Abstract:
Early flowering variety ‘Kaorino’, late flowering variety ‘Yutu’ and medium flowering variety ‘Yunmei No.1’ were used as materials to establish five genetic progenies, namely selfed ‘Kaorino’, selfed ‘Yutu’, selfed ‘Yunmei No.1’, ‘Kaorino×Yutu’, and ‘Kaorino×Yunmei No.1’. The flowering time of the first flower in the first inflorescence and the number of stolon and runner tip for each individual plant in the five genetic progenies were investigated, and the segregation model of the precocity trait and the genetic correlation between precocity traits and propagation efficiency were analyzed. The selfed ‘Kaorino’ progeny demonstrated early flowering with peak flowering time in October and November, the selfed ‘Yutu’ progeny demonstrated late flowering with peak flowering time in January and February, and the selfed ‘Yunmei No.1’ progeny demonstrated middle flowering time with peak flowering in December. The flowering time of ‘Kaorino×Yunmei No.1’ progeny was earlier than that of ‘Kaorino×Yutu’ progeny. The flowering date distribution of 3 selfed progenies and 2 crossed progenies showed a single peak, indicating that strawberry precocity is not controlled by a single gene, but by 2 or more genes. At the end of May and June, the number of stolon and runner tip of the late-flowering progenies were found to be more than that of early flowering progenies. In conclusion, the precocity of strawberries is not controlled by a single gene, but by 2 or more genes. The precocity of strawberries is negatively correlated with the propagation efficiency, and the propagation efficiency of late-flowering progenies is significantly higher than that of early-flowering progenies. This conclusion needs further research to support in the near future with more genotypes as research materials.