Breeding of new high quality litchi cultivar ‘Guili No.1’

Abstract: ‘Guili No. 1’is a new litchi cultivar selected from the mutant progeny of excellent Guangxi li⁃tchi . This cultivar was originally named‘Champion Red’, and was a litchi mutant seedling produced bylitchi Team 2 from Guancheng village, Guancheng town, Pingnan county, Guangxi province. Since 1994,robust bud sticks have been obtained from the‘Champion Red’litchi parent plant and used for grafting,followed by investigations of the resulting plants’biological characteristics and fruit quality for severalyears. The results showed that their genetic traits were stable. SSR molecular markers was performed onthe plant materials of‘Guili No. 1’and 14 other litchi varieties to analyze their phylogenetic relation⁃ships. The results revealed that‘Guili No. 1’was a new litchi cultivar that was different from the othertested cultivars, but had the highest similarity coefficient with‘Guiwei’. The cultivar was reviewed andapproved by the Guangxi Committee of Crop Variety Registration in June 2015. In Pingnan County,Guangxi,‘Guili No. 1’begins to develop inflorescence primordia in late January. The heading date occurs in mid- to late February, the flowering stage occurs in early to mid-April, and the fruit maturationstage occurs in early to mid-July. This litchi cultivar has superior fruit quality and a higher and more sta⁃ble yield compared to the local dominant latematuring cultivar‘Heli’.‘Guili No. 1’has heart-shapedfruits that have a red rind. The edible flesh is wax-white, with a creamy texture, uniform color, and dry ar⁃il. The average weight of individual fruits is 29.0 g, and these have an edible portion of 68% and solublesolids content of 18%. In addition, the fruits have a clear and sweet taste, and are tolerant to storage andtransportation. Fruiting generally starts 3-4 years after grafting, and each plant can produce 180-200 kgof fruit during periods of high yield. There were no significant fluctuations in production rates from year toyear.‘Guili No. 1’is suitable for cultivation in the litchi production areas located in the south and south⁃east of Guangxi province.