Rootstock Breeding for Stone Fruits

Abstract

Over the last 20 years stone fruit rootstock development has begun shifting from seedling to clonal types, many of interspecific origin. Publicly funded breeding programs have produced most of these rootstocks due to the time, cost, and risk associated with their development; however, private industry is emerging as a significant contributor of many of the newer rootstocks. Particularly noteworthy among recent releases has been the incorporation of resistance to soilborne diseases, nematodes, waterlogging and vigor control, the last most notably in recent cherry rootstocks. Nevertheless, despite the remarkable progress in the development of clonal stocks, seedling rootstocks still dominate most stone fruit industries around the world, if only because of their relatively low cost, ease of propagation, and proven utility. Many opportunities and challenges remain to be addressed in the areas of disease and insect resistance, adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses, graft compatibility, and rootstock influence on scion performance and fruit quality. Biotechnology is beginning to show potential in accelerating rootstock development. With the development of markers to assist selection for difficult to evaluate traits, new rootstocks with resistance to multiple diseases are feasible. Future prospects for breeding are presented.

Trends in Fruit Breeding

“…Among tree fruits, the apple has led the way with its use of size-controlling rootstocks, high-density orchards, and specialized pruning techniques to maximize precocity, yields, and quality while minimizing pruning and general management costs. This success has spurred research in other fruit tree crops and substantial progress has been achieved in pears, cherries, peach, and plum (Beckman and Lang 2003 ;Lang 2000 ;Fideghelli et al 2003 ;Scorza et al 2006 ;Reighard 2000 ;Reighard and Loreti 2008 ;Webster 2006 ) .…”

“…These dwarfi ng rootstocks were essential in the development of the modern high-density apple orchard by providing an inexpensive approach to control the scion growth as well as improving precocity, light penetration within the canopy, and allowing greater effi ciency of pesticide applications. In the last 20 years, especially with stone fruit, there has been a shift from seedling to clonal rootstocks (Beckman and Lang 2003 ) which has facilitated the use of interspecifi c hybrids as rootstocks, especially those between distantly related species which are more probable to result in rootstocks that are able to dwarf the scion cultivar.…”

Influence of plum rootstocks on agronomic performance, leaf mineral nutrition and fruit quality of ‘Catherina’ peach cultivar in heavy-calcareous soil conditions

“…Among others, the main factors which determine the ideal rootstock are its compatibility with the scion cultivar (Zarrouk et al, 2006), resistance and/ or tolerance to soil pests and diseases, such as root-knot nematodes (Pinochet et al, 1999), and adaptability to a wide range of soil types and climatic conditions (Reighard et al, 1997;Beckman & Lang, 2003;Giorgi et al, 2005). Leaf mineral analysis is a useful tool for the assessment of the nutritional status of crops (Johnson & Uriu, 1989;Montañés et al, 1993;Guo-yi et al, 2015), and the use of tolerant rootstocks would prevent nutritional disorders that cause high economic losses for the fruit growers (Jiménez et al, 2007;.…”

Breeding rootstocks for Prunus species: Advances in genetic and genomics of peach and cherry as a model

“…In contrast to the development of new scion cultivars, in which evaluating each generation can require 2 or 5 yr, evaluation cycles in rootstock programs can require 7 to 10 yr (Beckman and Lang, 2003). However, enhanced methodologies and new technologies have provided important tools for improving evaluation systems and selection of individuals.…”