Shell-thickness inheritance and the tenera oil palm
Herencia del grosor de la cáscara y palma aceitera tenera
- Date
- 1941 · confidence medium
- Place
- Yangambi, Tshopo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Credited to
- Joseph Beirnaert and R. Vanderweyen, INEAC
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
At the Yangambi station they showed that oil palm shell thickness depends on a single gene, so that crossing dura by pisifera yields tenera, with a thin shell and far more pulp. Tenera palms multiplied oil yield per hectare.
The Beirnaert and Vanderweyen publication dates from 1941; the gene (SHELL) was identified molecularly in 2013. INEAC was the agronomic institute of the Belgian Congo.
What it led to
- tenera hybrid seeds in all modern commercial plantations
- expansion of oil palm in Malaysia and Indonesia
- a first major case of genetic improvement of a tropical perennial crop using Mendelian genetics