PRI Disease Resistant Apple Breeding Program
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The PRI disease resistant apple breeding program is a joint project of the
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
,
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
, and the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
, to breed
apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s to be resistant to
apple scab Apple scab is a common disease of plants in the rose family ( Rosaceae) that is caused by the ascomycete fungus ''Venturia inaequalis''. While this disease affects several plant genera, including ''Sorbus, Cotoneaster,'' and '' Pyrus'', it is m ...
. The initialism stands for the three involved universities: Purdue, Rutgers and Illinois.About PRI
/ref>


Formation

During the early 20th century, C. S. Crandall carried out intensive studies of crosses between the cultivated apples and
crab apple ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone of th ...
s, with the goal of scab resistance.ISHS
/ref> However, Crandall didn't see any fruits of his investigations. L. Fredric Hough, then a graduate student at the University of Illinois, studied Crandall's work. Hough published a paper in 1944, leading to a 1945 collaboration with Purdue University
pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...
J. Ralph Shay. Hough then relocated to Rutgers and the collaborative effort was extended there.ISHS
/ref>


The program

The modified
backcross Backcrossing is a crossing of a hybrid with one of its parents or an individual genetically similar to its parent, to achieve offspring with a genetic identity closer to that of the parent. It is used in horticulture, animal breeding, and product ...
breeding strategy used cultivated
apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
with recurrent parents from selected susceptible members of the wild ancestral
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
malus ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone of th ...
. Several Malus species were screened and utilized to incorporate their resistance factors into the more advanced pomological backgrounds.


Success

By 2000, the PRI have already released a total of eighteen apple cultivars, containing the scab-resistant ''Vf gene'' derived from
Malus floribunda ''Malus floribunda'', common name Japanese flowering crabapple, Japanese crab, purple chokeberry, or showy crabapple, originates from Japan and East Asia. It may be a hybrid (biology)#In plants, hybrid of ''M. toringo'' with ''M. baccata'', in w ...
821. Fifty-some PRI germplasm cultivars have also been released worldwide.


See also

*
Applecrab Applecrabs are various hybrids between crabapples and apples. They are bred for varying reasons, including disease resistance and use in cold climates because they are often hardier than apple trees and their fruit has the good eating qualities of ...
*
Pristine apple Pristine apple is a hybrid cultivar of 'Co Op 10' x 'Camuzat' domesticated apples, which are descendants of the 'McIntosh' apple and the 'Starking Delicious'. This cultivar was developed and patented in the United States by the PRI disease resist ...
*
Enterprise (apple) Enterprise is a modern bred, late-ripening and attractive, red cultivar of domesticated apple with excellent fruit quality combined with disease resistance to apple scab, scab, cedar apple rust, fire blight and some resistance to powdery mildew. T ...
*
Prima apple The 'Prima' apple is one of the modern disease resistant cultivars of domesticated apple which was bred by the PRI disease resistant apple breeding program in 1958. The disease resistance against apple scab has since been broken. Like other "PRI" ...


References


External links


HortScienceVf scab resistance of MalusApple Breeding Worldwide
{{biology-stub Apples Breeding PRI cultivars