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Title: G-435 AND ARS 96-138, PINK-FRUITED BLUEBERRY SELECTIONS

Author
item Ehlenfeldt, Mark
item Finn, Chad

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/30/2006
Publication Date: 2/1/2007
Citation: Ehlenfeldt, M.K., Finn, C.E. G-435 and ars 96-138, pink-fruited blueberry selections. HortScience. 42:172-173.

Interpretive Summary: The nursery and landscape industry is interested in new and novel types of blueberry plants. Within the USDA-ARS blueberry breeding program, several pink-fruited selections are under evaluation. Several members of the nursery industry requested that these selections be made available for evaluation and propagation. In response, these selections were released as germplasm, and made freely available to all interested parties. These selections will be of interest to blueberry breeders interested in developing pink-fruited ornamental selections and to nurserymen interested in the commercialization of such types.

Technical Abstract: G-435 and ARS 96-138 are two pink-fruited blueberry selections selected from seedlings in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) blueberry breeding program. Because of interest by nurserymen in ornamental and decorative cultivars, this material is being released as germplasm for further evaluation, breeding, and possible commercialization. G-435 is predominately Vaccinium corymbosum L. (highbush) with a mixture of other species germplasm in its ancestry. It is a tetraploid and has been evaluated in New Jersey and Michigan. ARS 96-138 is a hexaploid that is half V. ashei Reade (rabbiteye) and half synthetically-derived hexaploid highbush-type germplasm. It has been evaluated in New Jersey and Oregon. ARS 96-138 was partially derived from a pink-fruited sibling of G-435 (i.e. G-434), thus the two selections are related, even though they possess different ploidy levels. These selections will be of interest to blueberry breeders interested in developing pink-fruited ornamental selection and nurserymen interested in the commercialization of such types.