First Report of Successful Hybridization between Arachis vallsii and Arachis dardani

Abstract

Core Ideas: Development of drought tolerance has become a priority in many crops, including peanut. Germplasm collection data show there is variation among wild relatives of peanut for drought tolerance. This research represents the first report of a successful hybridization of section Arachis with section Heteranthae. In this study, a hybrid of the bridge species Arachis vallsii and A. dardani was created to initiate an introgression pathway for movement of possible drought tolerance into the cultivated peanut (A. hypogaea L.). Arachis vallsii is now accepted as belonging to section Arachis by most taxonomists who work with the genus. Arachis dardani is a member of section Heteranthae. Based on conformation of intermediate, seed, leaf, and flower morphology of the hybrid, this article represents the first report of successful hybridization between section Arachis (A. vallsii) and species of section Heteranthae (A. dardani).