Advances and challenges in peach breeding

Description

Peaches are found in diverse climates and growing regions, plus its relatively short juvenile period, self-pollinated fruitfulness, small genome size and important identified Mendelian traits have made peach a model fruit for breeding and genetics research. This chapter reviews the moderate chill peach variety development programme that commenced in the United States in 1986 as a cooperative regional effort involving the USDA-ARS, the University of Georgia and the University of Florida, and is located at the University of Georgia Research and Education Center outside of Attapulgus, Georgia. The chapter reviews the identification of a locus for resistance to peach fungal gummosis (PFG) and looks ahead to future research trends in this area.

Table of contents

1 Introduction 2 History of the cooperative regional moderate chill peach variety development project 3 Case study: breeding for resistance to PFG 4 Future trends and conclusion 5 Where to look for further information 6 References