2. An Assignment
on
Breeding of Apricot
Course title : Breeding of fruit crops
Course no : FSC- 506
Presented By
Pawan Kumar Nagar
Msc. fruit science (Horticulture)
Reg no : 04-2684-2015
3. • Botanical name : Prunus armeniaca
• Family : Rosaceae
• Origin : Western China
• Chromosome number: 2n=16
• There are 6 species of Apricot
1. P . arigantina Vill
2. P . armeniaca
3. P . dasycarpa
4. P . mandshurica
5. P . mume
6. P . sibirica
4. Floral biology of Apricot
• Mode of pollination : self Pollination
The apricot has perfect, perigynous flower with a single pistil.
The petals are usually white, though some are tinted and occasionally even deep
pink colour.
Pollen sterility occures and is in herited as single recessive.
Cultivar may be either self-compatible or self-incompatible.
Careful breeding work in the future may well demonstrate and allelic series for
self-incompatibility like that known for sweet cherries.
5.
6. Plant Characteristics:
Apricot Delight Yarrow will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread
of 12 inches.
It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for
approximately 10 years.
This perennial should only be grown in full sunlight.
It prefers to grow in average to dry locations, and dislikes excessive moisture.
It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water
garden or xeriscape application.
It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in poor soils.
It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments.
This plant can be propagated by division.
This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.
7. BreedingObjectives
The major objective in most apricot breeding project is climate adaptation.
Greater midwinter, cold hardiness of flower bud and wood in combination with
acceptable characters is desired for northen areas and greater frost hardiness during the
bloom period is desired for all areas.
Resistance to diseases and good pomological fruit characteristics are needed along
with these various type of climatic adaptation .
Fruit should be large size, attractive appearance, fresh stone, firm flesh.
Fruit have good quality with resistance to skin cracking, pre-harvest drop, decrease
bitterness of flesh.
Resistance to “apoplexy.”
Extension of season of ripening.
Resistance against disease like; Shot hole, bacterial spot, perennial canker, bacterial
canker, brown rot, anthracnose, sharka.
8. BREEDING SYSTEMS
1. Recurrent Mass selection
2. Modified Backcrossing
3. Interspecific Hybridization
4. Mutation Breeding
9. 1.RecurrentMassselection
The straight forward procedure of selection on the basis of there own
performance, and their subsequent mating interse, should effect relatively rapid
genetic grains for several generation.
More complex selection procedures and breeding methods appear to unnecessary
in these stocks. In fact, such procedures would most likely result in lower rate of
genetic gain, since with such methods, selection can usually be practiced only every
other generation.
10. 2. Modified Backcrossing
These practice allows the breeder to incorporate a greater variety of
homological characters in to the breeding lines and at the same time to avoid the
deleterious effect of inbreeding that are associate with repeated backcrossing to a
single cultivar.
3. Interspecific Hybridization
In these hybridization system the transfer of characters from other species
to apricots and vice versa.
Ex. made pollinations of apricot with pollen of (peach x p . Davidiana ) hybrid
and obtained seedling with genetic markers proving the seedlings were hybrids.
11. 4. MUTATION BREEDING
‘Early Blenhein’ was selected following thermal neutrone irradiation and
was introduced by Lapin(1972) as an early ripening cultivar for local markets.
Lapin’s work is the only report of achievement from mutation breeding with
apricot.
12. BIOTECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION
Biotechnology has obvious implication as new tool that can be employed in
apricot breeding.
Potential areas for its implication include regeneration and micropropagation,
virus elimination, and genetic improvement which could include somaclonal
variation, protoplast culture, and fusion, embryo rescue, and haploid induction.
Recombinant DNA technology might also be employed to carry out genetic
transformation and gene characterization .
With the exception of micropropagation , embryo rescue, and virus elimination ,
biotechnology has not yet been fully employed as s tool in apricot breeding.
13. FUTURE THRUST
There are great opportunities to achieve wider adaptation through interspecific
hybridization in prunus. a serious effort to develop the potential hybridization by
this generation of fruit breeders will allow the next generation of breeders to truly
bring apricots out of the mountains.
