Tradition, quality and biotechnology in Hungarian spice pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) breeding

Abstract

Spice pepper production has a history of almost 300 years in the southern part of Hungary. In this study the results of two biotechnological improvements are summarized. Anther and isolated microspore culture techniques were improved to release haploid and doubled haploid (DH) lines for spice pepper breeding. Both the anther and isolated microspore culture methods were successfully used in spice pepper haploid production. Microspore culture-derived structures were analysed to identify their different parts. Green plantlets were regenerated from embryos derived from both anther and microspore cultures. Their doubled haploid analogues were integrated into Hungarian spice pepper hybrid seed breeding programmes. One hybrid, Sláger, was released as a new genotype for spice pepper production in 2008 and two hybrid candidates (Délibáb and Bolero) are now being tested in official trials.

Evaluation and Agronomic Potential of Androgenic Pepper Genotypes Derived from Piran (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Piran)

“…Gained pepper haploids and dihaploids have certain genetic potentials which are quickly phenotypically expressed because they origin from a haploid cell [6][7]. These androgenic plants, before being included in breeding process, must be studied for their growth and development stages, their genetic and morphological characteristics compared to the mother genotype which give information about similarities and differences between androgenic and mother genotypes [8][9][10].…”

Anther culture in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in vitro

“…Plant regenerants with a single chromosome set, originating from microspores of in vitro cultivated anthers, are ideal for genetic analysis due to the variety of possible expressions of the genetic makeup (Atanassov et al 1995;Steinitz et al 1999;Zagorska et al 2002;Arnedo Andres et al 2004;Nervo et al 2007;Pauk et al 2010). The doubling of the haploid genome results in fully homozygotic lines in shortened period which is important for creation of genetic diversity and a base of new varieties with higher quality.…”

Androgenesis induction in microspore culture of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

“…The problem prompted us to use Cefotaxime, a well-known and widely used antibiotic in tissue cultures to decrease the rate of contamination in the pretreatment procedure and to protect the microspores from undesirable infections while being cultured ). The combination of carefully monitored growing conditions of donor plants and the application of antibiotics in cultures made it possible to successfully induce androgenesis in isolated microspore cultures of sweet pepper genotypes Pauk et al 2010).…”