Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 45 E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: Plant Breeding Reviews
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 829

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Plant Breeding Reviews presents state-of-the-art reviews on plant genetics and the breeding of all types of crops by both traditional means and molecular methods. Many of the crops widely grown today stem from a very narrow genetic base; understanding and preserving crop genetic resources is vital to the security of food systems worldwide. The emphasis of the series is on methodology, a fundamental understanding of crop genetics, and applications to major crops.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contributors

1 Antoine: Slave, Creole Gardener, and Expert Grafter of Pecan Trees

I. BACKGROUND

II. WORK AND RECOGNITION OF ‘CENTENNIAL’ PECAN

III. SIGNIFICANCE

LITERATURE CITED

2 Hazelnut Breeding

ABBREVIATIONS

I .INTRODUCTION

II. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE, PRODUCING COUNTRIES, AND MARKETS

III. TAXONOMY OF THE GENUS CORYLUS

IV. GENETIC RESOURCE COLLECTION, CHARACTERIZATION AND PRESERVATION

V. MAJOR LIMITATIONS, NEEDS, AND BREEDING OBJECTIVES

VI. HISTORY OF GENETIC IMPROVEMENT

VII. BREEDING PROGRAMS SINCE 1960

VIII. FLORAL BIOLOGY AND BREEDING PROCEDURES

IX. BREEDING FOR SPECIFIC TRAITS

X. CLONAL SELECTION

XI. ROOTSTOCK IMPROVEMENT

XII. INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION

XIII. MOLECULAR MARKERS, GENOME SEQUENCES, TRANSCRITOME SEQUENCES AND GENETIC ENGINEERING

XIV. CONCLUSIONS AND PROSPECTS

LITERATURE CITED

3 Rewiring Network Plasticity to Improve Crops

ABBREVIATIONS

I. CROP IDEOTYPE DESIGN USING GENE NETWORKS

II. LEVERAGING NETWORK PLASTICITY TO IMPROVE CROPS

III. MULTISCALE MODELING TO SCALE UP GENE NETWORK PREDICTIONS

IV. CONCLUDING REMARKS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LITERATURE CITED

4 Accelerating Crop Domestication in the Era of Gene Editing

ABBREVIATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. MOLECULAR BIOLOGY IN DOMESTICATING AND IMPROVING NOVEL CROPS

