose compared with those of highbush. Berry flavor was highly variable from plant to plant, but the berries averaged less sweet and lower in acid than highbush berries. New flavor components not found in highbush seedlings were found in only a few BC1 seedlings. Fresh berries from BC1 plants made bright red juice when crushed in water, whereas berries from most highbush cultivars produced brown to yellow juice/water mixes. Although berry quality in the BC1 population averaged lower than in highbush seedlings, some plants had berry quality as high as typical cultivars. Because V. stamineum is highly drought-tolerant, cultivars bred using V. stamineum introgression could have improved upland adaptation.

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