Seminar_Todd Wehner_10.26.2020.pdf

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Abstract:
Cucumber is one of the most important vegetables in the world. It is used fresh, pickled or as ingredients in cosmetics. Forty years ago, we started working on optimizing cucumber breeding programs to help our colleagues to be more efficient. Some of the questions we attempted to answer included: optimum plot size, optimum experiment size (number of years, locations, seasons, and replications needed), the importance of genotype x environment interaction on yield, the need for side borders and end borders in trials, methods for measuring yield (fruit value, weight and count), and how to measure the yield of all-male (fruitless) cultivars. We collected germplasm of cucumber and its wild relatives by traveling to the centers of diversity (India, southern Africa and China), and then screened hundreds of accessions for yield. The highest yielding accessions were intercrossed, and later, crossed with elite cultivars to develop elite populations. Those were then used to develop improved inbreds (also tested for disease resistance and fruit quality). Hybrids, inbreds and populations were then released to the industry for use in developing new cultivars that had high yield, as well as improved disease resistance and fruit quality.  In addition to developing selection methods and germplasm, we also have trained graduate students, visiting scientists and postdoctoral research associates in the science of plant breeding. As they have completed their research, they have been sent to work in breeding programs at land grant universities, seed companies, and international research centers.