III. BRINGING IN GENES FROM THE WILD INTO DOMESTICATED CROPS

IV. GOING INTO THE UNKNOWN: CAN WE REDOMESTICATE IN A MORE SPECIFIC WAY TO CREATE BETTER CROPS?

V. DO CROP MODELS OFFER OPPORTUNITIES FOR ASSISTING IN DE NOVO DOMESTICATION OF WILD SPECIES?

VI. CAN WE REVIVE LOST DOMESTICATES AND HOW WOULD WE BREED THESE?

VII. CAN MACHINE LEARNING BE USED TO DETECT DOMESTICATION LOCI?

VIII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LITERATURE CITED

5 Regional and Global Inter‐Connectivity Among Common Bean Breeding Programs

I. WHO MAKES BEAN VARIETIES? BREEDING AT VARIOUS SCALES

II. INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT OF BEAN BREEDING

III. AGENDA SETTING

IV. PROJECTS

VERSUS

NETWORKS

V. NEW CONCEPT OF GENOTYPE × ENVIRONMENT × INSTITUTION (G × E × I)

VI. CONTEXT‐MECHANISM‐OUTCOME FRAMEWORK

VII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

LITERATURE CITED

6 The Plant Sciences Symposia Series

ABBREVIATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

III. OBJECTIVES AND IMPACT

IV. CONCLUSIONS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LITERATURE CITED

7 Ideas in Genomic Selection with the Potential to Transform Plant Molecular Breeding

ABBREVIATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. BLUP ALPHABET

III. BAYESIAN ALPHABET

IV. MACHINE LEARNING

V. GWAS‐ASSISTED GENOMIC SELECTION

VI. HYBRID BREEDING

VII. MULTIPLE TRAITS

VIII. LONG‐TERM SELECTION

IX. ASSESSMENT OF PREDICTION ACCURACY

X. GS‐TRANSFORMED PLANT BREEDING

XI. FUTURE PROSPECTS

FUNDING

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LITERATURE CITED

8 Genetic Revelations of a New Paradigm of Plant Domestication as a Landscape Level Process

ABBREVIATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. A DEEP PLEISTOCENE ONSET OF SELECTION

III. MODES AND LIMITS OF SELECTION IN DOMESTICATION

IV. THE COMPLEX EMERGENCE OF DOMESTICATES

V. LANDSCAPE LEVEL ORIGINS: A NEW PARADIGM

LITERATURE CITED

9 Breeding for Acylsugar‐Mediated Control of Insects and Insect‐Transmitted Virus in Tomato

ABBREVIATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. POTENTIAL FOR PLANT‐BASED PEST RESISTANCE

III. WORK COMPLETED BEFORE THE START OF THE ACYLSUGAR BREEDING PROGRAM

IV. PHASE 1: ACYLSUGAR BREEDING PROGRAM AND SUPPORTING WORK

V.  PHASE 2: ACYLSUGAR BREEDING PROGRAM AND SUPPORTING WORK

VI.  PHASE 3 ACYLSUGAR BREEDING PROGRAM AND SUPPORTING WORK

VII. ONGOING WORK: BREEDING LINES TO SUPPORT CREATION OF COMMERCIAL TOMATOES WITH INSECT/VIRUS CONTROL

VIII. FUTURE DIRECTIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LITERATURE CITED

Cumulative Contributor Index

Cumulative Subject Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 2

Table 2.1

Corylus

species and their geographic distribution (see "Taxonomy of the...

Table 2.2 Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed for hazelnut and nu...

Table 2.3 Studies of genetic diversity in

Corylus

based on nuclear simple seq...

Table 2.4 Studies of chloroplast diversity in

Corylus

based on simple sequenc...

Table 2.5 Hazelnut cultivars selected by growers and nurseries in the Pacifi...

Table 2.6 Public hazelnut breeding programs since 1960 and current status (s...

Table 2.7 Hazelnut breeding objectives for the blanched kernel market (see “...

Table 2.8 Hazelnut cultivars, pollinizers, and ornamentals from Oregon State...

Table 2.9 Annual activities in the development of new hazelnut cultivars at ...

Table 2.10 Simply inherited traits in hazelnut (see “Floral Biology and Bree...

Table 2.11 Heritability of traits in hazelnut (see “Floral Biology and Breed...

Table 2.12 Eastern filbert blight resistance sources, origins, and linkage g...

Chapter 4

Table 4.1 Definitions of terms important to domestication.

Chapter 5

Table 5.1 Examples of cultivars resulting from breeding populations at the N...

Table 5.2 Multiple commercial class advanced lines produced at Eastern and C...

Table 5.3 Examples of advanced lines produced under Andean bush and climbing...

Chapter 6

Table 6.1 Number of speakers participating in symposia between 2008 and 2019...

Chapter 7

Table 7.1 Best Linear Unbiased Prediction and its deviations for genomic sel...

Chapter 9

Table 9.1 Effects of acylsugar on infestation by tomato pinworm, leafminer, ...

Table 9.2 Size and locations of the

S. pennellii

LA716 introgressions in the ...

Table 9.3 Initial QTL affecting acylsugar level, structure, or trichome dens...

Table 9.4 Alterations in either acylsugar levels or trichome density in sele...

Table 9.5 TICV infection rates among tomato varieties with differing resista...

Table 9.6 Acylsucrose levels in new second generation of acylsugar lines.

Table 9.7 Acylsugar profiles in selected acylsugar lines, tomato, and

S. penn

...

