AUTHOR=Grüneberg Wolfgang J. , De Boeck Bert , Diaz Federico , Eyzaguirre Raul , Low Jan W. , Reif Jochen C. , Campos Hugo 

TITLE=Heterosis and Responses to Selection in Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) Improved Using Reciprocal Recurrent Selection

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.793904

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.793904

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Sweetpotato is a highly heterozygous hybrid, and populations of orange fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) have considerable importance for food security and health. The objectives were to estimate heterosis increments and response to selection in three OFSP hybrid populations (H1) developed in Peru for different product profiles after one reciprocal recurrent selection cycle, namely, H1 for wide adaptation and earliness (O-WAE), H1 for no sweetness after cooking (O-NSSP), and H1 for high iron (O-HIFE). The H1 populations were evaluated at two contrasting locations together with parents, foundation (parents in H0), and two widely adapted checks. Additionally, O-WAE were tested under two environmental conditions of 90-day and normal 120-day harvest. In each H1, yield and selected quality traits were recorded. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models. Storage root yield traits exhibited population average heterosis increments, up to 43.5%. The quality traits examined exhibited no heterosis increments worth exploiting. The storage root yield genetic gain relative to the foundation was remarkable: 118.8% for H1 O-WAE for early harvest time, 81.5% for H1 O-WAE for normal harvest time, 132.4% for H1 O-NSSP, and 97.1% for H1 O-HIFE. Population hybrid breeding is a tool to achieve large genetic gains in sweetpotato yield via more efficient population improvement and allows rapid dissemination of globally true seed generated from reproducible elite crosses, thus avoiding costly and time-consuming virus cleaning of elite clones typically transferred as vegetative plantlets. The hybrid breeding population approach is probably applicable to other clonally propagated crops where potential for true seed production exists.