Vegetable Crops Research Unit Site Logo
ARS Home About Us Helptop nav spacerContact Us En Espanoltop nav spacer
Printable VersionPrintable Version     E-mail this pageE-mail this page
Agricultural Research Service United States Department of Agriculture
Search
  Advanced Search
 
Programs and Projects
Subjects of Investigation
John Bamberg
Paul Bethke
Johanne Brunet
Dennis Halterman
Michael Havey
Shelley Jansky
Philipp Simon
David Spooner
Yiqun Weng
David Willis
IFAFS
 

Title: FLOWERING, SEED PRODUCTION AND THE GENESIS OF GARLIC BREEDING

Authors

Submitted to: Plant Breeding
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: February 23, 2003
Publication Date: March 25, 2003
Citation: Simon, P.W., Jenderek, M.M. 2003. Flowering, seed production and the genesis of garlic breeding. Plant Breeding. 32:211-244.

Interpretive Summary: While garlic has been cultivated for over 5,000 years, seed production was not reported until after 1950. In the 1980s and 1990s projects to expand garlic seed production were established in the US and Japan and millions of garlic seed have been generated. With the availability of seed, the garlic crop can be improved in plant breeding programs like other crops in agriculture.

Technical Abstract: Garlic is a widely recognized and appreciated crop with a long history of asexual propagation. Several inherent aspects of garlic growth and development combined with artifacts of its long asexual reproduction have resulted in a crop where many clones do not flower, those flowering are nearly or completely sterile, bulbils usually suppress flower maturation, and first generation seedlings are weak with a high incidence of abnormalities limiting normal growth and development. In spite of these facts, observations and experiments of the last 50 years, and especially the efforts of T. Etoh in the last 20 years, made it apparent that the production of true garlic seed is possible. Access to a diverse range of germplasm, particularly that from near its center of origin, combined with careful application of procedures to enhance seed production and growth, such as bulbil removal and careful seedling husbandry has set the stage for true garlic seed production of the crop. Thus the advantages that sexual reproduction brings in generating a balanced genome and combining traits from two unrelated parents could be captured. Utilizing these materials, methods, and meiosis, a small level of success in garlic seed production was realized. Taking advantage of the benefits these breakthrough efforts, millions of garlic seeds have been generated in the last decade, and garlic breeding is underway. The potential for combing traits of diverse materials to develop new genotypes is only in its infancy, but much genetic variation is apparent and field testing of a seed produced garlic crop is underway.

   
 
 
Last Modified: 06/19/2013
ARS Home | USDA.gov | Site Map | Policies and Links 
FOIA | Accessibility Statement | Privacy Policy | Nondiscrimination Statement | Information Quality | USA.gov | White House