Table 9.8 Spring 2007 and 2009 acylsugar levels and 2007 mean SLW, Wilmauma,...

Table 9.9 Acylsucrose levels in the benchmark CU071026 and a set of related ...

Table 9.10 Locations and range of QTL affecting fatty acids in acylsugars an...

Table 9.11 Development of CU071026 and CU17NBL‐derived lines for research pu...

Table 9.12 Effects of acylsugar lines on percent mortality by instar, surviv...

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

Fig. 1.1. Main house, Oak Alley Plantation.

Fig. 1.2. ‘Centennial’ pecan, the first recognized improved pecan cultivar....

Fig. 1.3. ‘Centennial’ pecan nuts.

Fig. 1.4. One of the last remaining ‘Centennial’ pecan trees.

Chapter 2

Fig. 2.1. Raw kernels, blanched kernels, and nuts of ‘PollyO’, ‘McDonald’ an...

Fig. 2.2. Nuts, raw kernels, and blanched kernels of ‘Barcelona’ (top) and ‘...

Fig. 2.3. A plant of

Corylus avellana

showing its multi‐stemmed habit.

Fig. 2.4. A young ‘Jefferson’ orchard with trees growing with a single stem....

Fig. 2.5. A high‐density orchard of ‘Yamhill’ in Osorno, Chile.

Fig. 2.6. Nut clusters of ten

Corylus avellana

cultivars (‘Gasaway’, ‘Sacaja...

Fig. 2.7. A shrub of

Corylus americana

.

Fig. 2.8. A shrub of

Corylus heterophylla

.

Fig. 2.9. A shrub of

Corylus sutchuenens

is growing in Anhui, China.

Fig. 2.10. A young shrub of

Corylus yunnanensis

.

Fig. 2.11. A shrub of

Corylus cornuta

.

Fig. 2.12. A shrub of

Corylus californica

.

Fig. 2.13. A shrub of

Corylus sieboldiana

.

Fig. 2.14. A tree of

Corylus colurna

.

Fig. 2.15. A tree of

Corylus jacquemontii

.

Fig. 2.16. A tree of

Corylus chinensis

.

Fig. 2.17. A tree of

Corylus fargesii

.

Fig. 2.18. A young shrub of

Corylus ferox

.

Fig. 2.19. Nut clusters of

Corylus

species with leafy husks (

C. americana, C

...

Fig. 2.20.

C. sutchuenensis

in Anhui, China. (a) Nut cluster, (b) leaf, (c) ...

Fig. 2.21. Nut clusters of

Corylus

species with bristle‐covered husks (

C. co

...

Fig. 2.22. Nut clusters of (a)

Corylus ferox

from China and (b)

Corylus fero

...

Fig. 2.23. Nut clusters of four tree hazel species (

Corylus colurna, C. jacq

...

Fig. 2.24. Of all 13

Corylus

species, only

C. americana

has brilliant red le...

Fig. 2.25. Nut clusters of

Corylus colurna, C. avellana

‘Ennis’, two intersp...

Fig. 2.26. An emasculated trees that has been covered to protect females fro...

Fig. 2.27. Bagged branches on a hazelnut seedling.

Fig. 2.28. Catkins and female inflorescences.

Fig. 2.29. Collecting newly‐elongated catkins.

Fig. 2.30. Catkins after being dried overnight in the lab, with anthers dehi...

Fig. 2.31. Pollen on paper after catkins have been lightly tumbled and then ...

Fig. 2.32. Receptive females collected from a bagged branch for incompatibil...

Fig. 2.33. Pollination of female flowers to determine the incompatibility al...

Fig. 2.34. Fluorescence microscopy compatible (left) and incompatible (right...

Fig. 2.35. Pollination of a caged tree.

Fig. 2.36. Harvested hybrid seeds after counting the nut clusters, removing ...

Fig. 2.37. Germinating seeds after stratification in the cooler (4–7 °C) for...

Fig. 2.38. Seedlings growing in the greenhouse 11 days after planting.

