IMPROVING BREEDING EFFICIENCY IN BLACKCURRANT - THE APPLICATION OF NEW SELECTION TECHNIQUES IN RIBES

The deployment of marker-assisted breeding strategies in blackcurrant has started with the use of a PCR-based marker for gall mite resistance. This is now a routine part of the selection process within the breeding programmes at the James Hutton Institute, and further work is in progress to develop similar approaches for other more complex traits. Whilst the need for accurate field- and glasshouse-based phenotyping has never been more vital, the integration of enhanced phenotyping with the development of significant genomics resources offers an important opportunity for the improvement of breeding efficiency in blackcurrant.