Fundamental and Applied Aspects of Plum (Prunus domestica) Breeding

摘要

The hexaploid European plum (Prunus domestica L.) is one of the most important temperate fruit crops. Its origin is unclear as wild forms are missing. The genetic base which can be used for breeding is highly diverse and provides a good base for further improvement of the fruit crop. Information on the inheritance of single traits are rarely available. Breeding focuses on resistance and fruit quality. Classical breeding is the most important method applied. Very few data is available on the genome sequence. No marker assisted selection systems are available. Genetic engineering is limited to the transformation of embryonic tissue derived from seeds. Prunus domestica is the only Prunus species where genotypes completely resistant to the Plum pox virus exist. This resistance is based on a hypersensitive response of the plant cells to the virus. Interspecific hybridization becomes more important in terms of transferring resistance traits from European plum to related species and of developing hybridswith new fruit characters. Classical breeding is far from being the limit of the improvement of plum genotypes.