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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Production and Genetic Improvement Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #352215
Research Project: Genetic Improvement of Blackberry, Red and Black Raspberry, Blueberry, and Strawberry

Location: Horticultural Crops Production and Genetic Improvement Research Unit

Title: Generating a unique germplasm base for the breeding of day-neutral strawberry cultivars

Author
item HANCOCK, JAMES - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
item EDGER, PATRICK - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
item CALLOW, PETER - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
item HERLACHE, THOMAS - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
item FINN, CHAD

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2018
Publication Date: 7/1/2018
Citation: Hancock, J.F., Edger, P.P., Callow, P.W., Herlache, T., Finn, C.E. 2018. Generating a unique germplasm base for the breeding of day-neutral strawberry cultivars. HortScience. 53(7):1069–1071. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI12840-18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI12840-18

Interpretive Summary: Over the last few decades, a number of day-neutral cultivars have been developed outside of California using Univ. of California-Davis's Royce Bringhurst’s source of day-neutrality, but none of these has achieved the commercial success of the Cal-Davis cultivars. In general, their fruit are softer and smaller, and their floral development is inhibited by the hot summer temperatures common in temperate climates. Because temperature has such a strong impact on performance, we have suggested that the ‘day-neutrals’ are more appropriately called remontant. To facilitate the development of remontant cultivars outside of California, it is likely that local germplasm bases must be expanded. Levels of future success may be tied to incorporating new genetics into local breeding programs that are unique to the Cal-Davis germplasm base. It might also be beneficial to incorporate genes specifically from genotypes that are known to be heat tolerant. Herein, we describe our efforts to generate such a diverse population that we would like to share with the breeding community.

Technical Abstract: Over the last few decades, a number of day-neutral cultivars have been developed outside of California using Univ. of California-Davis's Royce Bringhurst’s source of day-neutrality, but none of these has achieved the commercial success of the Cal-Davis cultivars. In general, their fruit are softer and smaller, and their floral development is inhibited by the hot summer temperatures common in temperate climates. Because temperature has such a strong impact on performance, we have suggested that the ‘day-neutrals’ are more appropriately called remontant. To facilitate the development of remontant cultivars outside of California, it is likely that local germplasm bases must be expanded. Levels of future success may be tied to incorporating new genetics into local breeding programs that are unique to the Cal-Davis germplasm base. It might also be beneficial to incorporate genes specifically from genotypes that are known to be heat tolerant. Herein, we describe our efforts to generate such a diverse population that we would like to share with the breeding community. The 15 genotypes described represent germplasm from throughout the range of the octoploid strawberries in North and South America.