Fig. 2.39. Seedlings being transplanted to 3‐L pots in the greenhouse, after...

Fig. 2.40. Seedlings in mid‐August after growing in the greenhouse.

Fig. 2.41. Unloading potted trees after trimming to 1 m and hardening in the...

Fig. 2.42. Planting seedlings with a trencher pulled by a tractor.

Fig. 2.43. Planting seedlings with a hand‐held auger.

Fig. 2.44. Seedling plot one year after planting, with trunks painted white ...

Fig. 2.45. Taking notes in the field in early September as the seedlings beg...

Fig. 2.46. Trees for harvest are marked with flagging tape on which the sele...

Fig. 2.47. Defects are counted after cracking two samples of 50 nuts each fr...

Fig. 2.48. Types of defects scored, from left to right: blank, moldy, shrive...

Fig. 2.49. Evaluation of two ten‐nut samples from each harvested tree to det...

Fig. 2.50. Blanching (pellicle removal) is rated on a scale of 1 (complete p...

Fig. 2.51. After painting the seedlings blue (discard) or orange (keep), the...

Fig. 2.52. Propagation of selected trees by tie‐off layerage of the suckers ...

Fig. 2.53. Replicated trial of hazelnut selections and check cultivars in it...

Fig. 2.54. Hazelnut harvest using plastic buckets of three colors. Yellow or...

Fig. 2.55. Differences in growth habit become obvious in the replicated tria...

Fig. 2.56. Micropropagation allows rapid increase of the most promising sele...

Fig. 2.57. A small tree from micropropagation after acclimation and growth i...

Fig. 2.58. A well‐rooted tree from micropropagation that will be ready for a...

Fig. 2.59. Eastern filbert blight has nearly killed the trees in this ‘Ennis...

Fig. 2.60. A closeup view of an eastern filbert blight canker on a young haz...

Fig. 2.61. A dozen potted trees of each hazelnut selection has been placed u...

Fig. 2.62. Apple mosaic virus is widespread in orchards in Spain, southern I...

Chapter 3

Fig. 3.1. Regulatory genomic variation of influential nodes in network modul...

Fig. 3.2. Multilevel regulation of molecular responses in plants. Regulatory...

Fig. 3.3. Dynamic rewiring of miRNA‐mediated and epigenetics‐ and posttransl...

Chapter 4

Fig. 4.1. The CRISPR‐Cas tool for genetic engineering. (Left‐A) The conventi...

Fig. 4.2. The pillars of genetic change in plant breeding are domestication ...

Chapter 5

Fig. 5.1. Actors involved in common bean breeding. Organizational linkages, ...

Fig. 5.2. Map of bean breeding sites around the world. All programs are pict...

Fig. 5.3. Network of partners in common breeding in the Ethiopian National A...

Fig. 5.4. Chart of variety, cultivar, and germplasm development from three p...

Fig. 5.5. Examples of career time scales and overlaps in bean breeding in th...

Fig. 5.6. Productivity in advanced line and varietal development (a) as infl...

Fig. 5.7. The approximate pay scales in 1000 × US dollars (USD) for employee...

Fig. 5.8. Networking among partners in the management and funding of bean br...

Chapter 6

Fig. 6.1. Growth of the Plant Sciences Symposia Series between 2008 and 2019...

Fig. 6.2. Map and lists of universities, research centers, and conferences t...

Fig. 6.3. Word cloud of keywords found in the titles of individual talks of ...

Fig. 6.4. Map showing connections between symposium event locations (large c...

Fig. 6.5. Photos from recent PSSS events. Top row, left to right: University...

Chapter 7

Fig. 7.1. Direct and indirect estimation of genomic breeding values. When n ...

Fig. 7.2. The graphic properties of the variance parameter for the distribut...

Fig. 7.3. The connections between marker‐assisted selection and genomic sele...

Fig. 7.4. Valid and invalid procedures to evaluate enhancement of incorporat...

