2026/02/20 by P. M. Lyrene · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Berry genetics and cultivation research #Chromosomal and Genetic Variations #Plant Pathogens and Resistance
paper · doi:10.21273/hortsci19191-25
openalex publication_date 2026/02/20 · openalex created_date 2026/02/21 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Fifty octoploid blueberry plants, each derived from a different seedling, were produced by colchicine treatment of a composite of seedlings from 40 crosses in which the parents were a diverse array of tetraploid southern highbush blueberry cultivars. Octoploid plants, identified by pollen tetrad size, were intercrossed in a greenhouse after emasculation of the seed parent. Percent fruit set after pollination of 2235 emasculated flowers from 36 octoploid × octoploid crosses averaged 46%, but seeds per berry averaged only 0.56. More than 1000 octoploid seedlings from these crosses were grown in field nurseries. These second-generation octoploids grew more slowly than tetraploid highbush seedlings, but survived well in the field, and flowered and fruited at the same age as the tetraploid highbush. Open-pollinated berries from the octoploid seedlings in the field averaged fewer than two seeds per berry despite excellent pollination opportunities from numerous diploid, tetraploid, and octoploid seedlings growing nearby. Flowers and pollen tetrads of octoploid plants were much larger than those of tetraploids, but the berries were generally not larger, possibly because they contained few seeds. Crosses between octoploid and tetraploid highbush blueberries gave very few seeds.