Utilization of Wild Blueberry Germplasm: The Legacy of Arlen Draper

ABSTRACT The native North American blueberry species have a very broad ecological amplitude. Dr. Arlen Draper of the USDA-Bellsville has made substantial progress in highbush blueberry breeding through the liberal use of this genetic gold mine. He has incorporated the genes of at least 10 species into the genetic background of the highbush blueberry and several of his creations have been released as cultivars. His hybrid US 75 (K darrowi x V. corymb-osum) has played a critical role in the development of the southern highbush types with a low chilling requirement such as ‘Cooper,’ ‘Georgiagem,1 ‘Gulfcoast,’ and ‘O'Neal.’ His most complex release to date,’ Sierra,' has the genes of 5 species and appeared to be winter hardy. Other unreleased hybrids should provide breeders with a diverse combination of valuable characteristics such as tolerance to mineral soils, disease and pest resistance, drought tolerance and fruit quality. His inter-species hybrids can be used in both northern and southern breeding progr...