Fig. 7.5. Accuracy of predictions on randomly generated noise. Random noises...

Chapter 9

Fig. 9.1. SEM images of trichomes on the epidermis of tomato (upper panel) a...

Fig. 9.2. Generalized structures of acylglucoses and acylsucroses in tomato ...

Fig. 9.3. Schematic of the strategy for yearly backcrossing used in third to...

Fig 9.4. Reduced tomato‐spotted wilt virus (TSWV) inoculation by western flo...

Fig 9.5. Reduced western flower thrips (WFTs) oviposition onto acylsugar lin...

Guide

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contributors

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Cumulative Contributor Index

Cumulative Subject Index

Wiley End User License Agreement

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PLANT BREEDING REVIEWS

Volume 45

Edited by

Irwin Goldman

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

This edition first published 2022© 2022 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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Hardback ISBN: 9781119828181

Cover Design: WileyCover Illustration: © browndogstudios/Getty Images

Contributors

Tabare AbadieCorteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, USA

Robin G. AllabySchool of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

Daniel AmbachewTennessee State University, Nashville, TN, USA

Asrat AsfawInternational Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Abuja, Nigeria

Matthew W. BlairTennessee State University, Nashville, TN, USA

Angel Del Valle‐EchevarriaHawaii Agricultural Research Center, Kunia, HI, USA

Haixiao DongCollege of Plant Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China

Dorian Q. FullerInstitute of Archaeology, UCL, London, UKSchool of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

Nathan FumiaUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

Michael A. GorePlant Breeding and Genetics Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Madara Hetti‐ArachchilageCenter for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation BRC, University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

Hiroyoshi IwataDepartment of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Yi JiaResearch and Development, Corteva Agriscience, Indianapolis, IN, USA

Michael KantarUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

Paul KimaniUniversity of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

Logan KistlerDepartment of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA

Yutao LiCSIRO Agriculture and Food, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia

Alexander E. LipkaDepartment of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

Xiaolei LiuKey Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

Amy Marshall‐ColonDepartment of Plant Biology, University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

Matthew McGowanMolecular Plant Sciences Program, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

Shawn A. MehlenbacherDepartment of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

Thomas J. MolnarDepartment of Plant Biology, Rutgers‐the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Martha A. MutschlerPlant Breeding and Genetics Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Ghana Shyam ChallaInstitute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

Jason T. RauscherCorteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, USA

Chris J. StevensInstitute of Archaeology, UCL, London, UKSchool of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing, China

Jiabo WangInstitute of Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Xianfeng WangDepartment of Crop Genomics and Bioinformatics, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, National Maize Improvement Center of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

Lenny WellsDepartment of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA, USA

Zhiwu ZhangDepartment of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

1 Antoine: Slave, Creole Gardener, and Expert Grafter of Pecan Trees

Lenny Wells

Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA, USA

ABSTRACT

Scientific advancements in any field are often the result of hard work by well‐trained scientists whose productive lives and academic careers are well documented. Occasionally, advancements are made in a given field by those without the advantage of formal education or training, and about whom there is little documentation, but whose intellect and skill contribute greatly to the advancement of that field. In the mid‐1800s, a man known only as Antoine grafted 126 pecan (Carya illinoinensis) trees at Oak Alley Plantation in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Originally, a sugarcane plantation, dating back to 1836, Oak Alley is famously recognized by its plantation house adorned with large Tuscan columns and lying at the end of a double row of 28 large live oak trees. There is very little known of Antoine, in part because he was a slave whose rights were largely curtailed. However, his successful grafting of 126 pecan trees laid the foundation for the development of the first recognized pecan cultivar, ‘Centennial’. Antoine’s techniques would be used as the basis for the consistency that led to the development of the pecan industry, not only in the United States, but also throughout the world. That he was unheralded during his time is largely due to the horrors and repressive nature of American slavery. It is long past time that his accomplishments, and the contributions of so many unrecognized horticulturists to the betterment of our crops, were recognized.

