Morphological evaluation of 108 strawberry cultivars – and consequences for the use of descriptors

Abstract

Strawberry cultivars in current commercial use have a very narrow genetic base and reduced morphological and genetic diversity that puts them at risk from disease and climate change. Germplasm collections hold examples of the agricultural biodiversity of small berries where they are conserved, characterized and made available to breeders to improve productivity. Phenological evaluations of existing strawberry cultivars provide information for use by breeders in developing cultivars with improved qualities and more diverse genetic background. Leaves, flowers and fruits are the most important morphological descriptors for identification of strawberry cultivars. A comprehensive catalogue of descriptors drawn up by UPOV and IPGRI served as the basis for evaluation of 108 cultivars in a field trial. Each plot consisted of 21 one-year-old plants per genotype and plants were evaluated once with a range of descriptors; 10 of plant and leaf morphology, 7 of the flower and 25 of the fruit. On the basis of this comprehensive evaluation and data analysis, eighteen primary descriptors (plant, leaf, flower and fruit characteristics) independent of cultivation effects were selected for a large screening. Further descriptors for yield, inner fruit quality and disease resistance should be used as secondary descriptors as they are more environmentally influenced. These descriptors were proposed as appropriate primary and secondary descriptors for the European GENBERRY project of the cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.).

Estimation of the frost resistance of the strawberry

“…The frost-resistant state of plants is achieved under the condition that growth ceases, plants enter dormancy and pass through hardening phases (Morin et al, 2007). Hardening is a complex set of physiological and biochemical changes (Pearce, 2004;Kalberer et al, 2006;Charrier et al, 2015a;Arora and Taulavuori, 2016). At low temperatures, the outflow of water from the cells worsens and a lot of water appears, which then freezes inside the protoplast and can lead to cell death (Charra-Vaskou et al, 2015;Charrier et al, 2015b).…”

Detecting misidentifications of strawberry cultivars in the Philippines using single nucleotide polymorphism markers

“…The copyright holder for this this version posted February 3, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.02.922369 doi: bioRxiv preprint color of the adaxial and abaxial sides [56], it is difficult to assess the leaves based on such characteristics because they are traits most prone to environmental influence such as the availability of nutrients. Because the leaf samples were taken from different farmers, cultural management practices, especially fertilization, can greatly differ, leading to differences in leaf color and glossiness even in the same cultivar.…”

Performance of Strawberry Cultivars under different Growing Environments in Nilgiris

“…The area under strawberry crop is close to 20 acres under greenhouses. The continued introduction of strawberry cultivars to the market increases the need for reliable methods of identification and genetic diversity assessment [6,7].…”