Highly Fertile Intersectional Blueberry Hybrids of Vaccinium padifolium Section Hemimyrtillus and V. corymbosum Section Cyanococcus

Abstract

The primary gene pool of Vaccinium species used by blueberry breeders has traditionally been the North American Vaccinium species of section Cyanococcus. Blueberries in commercial production represent three primary Vaccinium species and two ploidy levels. Significant use has been made of the secondary gene pool of Vaccinium, especially in the development of southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium ×corymbosum) cultivars. Section Hemimyrtillus species are distantly related and are best considered part of the tertiary gene pool of Vaccinium. Vaccinium padifolium, a member of section Hemimyrtillus and native to the Madeira Islands, Portugal, has features of notable value to conventional blueberry development, among these: upright structure, strong growth, abundant flowering and fruiting, good self-fertility, inflorescence structure suited to mechanical harvesting, and indeterminate/repeat flowering. Our objective was to incorporate germplasm from this section into cultivated materials and transfer the desirable traits these species possess for commercial production. We used V. padifolium as a female in crosses with V. corymbosum and generated two highly fertile hybrids. These hybrids are intermediate in morphology, phonological, and their hybridity has been confirmed through DNA testing. These hybrids were used in further crosses to a variety of section Cyanococcus selections and have generated numerous second-generation hybrids. We have also determined by flow cytometry the ploidy levels of the hybrids and several previously unevaluated section Hemimyrtillus species.