Keywords: Oak Alley; pecan; slavery; slave; Carya illinoinensis

OUTLINE

BACKGROUND

WORK AND RECOGNITION OF ‘CENTENNIAL’ PECAN

SIGNIFICANCE

LITERATURE CITED

I. BACKGROUND

Prior to the late 1800s, though pecans (Carya illinoinensis) had been utilized by Native Americans for centuries and were later a popular trade item among the early European settlers of North America, pecans were not viewed as having serious commercial potential due to their lack of uniformity (Wells 2017). In 1794, French explorer and botanist Andre Michaux first encountered the pecan near Louisville, Kentucky. Twenty‐five years later, he would encounter stands of wild pecan trees being cultivated by Native Americans near Kaskaskia, Illinois. He wrote of the pecan as being “more delicately” flavored than the walnuts of Europe. He was concerned with the lack of precocity – fruit production at an early age – in the pecan and suggested the pecan could be improved by grafting onto wild black walnut (Juglans nigra) (Bryant 2004).

However, there are no records of successful attempts at the vegetative propagation of pecan trees until 1822 when Dr. Abner Landrum budded pecan onto a wild hickory (Carya spp.) rootstock in Edgefield, South Carolina. Landrum himself was a fascinating man in his own right. A physician, ceramic artist, amateur horticulturist, and publisher, Landrum produced the first alkaline‐glazed stoneware pottery in the New World, combining the techniques of Europe and Asia and creating a viable alternative to lead‐glazed pottery. This was significant because the lead glaze used on most earthenware pottery produced in the south during the 1700s and early 1800s was responsible for a rash of lead poisoning cases throughout the region during that same period. In addition, acids from the vinegar used in preserving seemed to accelerate the process. Landrum’s pottery would spread throughout the entire southern tier of states to Texas during the late 1800s, saving countless agonizing deaths in the region (Koverman 2009).

Landrum had previously attempted to bud both pecan and walnut to hickory rootstock. In an article published in American Farmer magazine, Landrum wrote “the pecan did not take so well as the walnut but my trials were made rather late in the season.” The following summer, he had better success, stating “I have this summer budded some dozens of pecan on the common hickory nut, without a single failure as yet; and some of them are growing finely” (Landrum 1822). Despite his success, Landrum’s attempts at budding pecan failed to lead to any further development in the form of nursery production, orchard establishment, or cultivar development. As a result, the pecan was still considered too unpredictable and nonuniform in its production to be of any commercial value beyond those nuts gathered from the wild and sold or traded.

When sugarcane planter, Jacques Telesphore Roman, the owner of Oak Alley Plantation, died in 1848 of tuberculosis, an inventory of his estate was conducted. This inventory provides the only written record of a man named Antoine, who, in the distasteful context of that time, was considered a part of the inventory of Roman’s estate. Roman had acquired the 9000 acre sugarcane plantation in 1836 and promptly built the main house between 1837 and 1839. The plantation later acquired the name Oak Alley, referencing the 28 massive live oak trees lining the entrance to the main house. A hospital, an overseer’s house, a 100‐stall horse stable, a sugarhouse, and sawmill were also built. Aside from these outbuildings and the opulence of the main house, the plantation was home to 24 simple, wood‐frame cabins, which housed the 113 people enslaved by Roman to serve him and his family in the home and in the fields. Antoine was listed among the 93 field slaves at Oak Alley. The 1848 ledger records Antoine’s age at 38 years, which suggests he was born in 1810. The notation beside his name states that Antoine was “a Creole Negro gardener and expert grafter of pecan trees.” According to Roman’s ledger, this man’s life was valued at $1000 (Anonymous 2010) (Figure 1.1).

