Eclipse Blackberry Cultivar Breeding for Thornless Vigor
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blackberry cultivars often lack a combination of high vigor, early ripening, thornless canes, firm and symmetrically shaped fruit with superior flavor, and adequate winter tolerance, which are desirable traits for commercial production.
Innovation Solution
The development of the 'Eclipse' blackberry cultivar, resulting from a cross between 'ORUS 1393-1' and 'Triple Crown', which exhibits high plant vigor, semi-erect growth habit, thornless canes, early fruiting, firm and symmetrically shaped fruit with improved flavor, and good winter tolerance, achieved through asexual propagation and microcutting techniques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional blackberry cultivars are used, then fruit production is maintained, but plant vigor is insufficient and ripening is late
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by selecting and combining specific genetic parameters from parent plants to create a cultivar with optimized ripening time. The new cultivar was developed through controlled cross-pollination between selected parent plants, changing the genetic parameters to achieve early ripening while maintaining high fruit production.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If thorny blackberry varieties are used, then fruit flavor is improved, but ease of handling and harvesting is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by removing the thorny characteristics from the blackberry plant while retaining the desirable fruit flavor. The new cultivar was developed through selective breeding to extract and eliminate the harmful thorny traits from the plant structure, making it easier to handle and harvest while maintaining good fruit flavor.
3Area of stationary object
If semi-erect growth habit is used, then space utilization is improved, but plant vigor is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the growth habit parameter of the blackberry plant. The new cultivar was developed through controlled cross-pollination to change the growth habit parameter, achieving a semi-erect growth pattern that improves space utilization while maintaining high plant vigor through careful selection of parent plants with complementary traits.
4Quantity of substance
If fruit size is increased, then yield is improved, but fruit firmness and skin toughness are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by optimizing the fruit development parameters through selective breeding. The new cultivar was developed by changing the genetic parameters controlling fruit size, firmness, and skin toughness, achieving a balance where fruits are adequately sized while maintaining high firmness and skin toughness through careful selection of parent plants with complementary fruit quality traits.
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct blackberry cultivar that originated from seed produced from a cross between the female blackberry plant `ORUS 1393-1` (unpatented) and the male blackberry plant `Triple Crown` (unpatented). This new blackberry is unique in that it contains all three commercial blackberry types (trailing, erect, and semi-erect) in its pedigree as either a parent or a grandparent. This new blackberry cultivar can be distinguished by being early ripening for a semi-erect blackberry, by its medium-sized, firm berries with tough skin and very good flavor, by its medium to high yields borne on a vigorous plant with a semi-erect type growth habit and by its completely thornless canes.