Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

B. Smalcelj and M. Curkovic Perica:

Development of Anther-Derived Flue-Cured Tobacco Dihaploids from PVY Resistant DH1O Hybrid

Summary

Damage caused by potato virus Y (PVY) has motivated a breeding program which aimed at the production of a fluecured tobacco cultivar resistant to PVY, with better yield and quality than standard cultivars grown in Croatia. Anthers were collected from the commercially grown hybrid DH10, a cross of line GV3 and cv. Virginia D, with favourable agronomic traits. Dihaploides were raised from the midvein explants of anther-derived haploids. Forty-seven dihaploids raised in this experiment were evaluated in comparative field trials, over a 3-year period. Three out of 47 tested dihaploid lines equaled agronomic and exceeded commercial properties of DH10 hybrid. Their yield and PVY-resistance were similar to that of the DH10 hybrid, but the price ($/kg) was considerably higher. These results show that dihaploid tobacco lines do not necessarily exhibit yield reduction and that anther culture followed by diploidization is a useful method to accelerate the development of new, improved, homozygous tobacco varieties. Significant differences between dihaploids derived from the same haploid plant were observed in flowering date, PVY resistance, plant height, number of leaves, leaves width and length, yield and price, showing that dihaploid lines derived from the same haploid individual can differ among themselves as well as those derived from different haploids. Key words:  Nicotiana tabacum, dihaploids, PVY resistance, yield, quality.