Tree Selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> in a Representative Orchard Cluster Within Southern Hunan Province, China: A Comprehensive Evaluation Approach
With the objective of identifying superior <i>Vernicia montana</i> trees grounded in phenotypic and agronomic traits, this study sought to develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation method which would provide a practical foundation for future clonal breeding initiatives. Using the...
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2025-07-01
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| author | Juntao Liu Zhexiu Yu Xihui Li Ling Zhou Ruihui Wang Weihua Zhang |
| author_facet | Juntao Liu Zhexiu Yu Xihui Li Ling Zhou Ruihui Wang Weihua Zhang |
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| description | With the objective of identifying superior <i>Vernicia montana</i> trees grounded in phenotypic and agronomic traits, this study sought to develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation method which would provide a practical foundation for future clonal breeding initiatives. Using the <i>Vernicia montana</i> propagated from seedling forests grown in the Suxian District of Chenzhou City in southern Hunan Province, we conducted pre-selection, primary selection, and re-selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> forest stands and took the nine trait indices of single-plant fruiting quantity, single-plant fruit yield, disease and pest resistance, fruit ripening consistency, fruit aggregation, fresh fruit single-fruit weight, fresh fruit seed rate, dry seed kernel rate, and seed kernel oil content rate as the optimal evaluation indexes and carried out cluster analysis and a comprehensive evaluation in order to establish a comprehensive evaluation system for superior <i>Vernicia montana</i> trees. The results demonstrated that a three-stage selection process—consisting of pre-selection, primary selection, and re-selection—was conducted using a comprehensive analytical approach. The pre-selection phase relied primarily on sensory evaluation criteria, including fruit count per plant, tree size, tree morphology, and fruit clustering characteristics. Through this rigorous screening process, 60 elite plants were selected. The primary selection was based on phenotypic traits, including single-plant fruit yield, pest and disease resistance, and uniformity of fruit ripening. From this stage, 36 plants were selected. Twenty plants were then selected for re-selection based on key performance indicators, such as fresh fruit weight, fresh fruit seed yield, dry seed kernel yield, and oil content of the seed kernel. Then the re-selected optimal trees were clustered and analyzed into three classes, with 10 plants in class I, 7 plants in class II, and 3 plants in class III. In class I, the top three superior plants exhibited outstanding performance across key traits: their fresh fruit weight per fruit, fresh fruit seed yield, dry seed yield, and seed kernel oil content reached 41.61 g, 42.80%, 62.42%, and 57.72%, respectively. Compared with other groups, these figures showed significant advantages: 1.17, 1.09, 1.12, and 1.02 times the average values of the 20 reselected superior trees; 1.22, 1.19, 1.20, and 1.08 times those of the 36 primary-selected superior trees; and 1.24, 1.25, 1.26, and 1.19 times those of the 60 pre-selected trees. Fruits counts per plant and the number of fruits produced per plant of the best three plants in class I were 885 and 23.38 kg, respectively, which were 1.13 and 1.18 times higher than the average of 20 re-selected superior trees, 1.25 and 1.30 times higher than the average of 36 first-selected superior trees, and 1.51 and 1.58 times higher than the average of 60 pre-selected superior trees. Class I superior trees, especially the top three genotypes, are suitable for use as mother trees for scion collection in grafting. The findings of this study provide a crucial foundation for developing superior clonal varieties of <i>Vernicia montana</i> through selective breeding. |
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| spelling | doaj-art-abfeca67dbc94d81a59f25522f490bd82025-08-20T03:36:27ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472025-07-011415235110.3390/plants14152351Tree Selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> in a Representative Orchard Cluster Within Southern Hunan Province, China: A Comprehensive Evaluation ApproachJuntao Liu0Zhexiu Yu1Xihui Li2Ling Zhou3Ruihui Wang4Weihua Zhang5School of Forestry, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Silviculture and Conservation of the Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, ChinaSchool of Forestry, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Silviculture and Conservation of the Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, ChinaSchool of Forestry, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, ChinaWith the objective of identifying superior <i>Vernicia montana</i> trees