Nut Tree Breeding: Conventional and Innovative Strategies

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 5953

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA) – University of Turin, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy
Interests: biodiversity; biotechnologies; breeding; embryogenesis; fingerprinting; genetic traceability; genetic resources; genetic transformation; molecular markers; nut and fruit tree species; in vitro culture

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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA) – University of Turin, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy
Interests: biodiversity; breeding; collection fields management; nut and fruit tree species; orchard management; propagation; sustainable cultivation

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA), University of Turin, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy
Interests: breeding; biotechnologies; embryogenesis; fruit quality; genetic resources; genetic transformation; molecular markers; nut and fruit tree species; in vitro culture; post-harvest; sustainable cultivation
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Assistant Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA), University of Turin, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy
Interests: genetic resources; genetic transformation; molecular markers; nut and fruit tree species; biotechnologies; CRISPR/Cas9; protoplasts; in vitro culture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Important nut species, recognized for their economical and nutritional value, include almond, brazil nut, cashew nut, chestnut, hazelnut, macadamia, peanut, pecan, pine nut, pistachio, and walnut. Nut crops are full of health benefits and consumers are becoming increasingly conscious about their nutritional uptake. Consequently, the worldwide demand for and consumption of nut crops are steadily increasing.

To meet this increasing demand, there is a need to grow improved, higher-yielding and high-quality nut crops. Breeding and selection are extremely important to obtain new and valuable cultivars for superior nut production, find and introduce resistance genes against the main pests and diseases, improve adaptability to different environments, and increase aptitude for vegetative propagation. To date, the research activity concerning the improvement of tree nuts has been less intense than that of fruit crops, although their extensive genetic resources offer considerable potential for the future.

This Special Issue intends to focus on advances in breeding strategies using both traditional and innovative approaches for genetic improvement, giving a comprehensive overview of the current status of the research on nut tree species. Therefore, for this Special Issue, we welcome the submission of original research papers and reviews that focus on nut crop genetic improvement, including genetic resource evaluation, conventional breeding, hybridization, mapping, marker-assisted selection, genome-wide association studies, genetic transformation, genome editing, propagation techniques, tissue culture, pest and disease resistance, adaptive traits and tolerance to abiotic factors, nutraceutical aspects, and biofortification.

Prof. Daniela Torello Marinoni
Dr. Nadia Valentini
Prof. Roberto Botta
Ms. Vera Pavese
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • adaptation
  • breeding (cultivars and rootstocks)
  • biofortification
  • climate change
  • diseases and pest resistance
  • genetic diversity (genetic resources)
  • genome editing
  • genome-wide association studies
  • genomic selection
  • mapping
  • marker-assisted selection
  • NGS techniques
  • nutraceutical aspects (health-promoting phytochemicals)
  • tissue and organ culture

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2345 KiB  
Article
An In Vitro Protocol for Propagating Castanea sativa Italian Cultivars
by Vera Pavese, Paola Ruffa, Silvia Abbà, Rita Lourenço Costa, Elena Corredoira, Cristian Silvestri, Daniela Torello Marinoni and Roberto Botta
Plants 2022, 11(23), 3308; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11233308 - 30 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1924
Abstract
Castanea sativa cv. ‘Garrone Rosso’ and ‘Marrone di Castel del Rio’ are two of the most prized varieties in Italy due to their valuable and healthy nuts used for fresh consumption and in the confectionery industry. Despite the growing demand for chestnuts, there [...] Read more.
Castanea sativa cv. ‘Garrone Rosso’ and ‘Marrone di Castel del Rio’ are two of the most prized varieties in Italy due to their valuable and healthy nuts used for fresh consumption and in the confectionery industry. Despite the growing demand for chestnuts, there are constraints regarding plant propagation that hamper the renewal and new planting of orchards in different areas. Castanea sativa is susceptible to diseases that have caused a reduction in its area of production. For this reason, in vitro culture represents a valuable technique for germplasm preservation and plant multiplication enabling production of a high number of plants for use in breeding programs. Here we present an in vitro micropropagation protocol for Italian Castanea sativa cv. ‘Marrone di Castel del Rio’ and cv. ‘Garrone Rosso’ to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the Italian germplasm. Nodal explants were used as the starting material for in vitro establishment. The cv. ‘Marrone di Castel del Rio’ showed a high percentage of survival explants (92%) when subjected to long bleach exposure (25 min), in contrast to what was observed for the ‘Garrone Rosso’ cultivar. Ascorbic acid was found to be the best compound to counteract phenol exudation. The MS3B and DKW media supplied with 0.5 mg/L BAP were effective for in vitro establishment, while the DKW medium (0.1 mg/L BAP and 0.05 mg/L IBA) was preferable for the proliferation phase. A double-layer rooting methodology was used and 35% rooting was observed with 25 mg/L IBA rooting treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nut Tree Breeding: Conventional and Innovative Strategies)
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12 pages, 1163 KiB  
Article
Introduction of a New Interesting Walnut Cultivar “Leto”
by Ioannis Manthos and Dimos Rouskas
Plants 2021, 10(12), 2738; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10122738 - 13 Dec 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2945
Abstract
Ιn an effort to create walnut cultivars (Juglans regia) with high productivity, fruit quality and lateral bearing, a new cultivar, named “Leto”, was created by the cross “Gustine” × “Pedro”. Its main phenological and pomological characteristics were assessed according to the [...] Read more.
Ιn an effort to create walnut cultivars (Juglans regia) with high productivity, fruit quality and lateral bearing, a new cultivar, named “Leto”, was created by the cross “Gustine” × “Pedro”. Its main phenological and pomological characteristics were assessed according to the criteria of IPGR (1994) and UPOV-TG/125/6 (1999), for 10 consecutive years and compared with its maternal cultivars and “Chandler”. Observations showed that “Leto” has high lateral bearing habit (90%) and presents satisfactory yield at the full production age. The tree size is smaller than that of its parents and “Chandler”, female flowers bloom from 11 to 22 of April and male from 3 to 6 of April. “Leto” nuts are harvested at the end of September, present easy hull dehiscence and high kernel percentage. Other positive nut characteristics of “Leto” are light kernel color, well kernel filling and easy removal of the kernel halves. “Leto” is a mid-early cultivar of great interest due to its high- quality nuts, suitable for dense plantings, in regions where the last spring frosts occur in late March to early April, thus, making it a promising cultivar for Greece, but also for other regions with similar geomorphological and climatic conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nut Tree Breeding: Conventional and Innovative Strategies)
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