ISHS Acta Horticulturae 715: VIII International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture
BREEDING SOUTHERN HIGHBUSH AND RABBITEYE BLUEBERRIES |
| Author: | P.M. Lyrene |
| Keywords: | Vaccinium corymbosum, V. ashei, V. darrowi, germplasm conservation, autopolyploidy |
| Abstract:
Blueberry breeding has two parts. The first is the crossing of superior heterozygous plants in various combinations followed by evaluation of the seedlings through various tests to find one or two that would be most useful as clonally propagated cultivars. The second part consists of population building, in which recurrent selection is used to develop and continually improve a broad-based population of superior parents that can be used to maintain breeding progress generation after generation into the far distant future. In population building, at least 100 different clones should be used per generation of breeding to avoid inbreeding depression and the depletion of genetic variability. In population building, the goal is to gradually improve the average value of a large number of characteristics over a long period of time. As the parent population improves, the quality of the seedlings will also gradually improve. Characteristics currently being emphasized in the Florida southern highbush blueberry breeding program are high fruit firmness and flavor, small, dry picking scar, high fruit set percent under poor pollination conditions, plant longevity, and prolific early-spring vegetative growth. The gene pool for cultivated rabbiteye blueberry seems dangerously narrow; broadening the gene base by using selections from the wild will require a long-term commitment. None of the native blueberry species in eastern North America is in immediate danger of becoming extinct, but blueberry genetic diversity in the wild is under increasing pressure and new, long-range conservation efforts are needed. | |
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