conference schedule and program with abstracts - Horticulture ...
conference schedule and program with abstracts - Horticulture ...
conference schedule and program with abstracts - Horticulture ...
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P-27<br />
Identification <strong>and</strong> Applications of Polyploid in Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx.)<br />
Breeding<br />
X. Xu*, J. Lu, Z. Ren, F. Bradley<br />
Center for Viticulture <strong>and</strong> Small Fruit Research, College of Engineering Sciences, Technology,<br />
<strong>and</strong> Agriculture, Florida Agriculture <strong>and</strong> Mechanical University, 6505 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee,<br />
FL 32317<br />
*Corresponding author: xia.xu@famu.edu<br />
Grape (Vitis L.) is a multibillion industry in the United States. Florida grape industry is an<br />
undeveloped agricultural enterprise because of serious disease problems. The muscadine grape<br />
(V. rotundifolia) is a native species <strong>and</strong> is very important for the regional grape production.<br />
Unfortunately, all muscadine grape cultivars contain large seeds that fall short the consumers’<br />
expectation for table consumption. Seedlessness is one of the most desirable characters in<br />
developing new muscadine grape varieties. Attempts to introduce seedlessness from V. vinifera<br />
grapes into muscadine grapes have been made by regional breeders for decades <strong>and</strong> success has<br />
been rare due to genetic distance between these two genera. An alternative approach is to<br />
develop triploid seedless grapes. The potential value of tetraploids in the production of triploid<br />
grape has been recognized for many years in V. vinifera, <strong>and</strong> some varieties (V. complex) have<br />
been bred in Asia, particularly Japan <strong>and</strong> South Korea. The objectives of this research are to<br />
characterize tetraploids/aneuploids in muscadine grapes <strong>and</strong> to utilize them in triploid seedless<br />
muscadine grape breeding. Sixteen polyploids, including tetraploids (4x) <strong>and</strong> aneuploids, have<br />
been identified in muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx.). Twelve of them resulted from<br />
colchicine treatments while the rest of them were identified from thous<strong>and</strong>s of seedlings derived<br />
from open pollination of ‘Darlene’, ‘Pam’ <strong>and</strong> ‘Supreme’. The polyploidy status was confirmed<br />
by flow cytometry <strong>and</strong> chromosome counting. The polyploids were also morphologically<br />
distinguished from diploid muscadine origins showing earlier bud breaking, weaker vegetative<br />
growth, shorter internodes, greener <strong>and</strong> thinker leaves, fewer succulent stems, <strong>and</strong> earlier fruit<br />
ripening. Further investigation revealed that the polyploids had lower pollen viability <strong>with</strong> more<br />
floating seeds. The polyploids are being used for hybridizing <strong>with</strong> diploids to develop triploid<br />
(3X) seedless muscadine grape cultivars.<br />
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