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ARS Home » Midwest Area » East Lansing, Michigan » Sugarbeet and Bean Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #85626
Title: REGISTRATION OF SR94 SMOOTHROOT SUGARBEET GERMPLASM

Author
item Saunders, Joseph
item McGrath, Jon
item Halloin, John
item THEURER, J - RETIRED ARS SCIENTIST

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/31/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Beet sugar could be produced more economically if roots were able to be harvested with less soil, because of reduced sugar losses after harvest as well lower costs for soil disposal by the processor. The new sugarbeet germplasm SR 94 has both a smoother more soil-free root and a high sugar content. It should contribute to hybrid varieties of the future meeting the demand of the sugar producers for more soil-free beets at harvest. The cost efficiency resulting from smooth root sugarbeets are important to sugarbeet farmers and processors because of the reduced postharvest sugar losses and waste soil disposal expenses to produce sugar in these portions of the sugarbeet industry.

Technical Abstract: SR 94 is a moderately smoothroot sugarbeet selected for soil-free harvest. It has smoothrootedness and sucrose percentage equivalent to that of SR 80 released in 1992. SR 94 has a higher sucrose percentage than either SR 87 or SR 93 and has broader genetic diversity than SR 87 or SR 80. SR 94 is an open pollination increase of synthetic seed produced from three cycles of mass selection for smoothroot and high sucrose percentage, following three individual plant pair crosses of beets with high sucrose percentage with smoothroot beets selected from smoothroot line SP85700. The germplasm base of SR 94 is approximately 50 percent SP85700, 18 percent L19, 18 percent AC8400051 from American Crystal Sugar Co., 7 percent AC8400040 from American Crystal Sugar Co., and 7 percent 46I1. SR 94 is diploid multigerm and segregates for red and green hypocotyl. SR 94 is relately easy bolting and male fertile plants are largely self sterile with a significant degree of pseudo- self-fertility. Male sterility exceeds twenty percent.