Biotecnologia no morangueiro

Abstract

Strawberry has characteristics that attract and delight consumers, such as its bright red color, as well as an unparalleled aroma and flavor. Among the group of small fruits (blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, physalis) the strawberry has greater economic relevance, being the species with the greatest expression in cultivated area and produced volume. The social importance of the strawberry lies in the mobilizing force of a significant number of producers, in their most varied production scales, which generate employment for a significant number of field workers, due to the great need for labor in their operations. All strawberry species currently cultivated arose from wild species, and their development and use on a commercial scale took place after the emergence of the species Fragaria x ananassa Duch, in the 19th century. The propagation of the strawberry must be done by seeds, when the genetic improvement of the species is sought, as this form favors the recombination of genes, increasing the genetic variability of the populations, which allows the probability of superior individuals to appear. In Brazil, the practice of cultivating strawberry has been growing more and more, however, even with this expansion, the culture still has several limitations, such as the availability of seedlings with quality and adapted to the region and the system that is used for its cultivation. New levels of strawberry productivity were reached thanks to the use of biotechnology. Currently, virus-free mother plants, used in the commercial production of seedlings, are obtained through the isolation and cultivation of meristems and micropropagation. From the above, this work aims to gather data on the advancement of genetic improvement in strawberry, seeking to present a general context of the use of biotechnology in strawberry and the main techniques that are currently used in the culture.