New Cultivars Derived from Crosses between Commercial Cultivar and a Wild Population of Papaya Rescued at Its Center of Origin

Mariela Vázquez Calderón,Manuel Jesús Zavala León,Lorenzo Felipe Sánchez Teyer,Francisco Espadas Y Gil,Fernando Amilcar Contreras Martín,Jorge M Santamaría,Abelardo Navarrete Yabur

doi:10.1155/2014/829354

Abstract

In order to generate new varieties, this study focused on the rescue and use of landraces and wild Carica papaya L. populations located at southern Yucatan, Mexico, to cross them with a commercial papaya cultivar (Maradol). In the cross L7 × M22, The native parent line L7 was used as the receiver parent while the commercial Maradol (M22) was used as the donor parent, seeking to generate genotypes with improved productivity and reduced plant height. Cluster analysis and principal components analysis grouped the genotypes firstly into those individuals with few fruits and those with many fruits and secondly into individuals with high and low plant height. Selected genotypes H13B, H17B, H19B, H68B, and H71B meet the desirable characteristics, such as reduced plant height (PH) and intermediate number of fruits per plant (NFP). These materials can be used now to produce new crosses to continue with the ongoing breeding program at CICY, seeking new varieties with higher productivity and adequate plant height, and also these genotypes will be preserved and integrated in the germplasm bank in situ and in vitro for further genetic work and possible exchange with other germplasm collections worldwide.

Highlights

The origin of papaya (Carica papaya L.) is Central America and Mexico; wild populations are present from southern Mexico to Belize and the Peten, Guatemala [1]
Phenotypic variation and distribution within the F1 and F2 populations derived from the cross line 7 (L7) × Maradol 22 (M22) are continuous and normal (Figure 1)
Cluster analysis and principal components analysis grouped F1 and F2 progenies derived from the cross L7 × M22 into less and more productive individuals and individuals with low and high plant height, and it can be used reliably as a tool in C. papaya L. for selecting plants that meet the characters of interest to the papaya breeder

Summary

Introduction

The origin of papaya (Carica papaya L.) is Central America and Mexico; wild populations are present from southern Mexico to Belize and the Peten, Guatemala [1] It is distributed in all tropical and subtropical areas of the world [2]. Orange redfleshed papaya fruits had important antioxidants in the form of lycopene that was recently shown to be more bioavailable than that from carrots and tomatoes [5]. This crop has had an increasing demand primarily in the markets of USA and Canada. Mexico is the largest exporter worldwide and the fifth papaya producer with a production in 2010 up to 616, 215 ton, a harvested total area of 12,750 ha, and a fruit yield of 48.3 ton/ha [6, 7]

Methods

Results

Conclusion