Tree Genetics and Molecular Breeding 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 70-79 http://genbreedpublisher.com/index.php/tgmb 70 Review and Progress Open Access Recent Advances in Hybrid Breeding of Kiwifruit: Strategies and Outcomes Xingzhu Feng, Dandan Huang Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China Corresponding email: dandan.huang@hibio.org Tree Genetics and Molecular Breeding, 2025, Vol.15, No.2 doi: 10.5376/tgmb.2025.15.0009 Received: 15 Mar., 2025 Accepted: 18 Apr., 2025 Published: 27 Apr., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Feng and Huang, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Feng X.Z., and Huang D.D., 2025, Recent advances in hybrid breeding of kiwifruit: strategies and outcomes, Tree Genetics and Molecular Breeding, 15(2): 70-79 (doi: 10.5376/tgmb.2025.15.0009) Abstract Hybrid breeding is an important method to improve the quality, yield and stress resistance of kiwifruit fruits. This study summarizes some new progress in intraspecific and interspecific hybridization of kiwifruit at present. Techniques such as embryo rescue, polyploid breeding, and molecular marker-assisted selection have all played a significant role in breeding. This study also elaborates on how genomic technology and phenomics tools make breeding more accurate and faster, and analyzes the common problems encountered in practice through typical breeding cases. This study aims to provide some ideas and references for the future improvement and innovation of kiwifruit hybrid breeding. Keywords Kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.); Hybrid breeding; CRISPR/Cas9; Polyploidy; Interspecific hybridization; Marker-assisted selection; Genetic improvement 1 Introduction Kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) is rich in nutrition and has high economic value. It originated in China, has a special taste, a high content of vitamin C, and contains a variety of health-beneficial components. It is very popular all over the world. The cultivation area of kiwifruit has expanded significantly. The major producing countries, New Zealand, Italy and China, have also benefited a lot from their agriculture. People have learned more about the nutritional value of kiwifruit, and it is often used in various dishes and beverages. The growth in global market demand for kiwifruit has made its economic status more prominent (Wang et al., 2020). Hybrid breeding has become an important way to improve the quality of kiwifruit. The hybridization between Actinidia arguta and Actinidia purpurea can breed new varieties that are more cold-resistant, have larger fruits and more attractive appearances. Latocha and Jankowski (2011) demonstrated that this type of variety has improved agronomic traits and is more in line with consumers’ requirements for taste and appearance. These are precisely the keys to whether the variety can succeed in the market. Shu et al. (2023) hold that current breeding relies on advanced technologies, which are beneficial for identifying important metabolic pathways and regulatory mechanisms related to fruit quality and nutrition, and can improve target traits such as fruit flavor and nutritional content. This study expounds the latest progress in hybrid breeding of kiwifruit, mentions the methods and techniques used in the breeding process, analyzes the influence of hybrid breeding on fruit quality and other aspects, as well as the future development direction and possible problems of kiwifruit breeding. This study aims to summarize the achievements in kiwifruit breeding, identify areas that can be further improved, and make the newly bred varieties more suitable for the market and more acceptable to consumers. 2 Historical Perspective 2.1 Early breeding efforts and traditional methods The earliest varieties of kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) were mostly selected from wild species or naturally pollinated varieties. Hanley (2018) found that the early breeding work encountered many difficulties such as the long time from seed to flowering and fruiting of kiwifruit and dioecious plants. Its genetic composition is complex, with high heterogeneity. It is a climbing plant, and polyploid problems, etc., all make the breeding process troublesome.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==