‘Mountain Rouge’, the F1 hybrid of NC 161L · ‘Pink Brandywine’ (Fig. 1), resulted from a tomato breeding effort initiated in 2005 to develop a superior heirloom-type, pink-fruited tomato hybrid with improved fruit quality and late blight resistance. ‘Mountain Rouge’ (tested as NC 08224) was first crossed in the spring of 2008 and was grown in an observational trial at the Piedmont Research Station, Salisbury, NC, in the fall of 2008. Based on its favorable performance in that trial, it was selected for more advanced testing. It was grown in replicated trials at the Mountain Research Station (MRS), Waynesville, NC, in 2009 and 2011 and has been widely tested in grower plantings in western North Carolina and the northeastern United States. The MRS, Waynesville, is a high-elevation area in North Carolina and is suitable for late blight testing. The development of parent line NC 161L began when a cross was made in the fall of 2005 between NC 2CELBR and TB (x)-9, an F2 selection of the Japanese pink-fruited, greenhouse hybrid tomato ‘Momotaro’ (‘Tough Boy’). NC 2CELBR was the source of the Ph-2 and Ph-3 genes for late blight resistance (Gardner and Panthee, 2010) in the NC 161L parent line. An F2 population from the resultant cross, NC 0652, was grown in the field during the summer season of 2006 and selected for late blight resistance and desirable horticultural traits, including pink fruit color. An F3 generation selection, 161L1W (2007), with desirable horticultural traits and a high level of late blight resistance was made in the field in 2007. A subsequent F4 generation selection was made in the greenhouse to develop the line NC0652(x)-1W-1W-1, which was bulked and subsequently released as NC 161L.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Panthee et al. (2014) studied this question.