Abstract
As sustainable production of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) increases and its geographic range of cultivation expands, quinoa breeding will allow use of the crop’s wide genetic diversity for cultivar improvement and for adaptation to new agroecosystems and climactic regimes. Such breeding work will require a reliable technique for crossing quinoa plants using hand emasculation. The technique described herein focuses on the isolation of small flower clusters produced low on the plant, emasculation of male flowers, and subsequent pairing of the emasculated female parent with a male parent undergoing anthesis. Various traits, such as plant color, seed color, and axil pigmentation can be used to confirm the successful production of F1 plants. The manual hybridization technology provides a significant advantage over pairing plants and relying on chance cross-pollination, and has been successfully used to generate crosses between quinoa cultivars, as well as interspecific crosses between quinoa and Chenopodium berlandieri. This technology will help pave the way for the introduction and sustainable expansion of quinoa on a global scale across a wide range of target environments and diverse farming systems.
Highlights
Interest in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) cultivation has increased rapidly in recent years due to the sharp rise in consumer demand and the recognition of quinoa’s agronomic resilience and unique nutritional characteristics [1]
In the United States, Washington State University is focusing on several important traits for improving and adapting existing quinoa cultivars for agricultural production
In South America (Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador) quinoa breeding efforts have focused on developing large seeded varieties, both bitter and saponin free types, and on increasing yields
Summary
Interest in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) cultivation has increased rapidly in recent years due to the sharp rise in consumer demand and the recognition of quinoa’s agronomic resilience and unique nutritional characteristics [1]. Improvement in resistance to these factors would lead to the expansion of quinoa’s range in North America and other temperate environments, and should contribute to increases in seed yield and quality, and harvest security in its current range of production [5]. In South America (Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador) quinoa breeding efforts have focused on developing large seeded varieties, both bitter and saponin free types, and on increasing yields. The necessity of introgressing this CMS source into the female parent before conducting a cross significantly lengthens the time required for crossing quinoa when using male sterility, as compared to manual emasculation. Despite the difficulty of crossing quinoa, there are a few discussions of the methods used to cross quinoa varieties through manual emasculation [3,17], which generally involve a similar technique of isolating flower clusters. Wild relatives of quinoa have been identified as sources of valuable resources for quinoa improvement, most often for the potential of C. berlandieri as a source of downy mildew resistance [2,14,17,22,23,24]
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