Citrus Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology

Abstract

Citrus fruits are regarded as major household items in more than 100 countries around the world. The world juice industry is also dominated by citrus juices. Citriculture is the foundation for the livelihood of millions of farm and industrial workers, entrepreneurs and businesses. There is a rich endowment of knowledge and technologies developed by dedicated researchers and academics around the world which addresses the issues faced by the citrus industry worldwide. Integration and application of knowledge from different disciplines has made its impact by guiding growers and investors to grow more and better citrus. Yet, we can see that the major citrus cultivars grown in different parts of the world are not the product of systematic breeding efforts. This book is intended to provide consolidated information on citrus breeding in the era of biotechnology which is likely to hasten the pace of variety development aimed at resolving the problems faced by grove owners growing currently available cultivars. Citrus breeders and geneticists have pursued development of new cultivars for nearly a century. They do have clear goals to achieve. But, the traditional techniques have simply been insufficient to achieve the desired goals within reasonable time frames. The early researches focused on botanical and taxonomic subjects followed by interest in cytogenetics. The knowledge base has strengthened, but the outcome, in the form of commercially successful varietal releases, has remained slow, with a few success stories among rootstocks and fewer among scion cultivars. The recent advances in genetics, molecular biology and biotechnology have changed the pace of citrus breeding and genetics research. New approaches allow recombination within a broader and better understood germplasm pool, and more efficient selection methods have been developed for many traits. Progress has been also accelerated by the ease of communications via electronic media