Volume 30 Number 1 Article 29 Pages: 27-27
Year 1976 Month 1
Title: Blueberry Species Characterization for Parent Potential
Author: G.J. Galletta
Citation
Abstract:
The blueberry species collection located
at Castle Hayne and Raleigh,
North Carolina, has passed through
one generation of characterization and
selection.
More than 200 clones and
150 open pollinated seed progenies
have been screened for potential usefulness.
Approximately 350 selected
seedlings have been propagated and
are growing to maturity.
These selected
seedlings and clones will now
be further characterized for potential
parent use in a systematic species hybridization
study.
The principal criteria
to be employed in the second
round of selection are continued vigor,
disease resistance, productivity and
horticultural or botanical traits of interest.
The interest and expertise of a number
of colleagues and students has
made it possible to survey portions of
the collection for resistance to fungus
and mite pests, and to characterize
plant, fruit, chromosome, pollen, seed
and compatibility relationships.
Some of the major findings to date
follow: The diploid Cyanococcus species
(true blueberries) genome is quite
uniform, suggesting that the remarkable
array of variation within and
between species is largely genic in origin;
sources of practically any desirable
horticultural blueberry trait can
be found among the collected species;
practically all of the species produce
a small number of unreduced gametes,
making the postulated origin of polyploids
from the diploids feasible; the
polyploid species frequently show
higher potential fertility and adaptability
than the diploid species representatives;
there is a fair amount of
natural hybridization in the wild, but
gene exchange between homoploid
species may be more limited than previously
supposed; species hybrids continue
to offer some of the most exciting
possibilities for the development
of more useful and broadly adapted
blueberries.
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