DNA markers may help hop breeders
26 Nov 2019
The hop plant (Humulus lupulus) is dioecious, which means male and female sexes are on separate plants. Female hop plants are essential to the beer brewing industry, however, hop plants are wind-pollinated and the presence of a male hop plant near commercial hop fields can result in seed on the female hop cone, reducing brewing quality and value.
Male hop plants cannot be differentiated from female plants by physical observation before flowering (sexual reproduction). Therefore genetic molecular markers could provide a useful tool to determine male hop plants.
In this collaborative study, Plant & Food Research scientists grew a mapping population (of 500 seedlings) DNA phenotyping them over a five year period from 2007-2011. The study focused on enriching the hop genetic map with additional markers using diversity arrays technology (DarT).
The study identified potential markers for identifying plant gender (sex), which could be used by breeding programmes worldwide to identify male hop plants and remove them at the seedling stage. This would save space and speed breeding programmes by ensuring that only females are planted in the field.
The project was supported by funding from a New Zealand Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment research contract (C11X1006).
Journal Reference:
Čerenak A, Kolenc Z, Sehur P, Whittock SP, Koutoulis A, Beatson R, Buck E, Javornik B, Škof S, Jakše J 2019 New male specific markers for hop and application in breeding program. Scientific Reports, 9 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50400-z
