Combining Ability Analysis for Selected Plant Traits in Gooseberry

Abstract

Gooseberry (Ribes grossularia) belongs to a group of minor fruit crops. However, in some countries such as Poland, Germany, or Scandinavia, gooseberries are cultivated on large commercial plantations. Increasing gooseberry production is of high economic interest for many gooseberry growers. Therefore, targeted gooseberry breeding for high productivity and good fruit quality, combined with resistance/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, is of particular interest. A half-diallel mating design (IV Griffing’s method) among 10 parental cultivars of gooseberry producing 45 sibling families was constructed to study the general and specific combining ability (GCA and SCA, respectively) effects of selected traits, which include plant vigor, plant habit, shoot thorniness, yield, plant and fruit susceptibility to powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca mors-uvae), and plant susceptibility to leaf spot (Drepanopezizia ribis). The 45 seedling families were grown at the Experimental Orchard belonging to the Research Institute of Horticulture, Skierniewice in central Poland. The experiment was planted in a randomized complete block design with three replicates (plots) each composed of 15 seedlings (the total trial included 2025 plants). Measurements and observations were recorded yearly for each seedling from 2008 to 2012. The results showed that non-additive effects are predominantly involved in the genetic variation for all evaluated traits, whereas the additive effects play a relatively minor role in the genetic variations of these traits. Large, significant SCA effects were found for shoot thorniness, fruit weight, fruit susceptibility to powdery mildew, and plant susceptibility to leaf spot and nonsignificant variation in SCA effects was observed for the other traits (plant vigor, plant habit, fruit yield, fruit color, and plant susceptibility to powdery mildew). Significant GCA effects were limited to a few of the parents and some traits. The cultivars Worchesterberry and White Smith had good GCA effects and therefore are good parents for breeding thornless cultivars. ‘Pax’ and ‘Martlet’ are desirable genotypes for developing new cultivars with large fruit. The cultivars Martlet and Kamieniar are good parents for low fruit susceptibility to powdery mildew, and they may be efficient parents in breeding programs focused on increasing resistance/tolerance to this disease in new cultivars. Based on our results, we discuss strategies for gooseberry breeding programs and provide better insight into the genetic control of the traits studied.