Breeding for salinity resistance in mulberry (Morus spp.)

Abstract

Soil salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses that reduce agricultural productivity. The levels of salt concentration that are inimical to plant growth have already affected more than one-third of the irrigated land in the world. In order to utilize the vast saline costal lands present in sericulturally important countries in Asia, attempts have been made to develop salt resistant varieties in mulberry. Controlled crosses were made between salt resistant parents that were identified through both in vitro and in vivo screening. Ripened fruits were harvested, and the seeds extracted were germinated on agar-agar containing MS basal medium with 1.25% NaCl. Young seedlings were rescued and nurtured under normal growth conditions. Mature seedlings were transferred to field. Based on comparative performance on survival and growth under salinity, three hybrids namely SR1, SR2 and SR3 were selected and were subjected to detailed investigation using C776 as control. SR3 outperformed other hybrids and the control, hence, was selected for large scale field testing. The encouraging results have tremendous implications on expanding sericulture industry into the costal saline areas in tropical and subtropical regions in Asia.

Physiological and biochemical characteristics associated with leaf retention in mulberry (<i>Morus</i> spp.)

“…Based on its leaving the border lines, data was recorded in 5 crop the available information on important morphological, biochemical, anatomical, reproductive and physiological characteristics of the 162 mulberry accessions present in the germplasm bank of Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Berhampore, West Bengal [15][16][17][18][19], 23 potential parents were selected and systematic breeding was effected as described by reference [20]. From the seedling of 3500 seed, 2700 hybrids were transferred to progeny row trial and evaluated for two years for leaf yield and growth parameters (data not shown).…”

Breeding for higher productivity in mulberry

“…SR1, SR2 and SR3, with higher salt tolerance capacities were developed. Among these hybrids, SR3 was much superior to the other two hybrids in survival and growth (Vijayan et al 2009). …”

Development of mulberry varieties for sustainable growth and leaf yield in temperate and subtropical regions of India

“…These parental plants were of more than 15 years old and were maintained under the recommended cultural and agronomic practices as described by Vijayan et al (2009). A total of 23 combinations of controlled crosses were made using 23 parents as shown in Table 2, during the regular flowering period of January to February using standard breeding techniques suitable for mulberry as described by Vijayan et al (2009). Upon ripening, the sorosis were collected carefully from all the selected mother plants and seeds were extracted from each cross separately without any mixing.…”