Abstract
Progenies from crosses among 17 highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum L.), lowbush (V. angustifolium Ait.), and V. corymbosum/V. angustiforium hybrid parents were evaluated in 1983 and 1984 of dates for 50% bloom and 50% ripe fruit, length of the fruit development interval, and berry weight. Additive genetic variance was more important than nonadditive genetic variance, based on general combining ability (GCA) variance components. Heritability estimates were moderately high (0.44-0.78) for all traits. GCA effects were largely dependent on the parents’ ancestry. A long fruit development interval was not necessarily associated with large fruit size. Selection for large fruit size, late bloom period, early ripening, and short fruit development interval in this population should be successful. Parental phenotype should be indicative of relative progeny performance.
Leafminer (Liriomyza spp.) is a major insect pest of many important agricultural crops including lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). The goals of this study were to evaluate lettuce genotypes for resistance to leafminers and to estimate the heritabilities of leafminer-resistant traits in the field, to examine the association among different resistant traits, and to study the mechanism of leafminer resistance in lettuce. Seventy-eight lettuce accessions and 232 F2 plants of crosses were evaluated for leafminer stings and the production of pupae and flies in the field in 2001 and 2002, and resistant genotypes were subjected to no-choice test. Wild species (Lactuca serriola L., L. saligna L., and L. virosa L.) had significantly fewer stings than cultivated lettuces. Among cultivated lettuces, sting densities were lowest on leaf lettuce and highest on romaine types. The sting results from the field were highly correlated with the results from insect cages (r = 0.770 and 0.756 for 2001 and 2002 tests, respectively), suggesting that a cage test can be used to screen for resistance in the field. Broad-sense heritability estimates for stings per unit leaf area in the field were 81.6% and 67.4% for 2001 and 2002 tests, respectively. The number of pupae produced per plant or per leaf was moderately correlated with sting density but was not correlated with leaf weight. Results suggest that both antixenosis and antibiosis exist in lettuce germplasm and resistant genotypes from choice tests remain resistant under no-choice conditions. These findings suggest that genetic improvement of cultivated lettuce for leafminer resistance is feasible.
Twenty open-pollinated families from a virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) seed orchard in South Carolina were planted and managed as Christmas trees at three sites. Retail value and related traits were assessed once the tests reached marketable size (4 years in the field). All traits assessed (except survival) proved to 1) be under a moderate degree of genetic control (family mean heritability = 0.68 for retail value) and 2) have a large range among open-pollinated family means ($11.42/tree to $22.00/tree, retail value) suggesting that they will response well to the traditional tree improvement approach of selection, breeding and testing. The retail value of the best five families tested averaged an increase of $3.47/tree or 20.7% more than the average. At a 6 × 6 ft (1.8 m) spacing [1,210 trees/acre (2,990 trees/ha)], these families would produce an increase in revenue of almost $4,200/acre ($10,387/ha). Much of this increase in value is a result of reducing the cull rate from 14.5% to 8.1%. Survival, height, crown density and straightness of these five families also exceeded the average of the 20 families tested.
The inheritance of antioxidant activity (AOA) and its association with seedcoat color was investigated in cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.]. Four advanced cowpea lines, ARK95-356 (black seedcoat) and ARK98-348 (red seedcoat), which were high (H) in AOA, and ARK96-918 (cream seedcoat) and LA92-180 (cream seedcoat), which were low (L) in AOA, were selected from the 2002 Regional Southernpea Cooperative Trials. They were crossed in a complete diallel mating design, generating F1, F1′ (1st generation and 1st generation reciprocal cross, respectively), F2, F2′ (2nd generations from F1, F1′), BC1, and BC2 (backcrosses to parents 1 and 2, respectively) populations. Individual seeds were ground and samples were extracted in methanol and analyzed for AOA using the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Combining ability tests using Griffing's Method I Model I indicated presence of highly significant general combining ability (GCA), specific combining ability (SCA), and reciprocal (RE) and maternal (MAT) effects, with pigmented lines exhibiting positive GCA and MAT, while nonpigmented lines exhibited negative GCA and MAT. AOA in the F1 was not significantly different from the maternal parent, with seedcoat color also resembling the maternal parent. Segregation for seedcoat color was observed in the F2 and F2′. Additive, dominance, and epistatic effects were significant. The broad sense heritability estimate was 0.87. Minimum number of genes responsible for AOA was estimated at five. Factors governing high AOA appeared to be the same as those responsible for seedcoat color, with apparent pleiotropic effects. In conclusion, breeding for high AOA in cowpea is possible using highly pigmented parental lines.
