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Exploring low-chill genotypes of Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.) in west of Iran

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Abstract

Climate change may cause a significant decline in winter chill over the coming decades and is becoming an important issue for walnut (Juglans regia L.) breeding programs to address. The current study was conducted to identify superior walnut genotypes with low-chilling requirements in western Iran (Ilam province). In the first step, approximately 200 walnut trees of seed-origin were pre-selected based on a questionnaire. Based on this primary evaluation for phenotypic and horticultural traits, 55 of the 200 genotypes were selected for further study. Morphological and phenological traits of these 55 were evaluated for two consecutive years and 11 genotypes were selected as superior. These superior genotypes were moderate to late-leafing with high yield, lateral fruitfulness, thin shells, and light to extra light kernel color. Nut weight, kernel weight and kernel percentage of the 11 superior genotypes ranged between 12.6–15.9 g, 6.9–8.2 g, and 49.7–62.0%, respectively. These superior genotypes had high levels of protein (13.3–18.2%), oil (55.3–65.9%) and PUFAs content. Assessment of chilling requirement of these superior genotypes showed that eight (IrIlZg1, IrIlZg13, IrIlZg7, IrIlZg12, IrIlAa92, IrIlAa47, IrIlAa48 and IrIlAa27) had significantly lower chilling requirements than the cultivar ‘Chandler’. Although having low-chill requirements, these genotypes were moderate to late-leafing. This may be due to their high heat requirement, since chilling requirement together with heat accumulation determines the leafing and flowering date. In conclusion, the selected low chilling requirement genotypes having moderate to late leafing could be used in walnut breeding programs to release commercial cultivars which are suitable for areas with spring frost concerns and expected future loss of winter chill due to climate change.

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The data generated or analysed during the current study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Charles A. Leslie at University of California, Davis for his valuable comments and English editing which greatly improved the manuscript. We also thank Arman Beyraghdar Kashkooli at Wageningen University for English language editing. We appreciate Iran National Science Foundation (INSF), Iran’s National Elites Foundation (NEF), Center of Excellence of Walnut Improvement and Technology of Iran, and the University of Tehran for their supports.

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  1. Department of Horticulture, College of Aburaihan, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Zahra Hajinia, Saadat Sarikhani & Kourosh Vahdati

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  1. Zahra Hajinia
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  2. Saadat Sarikhani
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  3. Kourosh Vahdati
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Kourosh Vahdati and Saadat Sarikhani designed and led the project. All authors make substantial contributions to acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data as well as participate in drafting the manuscript. Also, all authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Saadat Sarikhani or Kourosh Vahdati.

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Hajinia, Z., Sarikhani, S. & Vahdati, K. Exploring low-chill genotypes of Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.) in west of Iran. Genet Resour Crop Evol 68, 2325–2336 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-021-01131-6

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