Achievements of novosibirsk state agrarian university in clarkia (Clarkia Pursh) breeding

The Novosibirsk State Agrarian University (NSAU) has created source material for the breeding of ornamental, long-flowering species and subspecies of Clarkia: C. purpurea (Curtis) A. Nelson & J.F. Macbr., C. unguiculata Lindl., С. amoena (Lehm.) A. Nelson & J.F. Macbr., C. amoena subsp. lindleyi (Douglas) H. Lewis & M.E. Lewis, including 21 accessions. The studies were conducted in 2010–2024 in open ground on the experimental plot of the UPH “Michurintsev Garden” located within the city of Novosibirsk (55.03° N, 82.99° E) by means of intraspecific hybridization, inbreeding, individual, individual-family and mass selections using isolators and isolated plots for cross-pollinated clarkia species. Five new clarkia varieties with different flowering periods, suitable for flowerbeds of different shapes and sizes, borders, container gardening, and for cutting, were obtained. This is the first domestic variety of C. purpurea ‘‘Lilovaya Feya’ and new varieties of C. unguiculata ‘Korallovyye Rify’, C. amoena ‘Malinovaya Chasha’, C. amoena subsp. lindleyi: ‘Persikovaya Chasha’, ‘Farforovaya Chasha’. To develop breeding of clarkia, two schemes of the selection process with the selection of elite plants in the hybrid generations F 2 . and F4 have been proposed. For the species C. purpurea, first domesticated in the south of Western Siberia, a scheme of the selection process with the selection of elite plants in the F 2 generation according to economic and biological characteristics has been developed, including the assessment of the male gametophyte in vitro, which allows accelerating the selection of breedingly important genotypes. This scheme is also universal for other species of Clarkia (C. unguiculata and C. amoena, C. amoena subsp. lindleyi). The full cycle of the selection process includes 9 years, the 10th year is the state variety testing (SVT). For the first time, the digenic nature of inheritance of the lilac (violet) flower color in C. purpurea was determined by the cumulative polymery type (splitting in the F2 generation: 1: 4: 6: 4: 1, ꭓ 2 fact. = 0.29, while the tabular value ꭓ 2 = 9.49, p < 0.05). The coral-pink flower color in C. unguiculata ‘Korallovyye Rify’ is inherited by the digenic type, with complementary interaction of genes (splitting 4: 9: 3, ꭓ 2 fact = 0.53 < ꭓ2 table = 6.0, at p < 0.05). An intermediate pattern of inheritance of the peach-pink flower coloration was established in C. amoena subsp. lindleyi ‘Farforovaya Chasha’ (splitting in the F generation: 1: 2: 1, ꭓ 2 = 3.25 < ꭓ 2 table = 6.0, p < 0.05 and ꭓ 2 = 1.63 < ꭓ 2 table = 6.0, p < 0.05). It was established that in C. amoena subsp. lindleyi, the white coloration is recessive and is inherited digenically by the suppression type (splitting in the F 2 generation: 13:3, ꭓ 2 fact = 3.25 < ꭓ 2 table = 6.0, p < 0.05). Novosibirsk State Agrarian University has created Clarkia varieties: with a short growing season – the summer-flowering ‘Lilac Fairy’ (C. purpurea), the longest-flowering summer-autumn ‘Korallovyye Rify’ (C. unguiculata) and ‘Farforovaya Chasha’ (C. amoena ssp. lindleyi) – the most immune to the pathogen Pucciniastrum epilobii Otth.