Sugarbeet Germplasm Lines Selected from Crosses between Wild Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima from France, Belgium, and Denmark and Cultivated Sugar Beet

The genetic basis of sugarbeet is very narrow. Moreover, it is recognized that introgression of genetic diversity into elite populations enhances long-term breeding progress. Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima, a wild relative of sugarbeet, is a source for increasing the genetic diversity within cultivated sugarbeet. Being closely related to sugarbeet, fertility problems among hybrid progeny are rare. B. v. subsp. maritima is distributed over a large geographic area and therefore exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions and disease organisms. This report describes eleven sugarbeet germplasm lines; F1044, F1045, F1046, F1047, F1048, F1049, F1050, F1051, F1052, F1053, and F1054; that were selected from crosses between a sugarbeet breeding line and eleven B. v. subsp. maritima accessions originating from France, Belgium, and Denmark. The sucrose concentration of the eleven germplasm lines ranged from 123 g kg-1 to 143 g kg-1 compared to 153 g kg-1 for an adapted hybrid. The 3-year average recoverable sucrose concentration of the lines was 85% of the recoverable sucrose concentration of the adapted hybrid. It is assumed that F1044 -F1054 will be used to introduce genetic diversity into elite breeding populations that have or are segregating for many of the traits desired for commercial production.