A EUROPEAN RESEARCH PROJECT TO IMPROVE KIWIFRUIT ADAPTATION TO COLD CLIMATES USING CONVENTIONAL BREEDING METHODS AND BIOTECHNOLOGIES

A cooperative project to improve kiwifruit adaptation to European conditions is described.
The project involves two European countries (France and Italy) and four laboratories.

The first objective is to create new kiwifruit varieties with a shorter vegetative cycle than ‘Hayward’ in order to avoid spring and autumn frosts.
To reach this goal, induced variability from ‘Hayward’ and conventional intraspecific hybridization were used in A. deliciosa species.

The second objective is to create a rootstock which would give the plant not only the rooting system but also a trunk resistant to winter frost.
To obtain such rootstock two methods were adopted: conventional interspecific hybridization and protoplast fusion.

In addition to these main objectives, research was carried out on embryo rescue of interspecific crosses and early detection of male individuals at the seedling stage.

III International Symposium on Kiwifruit

R. Monet, J. Chat, C.M. Hirsch, X.G. Xiao, J.M. Legave, L. Chalak, R. Testolin

Actinidia, selection, sex marker, somaclonal, variation, trihaploid, protoplast fusion

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1997.444.6