2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Gerberas have become one of the top five most important cut flowers in the global floricultural trade. In 2010, as many as 938 million stems of cut gerbera flowers were sold at the Dutch auctions, generating 140 million euros a year. The annual wholesale values of cut-flower gerberas in the U.S. over the last several years have been between $32 million and $36 million. Commercial production of cut-flower gerberas also occurs in dozens of other countries. Gerbera breeding over the last 50 years has resulted in the development of numerous clonal cultivars with improved flower quality, increased flower yields, and extended vase life. A number of characteristics, including double, full-crested, and spider flowers, dark centers, and bi-coloration are now widely available in many gerbera cultivars. In recent years, Botrytis resistance, leafy stems, and twisted petals have been discovered in gerbera. Genetic, genomic and molecular studies over the last 20 years have led to the development of a number of new tools and resources for gerbera breeding, including molecular markers for Botrytis resistance, genetic linkage maps for local regions and the whole genome, candidate genes for flower types and disease resistance, cloned resident genes for anthocyanin synthesis and regulation, genomic and transcriptome sequences, and gene transfer technologies. It is expected that some of these new traits will be incorporated into new gerbera cultivars and new breeding tools will be adopted in cut-flower gerbera breeding.