Articles
Apricot and plum breeding challenges
Article number
1450_50
Pages
381 – 388
Language
English
Abstract
Apricot and plum are two of the most socio-economically important fruit crops worldwide.
The sustainability and profitability of these crops depend largely on varietal innovation to satisfy the needs of farmers, but also on the other actors involved in the agri-food chain such as industry, marketers and consumers.
Although there are certain specific breeding objectives for apricot and plum, with differences existing even between European plum and Japanese plum, and different objectives depending on the destination of the fruit (fresh, dried or processed), there are several common challenges to be addressed both today and in the near future: i) adaptation to climate change, especially in warm areas where releasing low or very low chill requirements cultivars is a priority; ii) resistance to viruses, viroids and other pathologies, particularly to sharka disease; iii) self-compatibility which guarantees good productivity, since there remains much room for improvement in this topic, especially in plum species; iv) fruit quality for marketer-exporters, consumers and the industry.
From a methodological point of view, despite the efforts made in recent years in the field of genomics, the reality is that breeding programs are still being developed according to classic methodology, with only the incorporation of MAS for some traits such as self-(in)compatibility and resistance/susceptibility to sharka in apricot, and fruit skin colour in Japanese plum.
The loss of genetic diversity in most breeding programs is another rising problem.
The optimization of breeding programs must involve expanding the genetic background of the parents used, the use of new massive phenotyping tools (high-throughput phenotyping) and the implementation of new genomic tools such as genomic selection and MAS for key traits.
The sustainability and profitability of these crops depend largely on varietal innovation to satisfy the needs of farmers, but also on the other actors involved in the agri-food chain such as industry, marketers and consumers.
Although there are certain specific breeding objectives for apricot and plum, with differences existing even between European plum and Japanese plum, and different objectives depending on the destination of the fruit (fresh, dried or processed), there are several common challenges to be addressed both today and in the near future: i) adaptation to climate change, especially in warm areas where releasing low or very low chill requirements cultivars is a priority; ii) resistance to viruses, viroids and other pathologies, particularly to sharka disease; iii) self-compatibility which guarantees good productivity, since there remains much room for improvement in this topic, especially in plum species; iv) fruit quality for marketer-exporters, consumers and the industry.
From a methodological point of view, despite the efforts made in recent years in the field of genomics, the reality is that breeding programs are still being developed according to classic methodology, with only the incorporation of MAS for some traits such as self-(in)compatibility and resistance/susceptibility to sharka in apricot, and fruit skin colour in Japanese plum.
The loss of genetic diversity in most breeding programs is another rising problem.
The optimization of breeding programs must involve expanding the genetic background of the parents used, the use of new massive phenotyping tools (high-throughput phenotyping) and the implementation of new genomic tools such as genomic selection and MAS for key traits.
Publication
Authors
D. Ruiz
Keywords
adaptation, diseases resistance, fruit quality, genetic diversity, high-throughput phenotyping, genomic tools, varietal innovation
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