Progress in development of spotted medics (Medicago arabica L. Huds.) for Mediterranean farming systems
Ramakrishnan M. Nair A D , Steve J. Hughes A , David M. Peck A , Graham Crocker B , Simon Ellwood C , Jeffrey R. Hill A , Colleen H. Hunt D and Geoffrey C. Auricht AA South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI), GPO Box 397, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
B NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, Calala, NSW 2340, Australia.
C Australian Centre for Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens, Health Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia.
D BiometricsSA, SARDI, GPO Box 397, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: madhavannair.ram@saugov.sa.gov.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57(4) 447-455 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR05269
Submitted: 22 July 2005 Accepted: 21 November 2005 Published: 27 April 2006
Abstract
Spotted medics (Medicago arabica) have become naturalised in Australia, but the spiny nature of their pods has prevented commercial release of any cultivar. Fifty-eight accessions representing Medicago arabica in the Australian Medicago Genetic Resources Collection were grown as spaced plants at Turretfield, South Australia, and the variation for important agronomic traits was studied. There was large variation for traits including days to flowering, dry matter production, pod and seed yield, and pod spininess. Principal component and cluster analyses conducted for 13 traits revealed 5 clusters. One of the clusters identified comprised accessions originating from Greece and Cyprus, which were found to have high agronomic potential. The study has helped in identifying the relationship among traits, namely pod spininess, days to flowering, dry matter yield, and pod and seed yield, which would be useful to breeders for future breeding and selection programs. A sward trial at Moree, New South Wales, comprising a selected cohort of spotted medic accessions, enabled the identification of 2 early flowering and high dry matter yielding accessions; however, both exhibited spiny pods. These 2 accessions were crossed with a smooth-podded accession, and the F1 plants were confirmed using a microsatellite marker. Days to flowering showed a continuous pattern of variation in the F2, suggesting that the trait is quantitatively inherited, whereas segregation ratio revealed that a single recessive gene controlled the smooth pod trait. Early flowering, smooth-podded F2 plants were selected for cultivar development.
Additional keywords: core collection, diversity analysis, microsatellite marker, flowering, pod spininess.
Acknowledgments
We thank Mr R. Anderson on whose property ‘Maneroo’ at Moree the field trials were conducted, Mr P. Sanson for technical assistance, and Dr Walter L. Graves (formerly USDA) for donating accession SA36809. Funding for this work was provided by Australian wool producers and the Australian Government through Australian Wool Innovation Ltd (AWI).
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