Inducible flowering technology for citrus speed breeding
Project ID:
5200-174
Principal Investigator:
Sean Cutler
Principal Investigator Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside
Co-Investigators:
N/A
Collaborators:
- Mikeal Roose
- Chandrika Ramadugu
Start Date:
2020
Estimated Duration:
1 year(s)
Completed Date:
N/A
Annual Funding:
$137,277.00
There will be both immediate and implementable results at the end of this project as well as results that have longer-term impact. The successful development of our iFT flowering technology could benefit growers in multiple ways. iFT enables the direct induction of flowering, which may accelerate production times in newly established groves and/or be used to manage alternate-bearing. In addition, iFT technology is valuable as a tool for breeding programs and will help accelerate the development of new varieties because it can be used to reduce citrus’ seed-to-seed generation time almost 10-fold (i.e. from ~6 years to 8-months). This step-change will, for example, speed up UCR’s development of HLB resistant varieties using naturally occurring resistance derived from Australian citrus relatives and benefit other breeding programs. The iFT varieties that we are developing will have direct and immediate impact on citrus breeding programs that can be implemented at the end of this project.