Pipfruit

Science programme: Pipfruit and summerfruit breeding

The programme is focused on producing exciting novel fresh apple and pear products for tomorrow's consumer. Our objective is to introduce new cultivars with novel and unique fruit traits (e.g. red flesh colour, tropical flavours) as well as improved general characters (e.g. texture) compared to present-day cultivars. These traits will be combined with resistance to the important pests and diseases in each of the crops.

Our extensive breeding germplasm collection provides novel tree and fruit traits for commercial breeding as well as new knowledge on the genetic control of important traits (see Genetic Resources). We use conventional breeding techniques to create new cultivars, but we also are using our genomics resources to develop new and more efficient methods of pipfruit breeding, such as the application of marker assisted selection (MAS). The multi-disciplinary approach from consumer preference research (see Sensory and consumer science ) to genomics research provides a strong basis for the continued development of competitive new cultivars.

Here are few examples of our works :

• The release of the trendsetting new apple cultivars Pacific Rose^TM and Jazz^TM. The latter cultivar is making major inroads into North America and Europe. A further three apple and two pear cultivars from the breeding programme have been assigned to Prevar™ Limited in 2005 for commercialisation.
• Protocols for the automated DNA extraction for apple to ensure that the quality of extracted DNA is suitable for PCR based markers, such as microsatellites and RAPDs. This is essential for the development of genetic map and molecular markers for agronomic traits involved in all of molecular genetic aspects of the breeding programmes.
• The efficient and effective development of molecular markers linked to red flesh in apple through the candidate gene approach involving an interdisciplinary team consisting of pipfruit breeders, genetic marker specialists, and genomics research teams.
• In silico detection of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the HortResearch apple EST database that have potential use as molecular markers  for a wide range of fruit and tree traits. The candidate gene approach has been very successful for the identification of markers for red flesh colour and is being applied to develop marker assisted selection to select seedlings with favourable alleles for texture, flavour and disease resistance.
• Genetic markers for a range of scab, powdery mildew and woolly apple aphid resistance genes have been developed and placed on the apple skeleton map. Some of the markers have been used successfully in marker assisted selection for durable resistance.

Our capabilities cover the following fields:

• Maintenance and evaluation of pipfruit germplasm
• Genetic diversity and gene linkages
• Genetic markers for tree and fruit traits
• Marker maps and marker assisted selection
• Functional genomics of tree and fruit characters in apple
• ‘Fast-breeding’ technology to reduce generation time
• Host-pathogen interactions of major pests and diseases
• Breeding strategies for durable pest and disease resistance
• Consumer preferences for novel fruit products.

The pipfruit breeding programme is equally funded by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) and Prevar™ Limited. Prevar™ Limited is a consortium of commercial partners including Pipfruit New Zealand Inc. (PNZ), Apple and Pear Australia Ltd. (APAL), and the Associated International Group of Nurseries (AIGN). Prevar™ Limited is the owner of the new pipfruit cultivars developed in the HortResearch breeding programme, while AIGN is responsible for product development of the new cultivars, and the propagation and distribution of plant material.

The breeding programme has a strategic alliance with IRTA (Spain) for the development of new cultivars for the Spanish apple industry. HortResearch partakes in the research on apple texture phenotyping in the European ISAFRUIT programme and is collaborating on disease resistance research in apple with PRI (Netherlands) and INRA (France).

Contact Vincent Bus