Unlocking the potential of genebank carrot
collections: creating a Carrot Diversity Set as
a research and pre-breeding resource
Seed collections held in genebanks represent a valuable resource for crop improvement but often
the sheer number of available accessions is a barrier to effective screening programmes. The
Carrot Diversity Set is aimed at addressing this problem by providing a representative ‘snapshot’
of the diversity in the carrot genepool, for example root type and colour and geographical origin.
Seed and DNA will be made available to users for trait and genetic screening with the intention
that where possible data can be pooled, adding further value. For more information visit
www.warwick.ac.uk/go/vegin.
Samples originate from wild populations, landraces
and older cultivars collected in 31 countries.
Parental lines from genetic mapping populations
have been kindly donated by P. Simon (University
of Wisconsin) and T. Nothnagel (Julius Kühn
Institute) allowing researchers to quickly
investigate the genetic basis of interesting traits
Composition of the Diversity Set
Wild populations
Landraces
Advanced cultivars
Each accession is represented by seed collected
Parental lines of genetic
individually from ten inter-crossed plants. This
mapping populations
allows the genetic diversity within open-pollinated
accessions to be represented in a structured way.
An eleventh plant has been self-pollinated to give a
more homozygous line.
The diversity set can be screened for traits such as
carrot rootfly and nematode resistance, disease
resistances and seedling vigour. These represent
significant and ongoing challenges to carrot
production and crop improvement through the
development of enhanced varieties is one way of
overcoming them.
This work forms part of the Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network
funded by Defra
Warwick Crop Centre
www.warwick.ac.uk/go/wcc