Welcome to Balsgård. Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, SLU.

Transcription

1 Welcome to Balsgård Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, SLU

2 People and money At Balsgård we have employees (scientists, technicians, administrative personnel) and Ph D students (mostly on grant money) About 1/3 of the money comes from SLU and the remainder is obtained from project applications(formas, VR, EU, SIDA, Jordbruksverket, Stiftelsen svensk lantbruksforskning, some industries etc)

3 Chemical laboratory Fields and greenhouses Plant breeding Processing facility Publications Genebanks DNA-laboratory Information

4 In Sweden, apples (an many other fruit and berry crops) have been bred at Balsgård since the 1940s, started as a grower/public interests foundation, became part of SLU in 1970, and is now facing a close-down Aroma Presently three breeding projects (SLU and Formas), with a total of 1,5 mill/year; apple, black currants and sea buckthorn also has to cover the maintenance of genebanks

5 Crosses are made and resulting seeds harvested The seedlings are potted in the spring, taken outdoors to a nursery bed in summer, and then planted in the field in the fall (or next spring) The seedlings are evaluated when they have started to fruit (usually after 4-6 years) for tree health and fruit quality On average, about 1 5% of the seedlings are selected for further observations

6 Previously developed seedlings at Balsgård: 600 plants from crosses plants from crosses in plants from crosses in 2007 Seedlings developed in new project: 800 plants from crosses in 2010 (mainly Fredrik x B:1458, and John-Georg x K:0953) 1500 plants from crosses in 2011 (14 combinations involving B:0654, B:1377, B:1458, CQRT12T50, Dayton, Discovery, DL24, Fredrik, Frida, Gloster, Goldrush, Honeycrisp, Juuso, Katja, K:1160, K:1343, Reanda, Rödluvan, Sandra, Scarlet O Hara, Selena) Seeds from crosses in 2012 (5 combinations involving B:1377, Dayton, DL24, Gloster, Goldrush, Katja, K:1160, Reanda, Rödluvan)

7 The best seedlings are propagated on root stock, 4 trees of each of new selections are planted each year in an observation trial together with controls (Aroma, Discovery, Katja)

8 Fruit is picked, weighed and evaluated separately for each tree during 3-5 years

9 Tree shape, health status and productivity are evaluated Fruit size, appearance, texture, health status and taste are evaluated both at harvest and on several occasions during storage

10 Cultivars for home gardens are marketed through the Elite Plant Station Produce and sell propagation material and plants to nurseries and large growers Virus-free mother trees

11 Trulsa, Agnes and Lovisa (and Folke) will be released in All of these are also tested in e.g. Germany B:1458 Trulsa B:1377 Agnes K:1160 Lovisa K:1222 Majbritt K:1357 Augusta

12 B:1377 Agnes ripens at Aug 20 and was derived from open pollination of Discovery, but ripens one week earlier, tastes better and has better resistance against canker and Monilia

13 Fredrik is a brother of Frida, released simultaneously for home gardens Frida is our most recent cultivar - it is now being planted i large numbers by professional growers

14 We have great hopes for Frida BUT royalties will never be able to pay for the plant breeding work!!!

15 Fruit and berry gene banks at Balsgård apple: 530 cvs (+ 100 selections seedlings) pear: 130 cvs/selections plum: 170 cvs/selections cherry: 120 cvs/selections currants, gooseberry: 240 cvs/selections seedlings raspberry and blackberry: 20 cvs strawberry: 160 cvs/selections seedlings apricots and peaches: 12 cvs/selections seedlings dogrose: 60 cvs/selections seedlings sea buckthorn: 100 cvs/selections seedlings lingonberry: 20 cvs/selections seedlings blueberry: 32 cvs/selections seedlings aronia: 10 cvs/selections seedlings blue honeysuckle: 27 cvs/selections Japanese quince: 40 cvs/selections seedlings Financial responsibility??? Nevertheless absolutely needed for breeding and research!

16 Research project: Self-incompatibility DNA-based identification of S- alleles (using allele-specific CAPS and SCAR markers) in ca 150 apple cultivars and some advanced selections VERY timesaving; list on our website

17 Research project: Increased interest in health-related compounds; phenotyping for chemical contents in apple Example: at Balsgård, we estimated total phenol content (spectrophotometry), and content of single phenolic compounds (HPLC) in flesh and skin of fruits of c. 100 cvs during two years. Very large range among cultivars for total phenolic content, and for single phenolic compounds Proper choice of cultivar can lead to a doubling of phenolic content!

18 Research project: Apple allergens About 2% of the European population are allergic to birch but possibly about 10-20% of the Swedish population! 50-90% of the birch-pollen allergic people eventually become sensitized also to apple, due to cross-reactivity between the proteins Bet v1 and Mal d1 Symptoms are itching and swelling of lips, tongue and throat, OAS (oral allergy syndrome) - can only eat processed apples (apple juice, apple pie)

19 B:0654 appeared to have unusually low levels of Mal d 1 when proteins were extracted, separated on a gel and hybridized to a Mal d 1-specific antibody

20 Oral provocation tests were carried out with apple-allergic patients, the known lowallergenic Gloster, the putatively low-allergenic B:0654 and two control cultivars Symptoms graded from 0 till 5, Gloster was the most easily tolerated, and B:0654 the worst!