Horticulture: Personnel : Faculty

Patrick J. Conner

Associate Professor

Horticulture Department
Coastal Plain Experiment Station
Moore Highway
Tifton, GA 31793

Campus:  Tifton
Phone:  229-386-3903
Fax:  229-386-3356
Email:  pconner@uga.edu

I am the research leader of the University of Georgia’s pecan breeding program which was initiated in 1998 when I was hired. In addition, in 2004 I became the new leader of the UGA muscadine grape breeding program which has been in existence for several decades. Both of these are active breeding programs which have the goal of producing new cultivars adapted for the southeastern U.S. growing region. While our breeding programs primarily revolve around the traditional fruit breeding methods of making crosses and evaluating seedlings, we are also investigating the potential of molecular biology tools to make this process more efficient. Recently our lab completed the first molecular linkage maps for pecan. In the future, these maps will be used to find associations between molecular markers and genes controlling important traits such as scab resistance and nut quality. Molecular markers are also being used to increase our understanding of the pecan and muscadine genomes and the genetic diversity of cultivar populations.

Topics of interest to my program include:

• Development of molecular marker linkage maps to increase our understanding of pecan and muscadine genetics and as a tool for marker-assisted selection of valuable traits.
• Genetic investigation of key horticultural traits.
• Investigating the mechanism of tree juvenility and development of methods to shorten the juvenile period in pecan.
• Evaluation of pecan production systems, especially in regards to the ability to grow and evaluate seedling populations in a short time-frame.
• Evaluation of existing pecan cultivars and germplasm for disease and insect resistance as well as nut quality and tree productivity.

Pecans and muscadines share many interesting features. Both are among the few native North American crops. Pecans are native to the lower Mississippi river and its tributaries, and muscadines are native to the southeastern U.S. Both have been recently domesticated and current cultivars are only a few generations removed from wild populations. While pecans and muscadines play an important role in the horticulture of the southern U.S., they have not received nearly as much research attention as traditional fruit crops such as apples and peaches. These crops have much untapped genetic diversity which should allow the breeding programs to advance quickly.

For information on our pecan research, see our Pecan Breeding Program pages.

Research: 100 %

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