II. WORK AND RECOGNITION OF ‘CENTENNIAL’ PECAN

In the early 1840s, a pecan tree growing on the Nita Plantation on the east bank of the Mississippi River, just around a bend and upstream from Oak Alley Plantation, consistently produced large, thin‐shelled pecans that were favored by a local dentist, Dr. A.C. Colomb, who attempted to graft cuttings from the tree onto other pecan trees. Failing in this endeavor, Colomb collected graftwood cuttings from the tree and gave them to J.T. Roman so that Roman’s gardener, Antoine, could graft the wood onto trees across the river at Oak Alley Plantation (Flack 1970).

Antoine began grafting Colomb’s cuttings onto trees near the main house of Oak Alley. Initially, he was successful in grafting 16 trees. Although the exact grafting method used by Antoine is unknown (most likely some form of bark graft), he would continue this work until 110 pecan trees were successfully grafted in a large pasture near the river on Oak Alley Plantation. All 126 trees were bearing pecans by the end of the Civil War. Following the war, Oak Alley went through a succession of owners, who cut down most of these trees to plant sugarcane. By 1902, only two of the original trees grafted by Antoine were still alive (Flack 1970).

Fig. 1.1. Main house, Oak Alley Plantation.

Source: Photograph courtesy of Oak Alley Plantation.

In 1876, the famed Centennial Exhibition was held in Philadelphia. This was the first official World’s Fair held in the United States, and such novel items as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, the Remington typewriter, Heinz ketchup, and the Wallace–Farmer electric dynamo, a precursor to electric lighting, were displayed alongside the torch of the as‐yet‐to‐be completed Statue of Liberty. One of Oak Alley’s prior owners, Hubert Bonzano, happened to serve on the Centennial Exposition’s board of managers. Bonzano, a proud resident of Louisiana, began to encourage the state to submit everything of interest that it had to offer for display at the exhibition (Kilcer, personal communication). Bonzano’s boosterism resulted in the submission of a few pecans gathered from the remaining pecan trees grafted by Antoine. Professor William Brewer, chair of Agriculture at Yale’s Sheffield Scientific School, awarded Bonzano a certificate for the pecans, commending their “remarkably large size, tenderness of shell and very specific excellence” (Taylor 1905). While this was a triumph for Bonzano and generated recognition of the pecan, it is a shame that the man known only as Antoine received no recognition for his invaluable contribution.

Fig. 1.2. ‘Centennial’ pecan, the first recognized improved pecan cultivar.

Source: USDA Yearbook of Agriculture (1904).

Antoine’s grafted trees were given the name ‘Centennial’ in honor of the exhibition and the 100th anniversary of the United States, becoming the first recognized pecan cultivar to be named. The tree was first catalogued under this name in 1885 by Richard Frotscher and William Nelson and was sold through their nursery in New Orleans (Flack 1970) (Figures 1.2 and 1.3).

The original “mother” ‘Centennial’ tree, from which the graftwood used by Antoine was taken in the 1840s, was destroyed on March 14, 1890. The Nita Crevasse, a 15 ft deep gouge into the earth formed when a defective rice flume was used for routing water from the river to the rice fields, caused a breach in the levee. As the water flooded in, the tree was swept away with the earth beneath it (Taylor 1905) (Figure 1.4).

III. SIGNIFICANCE

While ‘Centennial’ is no longer a commercially planted cultivar, it remains significant for the advancements made through its development as the first recognized pecan cultivar. Antoine’s successful grafting techniques brought the potential for uniformity to the industry. Pecan growers and nurserymen were shown the possibilities that exist in selecting and asexually propagating the best seedling trees.

Fig. 1.3. ‘Centennial’ pecan nuts.

Source: Photograph by USDA ARS‐Pecan Breeding and Genetics.

Fig. 1.4. One of the last remaining ‘Centennial’ pecan trees.

Source: Oak Alley Plantation in 1941.

