Breeding new seedless grapes using in ovulo embryo rescue and marker-assisted selection

Abstract

A program for producing new seedless table and raisin grape cultivars was initiated using embryo culture methods. F 1 descendants of the cross Delight × Ruby Seedless (DRs) were used as the female parent and crossed with various seedless cultivars. The berries of DRs have excellent table traits but they retain small seed traces at maturity. Blush Seedless and DRs were used as female parents, and 354 ovules from five crosses were tested. The percentage of embryos that developed using DRs as the female parent was higher (26.7-35.8%) than when a seedless cultivar was the female parent (5.9-6.7%). The best ovule excision time [days after flowering (DAF)] for ovule inoculation was tested in another set of crosses and found to be DAF 48, 50, and 50 for DR1 × Monukka, DR6 × Thompson Seedless, and DR7 × Zhengguo Seedless, respectively. A total of 569 hybrid progeny were obtained from 13 hybrid combinations; 311 of these survived and were established in soil after hardening. We used three molecular markers (SCC8, SCF27, and GSLP1) to analyze 15 parents used in the hybrid combinations. SCC8 had a 1018-bp band in the seedless parents and in some of the DR parents, while SCF27 had a 2000-bp band in all seedless and DR parents. GSLP1 had a 569-bp band in all of the seedless parents tested, whereas the seeded and DR parents had no bands of this size. Therefore, GSLP1 was used to screen the progeny for possible seedlessness. Eight strains had the 569-bp band; these were preliminarily identified as being seedless since they are in juvenile phase, but they have not yet been evaluated for fruiting characteristics. If the strains identified by using GSLP1 are confirmed to be seedless, this marker will be a valuable tool in breeding for seedlessness in grape.

Breeding for cold-resistant, seedless grapes from Chinese wildVitis amurensisusing embryo rescue

“…Ramming et al (2000) obtained a stenospermic hybrid (C41-5, interspecies cross V. vinifera × V. rotundifolia) by embryo rescue. Our group has access to Chinese wild Vitis spp., which have strong resistance to fungal diseases and to cold, and crossed these with V. vinifera to develop new, disease-resistant and cold-resistant seedless grapes (He & Chao 1982;Wang et al 1998;Tian et al 2008;Tang et al 2009;Ji et al 2013;Li GR et al 2013;Li ZQ et al 2015). In 2005, we released a new disease-resistant seedless cultivar 'Qinhong Seedless' .…”

“…However, the 198-bp allele has also been found in several seeded cultivars. Another SCAR marker linked to grape seedlessness is GSLP1-569 (Wang & Lamikanra 2002;Yang et al 2005), which has been used to select seedless progenies (Tian et al 2008;Ji et al 2013;Li ZQ et al 2015). Murat et al (2013) used different molecular markers to select seedless individuals in F 1 hybrids, the results showed that the identification results were inconsistent.…”

“…Ramming & Emershad (1982) were the first to report that stenospermic grapes could be used to generate new plants via ovule culture. Since then, many breeders have obtained new seedless grape cultivars and interspecific hybrids by crossing seeded and seedless lines that have desirable characteristics with seedless female parents using embryo rescue techniques (Emershad & Ramming 1984;Spieglel-Roy et al 1985;Gray et al 1990;Ponce et al 2000;Tian et al 2008;Tang et al 2009;Ji et al 2013;Li GR et al 2013;Li ZQ et al 2015). The embryo rescue procedure enables the production of a greater proportion of seedless progeny using stenospermic cultivars as both the female and male parents (Ramming et al 1990).…”

“…Early research shows that, in addition to the choice of an appropriate basic culture medium, the further addition of particular nutrients can have important effects on in vitro embryo development (Liu et al 2008;Ji et al 2013;Li GR et al 2013;Razi et al 2013;Li ZQ et al 2015). The most worthwhile of these is casein hydrolysate (CH).…”

Recent Developments in Seedless Grapevine Breeding

“…"Prime", "Mystery", "Spring Blush" and "Black-finger" are seedless table grape cultivars developed in Israel (Perl et al, 2003). Similarly, many studies have been published in the literature reporting the successful use of the embryo rescue technique in crossbreeding studies in viticulture (Ramming et al, 2000;Yang et al, 2007;Tian & Wang, 2008;Ji & Wang, 2013;Uquillas et al, 2013;Li et al, 2014Li et al, , 2015.…”