The postproduction quality of 33 cultivars and 178 Pennsylvania State Univ. breeding lines of Pelargonium ×domesticum L.H. Bailey was evaluated in a simulated consumer environment. Petal abscission was the primary factor that reduced postproduction ratings (PPR). The heterozygosity of some cultivars was indicated by the range of PPR of progeny from self-pollinations. This range of PPR implies that P. ×domesticum has genetic variation for postproduction quality that can be used in a breeding and selection program. Few progeny with high PPR were produced from either self- or cross-pollinations involving parents with low PPR. Many of the superior progeny resulted from parents with high PPR. Therefore, progeny with improved postproduction quality can be developed by selecting parents with high PPR.
Abstract
In the tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) the ability of PI 341988 to germinate at 10°C is controlled by a recessive gene, tentatively symbolized Itg.
Twenty-one control-pollinated families of lilac (Syringa) were evaluated for the presence of powdery mildew (Microsphaera syringae). Because disease developed first in the lower portions of the plant and moved up, infection was scored from the lowest (1 =only on the lower quarter of the plant) to the highest quarter of the plant (4=present on all quarters of the plant). Family means for mildew score ranged from 2.3 to 3.8 and averaged 3.1, and for height ranged from 59 to 107 cm and averaged 82 cm. Narrow sense and broad sense he&abilities were estimated to be 0.08 and 0.27 respectively. Since any selections will be clonal, this relatively large proportion of non-additive variance can be fully utilized. There was a significant positive correlation between family means of height and mildew score (0.58); however, the phenotypic correlation between height and mildew score was -0.11. For this population the genetic correlation between mildew infection and height was positive (the taller families on average had mildew farther up the plant), but the environmental correlation was negative.
Abstract
Heritability estimates for fire blight resistance in pear were obtained by regressing progeny means on midparental phenotypes. Approximately half of the variability in resistance in pear was additive (h2 = 0.52), but there was also evidence for nonadditive genetic effects compatible with a proposed qualitative gene for sensitivity. A method was established to estimate relative average combining ability for fire blight resistance. Progeny means of individual parents were adjusted to the grand progeny mean of 8 intercrossed testers based on common progeny.
Three individuals in progeny from each of 39 crosses and their parents in Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) were evaluated for fruit ripening time. Analysis of variance for the progeny, which estimated between- and within-cross variance, and the regression of the mean value in a full-sib family on the mid-parental value (MP) revealed that the genetic differences among crosses could be explained solely by MP. Genotypic values of individuals in progeny from a cross were assumed to be normally distributed around the regression line with within-cross genetic variance. Based on the parental mean performance of 3.5 fruit on a single tree for three years, the coefficient of regression of mean values in a full-sib family on MP was 0.99 ± 0.10, and the proportion of individuals in progeny having genotypic values ripening earlier than early October was estimated as 52%, 24%, and 7% for three sets of mid-parents differing in their ripening time, i.e., early, middle, and late October, respectively. On the basis of the parental mean performance in 10 fruit on a single tree without yearly repetition, the regression coefficient was estimated as 0.91 and the proportion was estimated as 44%, 20%, and 6% for the three sets of mid-parents, respectively.