Articles
Interspecific hybrids of two redbud species, Cercis canadensis and C. chinensis
Article number
1434_35
Pages
255 – 260
Language
English
Abstract
Eastern redbuds, Cercis canadansis, is one of the most important ornamental trees in the USA, which contributed 28.4 million dollars in economic value in 2019. North Carolina has been the 3rd largest producer in the US. Eastern redbud is the major in the SouthEast US nursery industry.
Vascular streak dieback (VSD), a new widespread disease reported, has caused 50-100% eastern redbud plant loss in NC nurseries in 2022. VSD has discovered 23 important nursery crops, and it is urgent to recommend VSD-resistant plants for our nursery industry.
Some primary observations found that C. chinesis is a potential resistance gene donor.
In addition to the potential of introgression of the disease resistance gene, the interspecific hybrid strategy between the two species is necessary to increase the diversity of genes in the breeding pool, such as different flower times, flower clusters, and VSD resistances.
In this research, hybridizations between C. canadensis and C. chinensis were attempted.
The male fertility of the F1 plants was confirmed, and F1 and BC1 progenies were produced.
Species-specific PCR-based markers of each species were developed by the ITS region and used to test our possible interspecific germplasm.
Our results showed the possibility of hybridization of the two species and provided an easy molecular marker for confirming the interspecific hybrid.
Vascular streak dieback (VSD), a new widespread disease reported, has caused 50-100% eastern redbud plant loss in NC nurseries in 2022. VSD has discovered 23 important nursery crops, and it is urgent to recommend VSD-resistant plants for our nursery industry.
Some primary observations found that C. chinesis is a potential resistance gene donor.
In addition to the potential of introgression of the disease resistance gene, the interspecific hybrid strategy between the two species is necessary to increase the diversity of genes in the breeding pool, such as different flower times, flower clusters, and VSD resistances.
In this research, hybridizations between C. canadensis and C. chinensis were attempted.
The male fertility of the F1 plants was confirmed, and F1 and BC1 progenies were produced.
Species-specific PCR-based markers of each species were developed by the ITS region and used to test our possible interspecific germplasm.
Our results showed the possibility of hybridization of the two species and provided an easy molecular marker for confirming the interspecific hybrid.
Authors
J. Nix, H. Chen
Keywords
ornamental plant breeding, ITS, flowering tree breeding, nursery crop, redbuds
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