The blueberry is a recent major fruit crop to be brought under cultivation; improvement through breeding and selection did not begin until 1909 ( Coville, 1937 ). The primary gene pool of blueberry consists of three species, highbush blueberry
researchers and breeders conduct activities within public and private research programs, and are located primarily in the regions growing the most blueberries, including the PNW, Michigan, the Southwest, and along the East Coast. Although blueberry breeding
blueberry breeding program might take to enable selection for MFF. Short-term strategy Because the development timeline for highbush blueberry cultivars can take 10–15 years, adoption of MFF in the near future will require the use of existing cultivars
processed ( Brazelton et al., 2017 ). Development of new cultivars has played and will continue to play a major role in the growth of the blueberry market in North America and worldwide. In the last two decades, breeding programs have developed improved
The University of Florida (UF) blueberry breeding program has been developing blueberry cultivars adapted to the subtropical Florida climate for over 60 years. During this time, many uncultivated Vaccinium species native to Florida were used as
pseudo-backcross family ( Table 1 ) were transplanted to bench-top rhizotrons filled with peat. After 69 d of growth, seedlings were harvested as above. Since the pseudo-backcross family was of interest to the blueberry breeding program, individuals were
The USDA blueberry breeding program was initiated in 1910 by Dr. F.V. Coville and has been continuous since that time. Plant breeders Drs. G.M. Darrow, D.H. Scott, J.N. Moore, and A.D. Draper have worked with SAES and private growers to develop the majority of cultivars presently grown for commercial production. In the South, major cooperators with the USDA include SAES in Arkansas, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. Recently the USDA Station at Poplarville MS, has been instrumental in blueberry cultivar development for the South. Rabbiteye blueberry cultivars make up the majority of blueberry acreage grown in the region. A new type of blueberry, the southern highbush (SHB), has been developed by interspecific hybridization with various Vaccinium species. Late-blooming SHB cultivars have been developed that offer better protection from spring frosts and ripen earlier than the earliest rabbiteye blueberry. Genes required to meet future needs reside within native Vaccinium species. Progress has been made in plant adaptation, disease resistance, fruit quality, and season of ripening. There remains a need for greater plant vigor, insect resistance, and consistent production.
Abstract
Native highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) from the flatwoods of Alachua County (North-central), Florida and from Highlands County (Central peninsula) were surveyed for chromosome number and crossability with breeding lines derived from northern highbush cultivars. The Alachua County population was predominately tetraploid; a diploid component differed in leaf serration and glandulation. Tetraploid plants were fully cross-fertile with highbush cultivars and breeding lines. Diploid plants from the Alachua County population were cross fertile with both V. elliottii and V. darrowi. V. corymbosum from Highlands County was diploid.
Breeding to adapt temperate-zone fruit to subtropical production areas has been a formidable objective because so many different characteristics have to be changed, most of which are controlled by many genes. Recurrent selection is the only breeding method that can accomplish the required wholesale reorganization of the physiology of the plant. The principles of recurrent selection, developed and tested using short-generation organisms like fruit flies, rats, and maize, have been applied to the development of low-chill highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum L.) and peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.] cultivars for northern and central Florida. These principles include using many parents per generation of crosses, minimizing the time between cycles of selection, and selecting simultaneously for all heritable traits that are important in the final product, with traits of highest economic importance and highest heritability being given the highest weight in selecting parents. Many characteristics changed during the breeding of low-latitude peach and highbush blueberry cultivars, including chill requirement, photoperiod response, resistance to various disease and insect pests, fruit chemistry, and growth patterns during a long growing season.
York, NY, doi: 10.1300/J065v03n02 03 10.2307/2481260 Ballington, J.R. Rooks, S.D. Cline, W.O. Meyer, J.R. Milholland, R.D. 1997 The North Carolina State University blueberry breeding program: Toward V. × covilleanum ? Acta Hort. 446 243 250 doi: 10