grounded in phenotypic and agronomic traits, this study sought to develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation method which would provide a practical foundation for future clonal breeding initiatives. Using the <i>Vernicia montana</i> propagated from seedling forests grown in the Suxian District of Chenzhou City in southern Hunan Province, we conducted pre-selection, primary selection, and re-selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> forest stands and took the nine trait indices of single-plant fruiting quantity, single-plant fruit yield, disease and pest resistance, fruit ripening consistency, fruit aggregation, fresh fruit single-fruit weight, fresh fruit seed rate, dry seed kernel rate, and seed kernel oil content rate as the optimal evaluation indexes and carried out cluster analysis and a comprehensive evaluation in order to establish a comprehensive evaluation system for superior <i>Vernicia montana</i> trees. The results demonstrated that a three-stage selection process—consisting of pre-selection, primary selection, and re-selection—was conducted using a comprehensive analytical approach. The pre-selection phase relied primarily on sensory evaluation criteria, including fruit count per plant, tree size, tree morphology, and fruit clustering characteristics. Through this rigorous screening process, 60 elite plants were selected. The primary selection was based on phenotypic traits, including single-plant fruit yield, pest and disease resistance, and uniformity of fruit ripening. From this stage, 36 plants were selected. Twenty plants were then selected for re-selection based on key performance indicators, such as fresh fruit weight, fresh fruit seed yield, dry seed kernel yield, and oil content of the seed kernel. Then the re-selected optimal trees were clustered and analyzed into three classes, with 10 plants in class I, 7 plants in class II, and 3 plants in class III. In class I, the top three superior plants exhibited outstanding performance across key traits: their fresh fruit weight per fruit, fresh fruit seed yield, dry seed yield, and seed kernel oil content reached 41.61 g, 42.80%, 62.42%, and 57.72%, respectively. Compared with other groups, these figures showed significant advantages: 1.17, 1.09, 1.12, and 1.02 times the average values of the 20 reselected superior trees; 1.22, 1.19, 1.20, and 1.08 times those of the 36 primary-selected superior trees; and 1.24, 1.25, 1.26, and 1.19 times those of the 60 pre-selected trees. Fruits counts per plant and the number of fruits produced per plant of the best three plants in class I were 885 and 23.38 kg, respectively, which were 1.13 and 1.18 times higher than the average of 20 re-selected superior trees, 1.25 and 1.30 times higher than the average of 36 first-selected superior trees, and 1.51 and 1.58 times higher than the average of 60 pre-selected superior trees. Class I superior trees, especially the top three genotypes, are suitable for use as mother trees for scion collection in grafting. The findings of this study provide a crucial foundation for developing superior clonal varieties of <i>Vernicia montana</i> through selective breeding.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/15/2351<i>Vernicia montana</i>selection of superior treescomprehensive evaluation methodbreeding |
| spellingShingle | Juntao Liu Zhexiu Yu Xihui Li Ling Zhou Ruihui Wang Weihua Zhang Tree Selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> in a Representative Orchard Cluster Within Southern Hunan Province, China: A Comprehensive Evaluation Approach Plants <i>Vernicia montana</i> selection of superior trees comprehensive evaluation method breeding |
| title | Tree Selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> in a Representative Orchard Cluster Within Southern Hunan Province, China: A Comprehensive Evaluation Approach |
| title_full | Tree Selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> in a Representative Orchard Cluster Within Southern Hunan Province, China: A Comprehensive Evaluation Approach |
| title_fullStr | Tree Selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> in a Representative Orchard Cluster Within Southern Hunan Province, China: A Comprehensive Evaluation Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tree Selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> in a Representative Orchard Cluster Within Southern Hunan Province, China: A Comprehensive Evaluation Approach |
| title_short | Tree Selection of <i>Vernicia montana</i> in a Representative Orchard Cluster Within Southern Hunan Province, China: A Comprehensive Evaluation Approach |
| title_sort | tree selection of i vernicia montana i in a representative orchard cluster within southern hunan province china a comprehensive evaluation approach |
| topic | <i>Vernicia montana</i> selection of superior trees comprehensive evaluation method breeding |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/15/2351 |
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