ISSUE: New peach cultivars with improved fruit quality will lead to increased consumer enjoyment and consumption and will contribute to the profitability and sustainability of the U.S. peach industry. However, breeding new peach cultivars is slow and inefficient. Predicting which selections will be the best parents is difficult. Thousands of seedlings must be grown and evaluated in the orchard to identify the few with commercial potential.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE: Genetic tests were developed that predict peach maturity date and fruit quality traits including fruit texture, flavor, size, and skin color. These new genetic tests enable us to determine the best parents to combine and the best seedlings to advance, thereby reducing the need to grow out and sort through thousands of seedlings with unacceptable fruit quality.

Using this strategy, called Marker-Assisted Breeding (MAB), we are now more efficiently, accurately, and creatively developing superior peach cultivars that meet the needs and desires of consumers and producers.

IMPACT: As a result of genetic testing of 310 peach selections in the Clemson peach breeding program:

• Twenty-four selections were chosen to enter the breeding program’s parent pool based on their genetic potential to transmit freestone, melting, or non-softening flesh types, high skin blush levels, and/or resistance to bacterial spot.
• Seventy crosses designed since 2012, combining parents in various combinations, included DNA information on their efficiency to transmit freestone, melting flesh, and high blush levels to their progeny, resulting in a greater proportion of seedlings with target fruit types in the next generation.
• Twenty of the above crosses also combined parents for efficient transmittance of bacterial spot tolerance.

The overall impact of MAB is an increased efficiency to identify peach seedlings that have bacterial spot resistance and desired fruit quality attributes. DNA-informed parent selection and cross combination generates a greater proportion of superior seedlings and an increased overall efficiency of the Clemson peach breeding program.

 

ISSUE: New peach cultivars with improved fruit quality will lead to increased consumer enjoyment and consumption and will contribute to the profitability and sustainability of the U.S. peach industry. However, breeding new peach cultivars is slow and inefficient. Predicting which selections will be the best parents is difficult. Thousands of seedlings must be grown and tested in the orchard to identify the few with commercial potential. Prior to RosBREED, our breeding program relied solely on traditional breeding methods.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE: Genetic tests were developed that predict peach maturity date and fruit quality traits including fruit texture, flavor, size, and skin color. These new genetic tests enable us to determine the best parents to use in future crosses and the best seedlings to advance, reducing the need to grow out and sort through thousands of seedlings with unacceptable fruit quality.

Using this strategy, called Marker-Assisted Breeding (MAB), we can now more efficiently, accurately, and creatively develop superior new peach cultivars that meet the needs and desires of consumers and producers.

IMPACT: As a result of genetic testing in the Arkansas peach breeding program:

• We selected four cultivars and advanced 16 selections and 136 seedlings for field testing. MAB has increased our efficiency by focusing resources on seedlings that have the greatest potential for commercial success.
• We discovered new peach flesh types in our genepool, one of which, “nonsoftening” flesh, maintains its firmness and quality for three or more weeks in postharvest storage and the fruit is more resistant to mechanical damage. Another discovery, the “slow-melting” type, also maintains its firmness for a longer period, then, upon full ripeness, melts and reaches the same texture as that of melting types. Both these new flesh types may provide a wider range of fruit quality options for the consumer.
• We are confident now in moving beyond traditional breeding to using MAB to improve peach traits such as texture, size, flavor, skin color, bacterial spot resistance, bloom date, and fruit maturity date.

 

ISSUE: New processing peach cultivars with improved fruit quality will lead to increased consumer enjoyment and consumption and will contribute to the profitability and sustainability of the U.S. peach industry. However, breeding improved processing peach cultivars is slow and inefficient. Related species, such as almond, offer sources of valuable new traits but this approach is particularly challenging genetically.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE: Genetic tests were developed that predict peach maturity date and fruit quality traits including fruit texture, flavor, size, and skin color. These genetic tests enable us to identify the best parents to use in future crosses. When related species are used in breeding, the chosen parents have the desirable characteristics, while avoiding the undesirable ones. Genetic tests also help us avoid planting in the orchard many seedlings predicted to be undesirable.

Using this strategy, called Marker-Assisted Breeding (MAB), we are now more efficiently, accurately, and creatively develop superior processing peach cultivars that meet the needs and desires of consumers and producers.

IMPACT: As a result of genetic testing of 409 peach selections in the UC Davis Processing Peach Breeding Program:

• The pedigrees for 200 selections were corrected. Accurate pedigrees are desired for the official documenting and release of new cultivars.
• Groups of genetically similar plant materials that were detected enabled us to adjust and improve the crossing schemes. Parents were identified that had an increased likelihood of transmitting the desired fruit weight and diameter.
• We also identified previously unknown genetic complications in some advanced interspecific breeding materials that explained unexpected inheritance patterns.

The impact of MAB is an improved understanding of the genetic relationships among current breeding lines and an increased efficiency in identifying peach traits that are controlled by a relatively few number of genetic factors.