Mango ( Mangifera indica L.) Breeding

Mango Mangifera indica L. in the family Anacardiaceae is a large evergreen tree that grows throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world and bears a popular tropical fruit that is consumed locally and traded globally. Preferred mango varieties vary from country to country, with subcontinental Asian varieties typically being monoembryonic and South East Asian varieties being polyembryonic. The genus Mangifera consists of many species with M. indica being the most abundant, however several of the other species are graft and pollination compatible with M. indica and are useful as rootstocks or sources of novel genes for breeders. Mango presents several challenges for breeders; it is a recalcitrant species with seed viability declining rapidly, weeks, after fruit maturity, Polyembryonic varieties can only be used as pollen parents and one seed per fruit limits the number of progeny that can easily be generated per family. Incompatibility within and between species makes hand pollination success rates lower than many other species. Knowledge of the genes and gene markers associated with important traits is in its infancy, however there is considerable effort internationally to improve the knowledge of mango genetics. This chapter on mango breeding includes many recent advances in the biotechnological aspects of mango breeding that have occurred over the past decade. The chapter looks at the tools required to carry out a modern mango breeding program reviewing genetic resources, breeding program goals, stages and design and molecular breeding tools such as marker assisted selection, saturated linkage maps and transcriptome sequencing.