An overview of apricot breeding in China

Over the past 8 years, apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) breeding and related studies in China have made significant progress. Based on phenotypic and molecular data, a core collection of apricot germplasm was constructed that well represents the genetic diversities of the entire collection of germplasm resources recorded in the China Fruit Tree Monographs, Apricot Flora. DNA fingerprinting of major apricot cultivars was conducted using polymorphic alleles from simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci. Efficiency of identification of apricot cultivars using SSR fingerprinting was high. Guidelines for conducting tests of distinctness, uniformity, and stability of apricot were issued in 2013 as a national standard, which contributes significantly to protecting the intellectual property of apricot breeders. More than 40 apricot cultivars have been released. The breeding objectives for fresh marketing apricot cultivars have changed from increasing yield to improving fruit quality, such as taste, attractiveness, firmness, disease resistance, and early ripening. Some molecular markers linked to traits of interest have been found, and marker-assisted selection and molecular breeding have started to become practical ways of accelerating new cultivar development.