Prior to Antoine’s success, pecan production was highly sporadic, and the variability between the nuts produced from one tree and the next, too great to entice any interest in commercial production. The term “seedling” often refers to a young tree, but to those familiar with pecans, a “seedling” refers to a non‐improved tree grown from a nut. Although many cultivars such as ‘Centennial’ have arisen as chance seedlings, most seedlings are, in a sense, wild pecans arising from open pollination. As such, most of the pecans produced from an individual tree will grow into trees that produce pecans that bear little resemblance to their parents and siblings. As a result, pecans are found in a diversity of size, shape, shell thickness, and quality of kernel. The tree itself may also vary considerably from its relatives in its habit of growth, foliage density, leaf shape, time of budbreak, etc.

Most cultivated plants grown today are improved forms, which owe their continued existence to propagation by humans. In the case of pecan, selected individual trees are asexually propagated through grafting or budding, which allows shoots or buds (termed scions or graftwood) from a tree with desirable characteristics to be transferred or attached to an established tree called the rootstock. This allowed for the production of trees with reliably predictable characteristics, which could bring about consistency in production and uniform nut quality, both of which are requirements for successful commercialization of a potential horticultural crop.

Delayed in part by the Civil War, Antoine’s breakthrough was later adopted by nurserymen such as Emil Borgeois, A.G. Delmas, Charles Pabst, and E.E. Riesen in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, who further adapted these techniques on a commercial scale. This advance led to a profusion of new seedling selections, which would be developed into cultivars such as ‘Alley’, ‘Van Deman’, ‘Pabst’, ‘Stuart’, ‘Schley’, and ‘Western Schley’, which became the foundational cultivars of the early commercial pecan industry in the United States.

There remain various forms of grafting and budding in use today to produce the trees that are planted into all commercial pecan orchards. While we don’t know the exact form of grafting used by Antoine, nor where he learned this skill, the same basic concept of joining scion to rootstock is still used today to produce the improved cultivars grown by commercial pecan producers throughout the world.

Scientific advancements in any field are often the result of hard work by well‐trained scientists whose productive lives and academic careers are well documented. Occasionally, advancements are made in a given field by those without the advantage of formal education or training, and about whom there is little documentation, but whose intellect and skill contribute greatly to the advancement of that field.

Antoine used his natural gifts along with the knowledge gained through hard‐won experience to contribute to horticultural science in a manner few people can claim. The sole written record regarding this man from his own time exists only because he was deemed to have a certain value as the property of another man. This record describes him so very briefly in unflattering terms – “a Creole negro gardener and expert grafter of pecan trees.” Yet, Antoine was so much more than that. He was a human being with his own intrinsic value. Of how many contributions has the world been robbed through the mistreatment of others, through violence and oppression? How many others are out there who have made similar contributions, yet go unrecognized? Antoine was one of the major pioneers of early American agriculture and the commercial pecan industry. He was a horticulturist and indeed, a teacher.

Antoine’s success ultimately led to the propagation of more than 1,000 different pecan cultivars, which today are planted commercially on every continent except Antarctica. This is his legacy. America’s record of slavery cannot be forgotten. We should recognize that within this tragedy, there exist countless legacies, such as that of Antoine, which have been lost or obscured by the lens of history.

LITERATURE CITED

Anonymous. 2010.

Slavery at Oak Alley Plantation

.

http://www.oakalley‐plantation.com/SlaveryResearchDatabase

(accessed June 14, 2010).

Bryant, W.S. 2004. Botanical explorations of Andre Michaux in Kentucky: observations of vegetation in the 1790s.

Castanea

2:211–216.

Flack, J.R. 1970.

The spread and domestication of the pecan in the U.S

. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Koverman, J.B. 2009. Clay connections: a thousand mile journey from South Carolina to Texas. American Material Culture and The Texas Experience: The David B. Warren Symposium. Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.

http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=mks_staffpub

.

Landrum, A. 1822. Letter to the editor,

Am. Farmer

4:7.

Taylor, W.A. 1905. Promising new fruits. p. 399–416. In

Yearbook of The Department of Agriculture

. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.

United States Department of Agriculture. 1904. Washington. Government Printing Office, 1905.

Wells, L. 2017.

Pecan: America’s native nut tree

. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.