Citrus > Citrus General Discussion

hybrid of limequat eustis x Mexican lime.

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Lauta_hibrid:
A question occurred to me: what would happen if I did backcrosses? I was thinking of combining Limequat eutis with Mexican lime. My idea was to have a new fruit tree with thin skin, lots of juice, and a stronger lime aroma. Limequat is productive, has thin skin and abundant juice, but the peel has little aroma. As with other Limequat hybrids, it flowered after three years. However, the plant deteriorated due to a root problem, which may have forced the flowering. I still wanted to show how it looks now

mikkel:
Excellent idea! I think backcrossing has great potential to combine all the desired traits in a single plant, even more than the F1 itself—especially for cold hardiness, which is what I’m most interested in.

usirius:
First, a digression into the theory of heredity.

In the mid-19th century, the theologian and natural scientist Gregor Johann Mendel established three essential rules of heredity through his experiments with plants. We will examine these rules in more detail in the following text.

Mendel's Law 1: Law of Uniformity
Mendel's Law 2: Law of Segregation
Mendel's Law 3: Law of Independent Assortment / Law of Recombination

Before:
Mendel's Laws - Overview of Terms:

Allele = carrier of a trait
Phenotype = set of all traits of an organism
Genotype = set of all genes of an organism
Dominant = the allele that determines the trait
Recessive = the allele that does not determine the trait
Uniform = identical
Intermediate = a mixture of alleles (dominant and recessive traits are combined)
Heterozygous = mixed-breeding (organism has two allele types with different genes)
Homozygous = pure-breeding (organism has two alleles with the same gene)


Mendel's Law 1: Law of Uniformity

The first law formulated by Mendel requires that the parental generation differs in a trait for which it is homozygous. (homozygous).

If these parents have offspring together, this so-called F1 generation is uniform with respect to this trait, meaning it is identical.

Example

If, for example, one flower in the parent generation is red and another is white, then the entire F1 generation will phenotypically (the observable aspect) have either only red flowers (if red is dominant) or only white flowers (if white is dominant). This uniformity also applies to the genotype.

It is important to distinguish between dominant-recessive and intermediate inheritance.

Dominant-recessive inheritance: In dominant-recessive inheritance, the F1 generation phenotypically expresses the trait that is genotypically (in terms of genetic information) dominant. For example, if the trait for red is dominant, then all flowers in the F1 generation will also be red. The recessive trait can only be expressed if no dominant trait is present. The traits are usually indicated with capital letters if they are dominant (RR) and with lowercase letters if they are recessive (ww).

Intermediate Inheritance
In an intermediate inheritance pattern, the F1 generation expresses a mixed form of the trait (here, for example, pink).


Mendel's Law 2: Law of Segregation

In the so-called Law of Segregation, Mendel describes the principle of inheritance when two individuals are crossed that are both heterozygous (mixed-breed) of the same trait.

Example

This refers, for example, to plants that possess both allele types in their genome, i.e., plants that have the genetic information for both "white" and "red." This genotype can occur in individuals of the F1 generation. If these heterozygous plants are crossed, then segregation of this trait occurs in different variations in the F2 generation.

In dominant-recessive inheritance, the phenotypic expression of the trait differences splits in a 3:1 ratio.

Assuming that "red" is dominant, three plants in the F2 generation would be red and one white. At the genotypic level, Mendel observed a different distribution. Here, the alleles are distributed in a 1:2:1 ratio. This results in one homozygous red (RR) plant, two heterozygous red (Rr) plants, and one homozygous white plant.

Mendel's Law 3: Law of Independent Assortment / Law of Recombination

Johann Gregor Mendel's third law describes a mode of inheritance in which the transmission of two traits to the next generation is described (the so-called dihybrid inheritance pattern).

The Law of Independent Assortment describes the inheritance pattern. The traits are inherited independently of each other, and from the F2 generation onward, new, homozygous combinations appear!

A well-known example is the inheritance of the color and surface texture of peas.

-----------------------------------

Your breeding goal and your ideas are interesting.

However, since the Limequat is heterozygous (and possibly the Mexican Lime as well), Mendel's Laws 2 and 3 will apply.

This means there will be segregation and a multitude of different offspring, among which there might be one that meets your breeding goal. The more crosses you make, i.e., the more seedlings you produce from such pollinations, the higher the probability of obtaining an optimal combination. But all seedlings, or at least those whose leaves clearly show they are intermediate, would have to be cultivated until they flower and fruit. And that, in turn, requires a lot of space, care, and several years of patience!

Nevertheless, I wish you the best of luck!

Ahuacatl:
You may be closer to your objective than you think. Have a look at Tavares limequat. It has excellent lime fragrance and makes great limeade. You may want to cross it with Nagami to improve cold resistance.

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