2nd ed. 2020 Edition
by Enrico Biancardi (Editor), Leonard W. Panella (Editor), J. Mitchell McGrath (Editor)
This book, now in its second edition, provides researchers and
operators a complete description of all aspects regarding the wild
ancestor of sugar beet. The possibility of crossing modern crops with
the ancestors from which they are derived in order to recover some
traits lost through domestication is increasingly attracting interest.
The selective process implemented by the first growers led to the
elimination of features not considered useful at the time. Yet some of
these lost traits have now become very important. In fact, in many areas
sugar beet cultivation would now be impossible without the transfer of
some genetic resistances from Beta maritima, the crop’s ancestor.
Moreover, the isolation of such traits is becoming increasingly critical
with regard to current and future environmental and economic
considerations on e.g. the use of pesticides.
This second
edition replaces certain photographs and has been updated to reflect the
latest advances and findings. One chapter and several sections have
been rewritten, and significant revisions have been made throughout the
text. The new techniques provide breeders with massively improved
analytical means for the safest and fastest selection procedures. Not
only will these techniques allow Beta maritima to take on a far greater
role as a source of favorable traits; the relative ease with which these
characteristics can be transferred will also make it possible to use
the germplasm of the whole genus Beta and Patellifolia, which to date
has been highly complex, if not impossible, due to the difficulties of
hybridization.
