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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Crop Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #321293
Title: 'Jones Hybrid' hickory: A case study in Carya curation

Author
item Grauke, Larry
item MENDOZA-HERRERA, M - Texas A&M University
item STELLY, DAVID - Texas A&M University
item KLEIN, PATRICIA - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: SpringerPlus
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/12/2016
Publication Date: 11/3/2016
Citation: Grauke, L.J., Mendoza-Herrera, M.A., Stelly, D.M., Klein, P.E. 2016. 'Jones Hybrid' hickory: A case study in Carya curation. SpringerPlus. 5:1860.

Interpretive Summary: The National Collection of Genetic Resources for Pecans and Hickories is a gene bank, holding valuable living plants that have been deposited over time. By connecting an unknown cultivar to its historic records, its value is increased. Patterns of nut, leaf, and tree form are important in identifying species of hickory. New methods of comparing genetic markers are also helpful. We studied a tree that had been in the collection a long time, under the name 'Jones Hybrid'. Based on several patterns, we believe that this is the same cultivar that was previously named 'Siers', a unique tree thought to be a cross between bitternut and mockernut hickories. The history and traits of 'Siers' are compared and discussed in relation to 'Jones Hybrid'. We decided it is a cross between a bitternut hickory and a shagbark hickory. This tree has a narrow, slender shape that would be valuable for trees in a pecan orchard. First attempts were made to use pollen of this tree in crosses with pecan. Some of these crosses were successful, but more work must be done to improve the number of seeds produced so we can select valuable traits and associate them with markers.

Technical Abstract: 'Jones Hybrid' hickory is an accession in the National Collection of Genetic Resources for Pecans and Hickories that was inherited with little information concerning its origination, its identity or its characteristics. It has been phenotypically and genetically profiled and is described here. That information, when examined in the context of historic literature, provides evidence that the accession in question is 'Siers' a cultivar that was originally described and marketed as a hybrid between the diploid Carya cordiformis and the tetraploid C. tomentosa. Morphological and molecular genetic patterns that are consistent with that determination are addressed, with the determination that the accession is in fact C. X laneyi (an interspecific hybrid between C. ovata and C. cordiformis). The accession has the most columnar tree form of any Carya accession in the collection, a trait that would be valuable if introgressed into pecan. Anomalies of pollen grain size, possibly associated with hybridity, suggest a role for the accession in efforts at ploidy manipulation. Preliminary efforts in reciprocal controlled crosses between this accession and pecan had very limited success, while crosses made using 'Jones Hybrid' pollen on the tetraploid C. floridana were totally unsuccessful, necessitating more detailed effort.