Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/138107
"These genetic tests enable tart cherry breeders to determine the best parents to combine and the best seedlings to advance." advance 16 selections and choose 136 seedlings for field testing. He believes some real breakthroughs were made. "New peach flesh types were discovered using a genetic test for detecting the two common melting and non-melting types," he said. "One of the new types, the 'non-softening' flesh type, maintains its firmness and quality for three or more weeks in post-harvest storage and the fruit is more resistant to mechanical damage. "Another discovery, the 'slow-melting' type, also maintains its firmness longer, but upon full ripeness, melts and reaches the same texture as melting types." At Texas A & M, breeder Dr. David Byrne also focused on finding endoPG loci, those genes that deal with flesh type. Researchers have located genes for traits called soft, melting, crisp-firm, stony hard, and rubbery, as well as clingstone and freestone, and have developed DNA tests for ® knowing if a seedling carries them. At the University of California, Davis, Tom Gradziel focuses on peaches for processing, most of which are non-melting clingstones. The processing industry has used a very narrow base of genetics, making it difficult to find new genetic solutions. The RosBREED work helps broaden the base. directing marker-assisted breeding "pipelining"— helping breeding programs so they have a common focus on fruit quality traits. All breeders are being helped to see things the same way, or speak the same language using standardized tests and rating systems. —Amy Iezzoni Phenotype refers to the way a plant looks, and that is determined by its genotype. The new protocols tell breeders what to look for, how to look for it, and how to evaluate what they find. Iezzoni said a RosBREED priority for the near future is to take the lessons of RosBREED to the horticultural breeding community—telling them how to use the genetic tests that identify functional alleles and how to use them in breeding, showing them how QTL (quantitative trait loci) information can be translated into marker-assisted breeding. • Orchard-Rite Wind Machines • www.orchard-rite.com Apples DNA tests have been developed to predict apple skin color and amount, firmness, crispness, juiciness, acidity, and storability. In the Washington State University breeding program, parents are now chosen based on their genetic potential, and 23 crosses were designed based on this information. The program saved some $98,000 in 2011 and 2012 by discarding 7,000 seedlings prior to field planting based on the prediction they would have inferior texture and storability. In 2013, 9,000 seedlings were screened using DNA testing and genetic markers, according to Kate Evans. Marker-assisted breeding, or MAB, helped the University of Minnesota breeders choose sets of parents with predicted potential to transmit skin color, bitter pit, titratable acidity, crispness, storage potential related to ethylene production, and apple scab resistance. "Between May and July this year, we will screen 1,500 seedlings for markers for crispness, skin color, storage potential, and apple scab, at a projected cost of about $5,000," Luby said. "We anticipate culling at least 1,000 seedlings. Our cost for carrying a seedling to fruiting is about $20, so this culling will yield a net savings of about $15,000." Dr. Susan Brown, the apple breeder at Cornell University, said that "knowledge of key traits and their inheritance has changed our choices in the selection of parents and should be reflected in many less undesirable seedlings and a greater chance of genetic gain, resulting in high quality advanced selections and tomorrow's future varieties." The researchers compiled a database of phenotypic values on several hundred plants of each of the five Rosaceae and have made it available to plant breeders at the www.rosbreed.org Web site. Standardized phenotyping Dr. Cameron Peace at Washington State University is co-director of the RosBREED project with Iezzoni, and is www.goodfruit.com "The Orchard-Rite crew is great to work with." have been farming since 1974, and currently grow 70 acres of cherries. Last year, we put in two Orchard-Rite® Wind Machines, giving me frost protection on about 40-45 acres. We had a very cold, wet spring. These wind machines were very beneficial. I Because of our Orchard-Rite® Wind Machines, we actually had our best crop in what would normally be the poorest-producing portion of the orchard. We are installing two more wind machines this year. The Orchard-Rite crew is great to work with. Anytime I've called for information or assistance, they have been Johnny-on-the-spot. Don Nusom Gervais, Oregon Get the Orchard-Rite® story from your nearest representative: 1615 W. Ahtanum • Yakima, WA 98903 • 509-248-8785, ext. 612 For the representative nearest you, visit our Web site: www.orchard-rite.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER July 2013 7