Quantile Regression Facilitates Simultaneous Selection of Negatively Correlated Floral Traits among BC1F1 Progeny of Male-fertile Hybrid Hibiscus Cultivars Lohengrin and Resi (H. syriacus × H. paramutabilis)

Abstract

Hibiscus syriacus is a woody shrub in the Malvaceae family that is common in landscapes due to its broad adaptability and variable ornamental characteristics. Interspecific hybridization has been used to improve Hibiscus by building novel floral traits, hybrid vigor, and hybrid infertility. A few interspecific hybrid Hibiscus cultivars (H. syriacus × H. paramutabilis), such as Lohengrin and Resi, are notable because of their vigorous vegetative growth, female infertility, and large flowers. However, little is known about the male fertility and breeding potential of these hybrid cultivars, which could increase flower size by backcrossing to H. syriacus. In this study, we estimated male fertility of the two hybrid cultivars by acetocarmine staining and in vivo pollination and assessed selection methods for floral traits, specifically flower size and petal number. A BC1F1 population of 294 individuals was developed by crossing hybrid cultivars Lohengrin or Resi with a variety of double-flowered H. syriacus cultivars. A negative correlation between petal number and petal area was detected by quantile regression, which is a method that circumvents the problem of simple linear regression, which violates statistical assumptions. Quantile regression was used to build simultaneous selection thresholds for different levels of required stringency. As expected, the female fertility of hybrid cultivars was extremely low or zero; however, the male fertility of hybrid cultivars was not reduced compared with H. syriacus cultivars. A negative linear correlation between the petal number and petal area of the BC1F1 individuals was observed. In addition, quantile regression was recommended to set a single selection threshold to be applied to the selection of two negatively correlated traits, which was more effective than independent selection of petal numbers and petal areas among progeny.