Breeding of Orchids Using Conventional
and Biotechnological Methods: Advances
and Future Prospects
Jean Carlos Cardoso, Joe Abdul Vilcherrez-Atoche, Carla Midori Iiyama,
Maria Antonieta Germanà, and Wagner A. Vendrame
1 Introduction to the Family Orchidaceae and Main
Commercial Groups Used in the Flower Market
The family Orchidaceae is considered one of the largest groups among angiosperms
(along with Asteraceae) in a number of species, with more than 28,000 species
distributed in more than 850 genera according to data from World Flora Online and
Kew Botanical Garden (WFO
2022; Kew 2022). It is also one of the groups with the
widest geographic distribution, with representatives on almost all continents of
Planet Earth, including species with epiphytic, terrestrial, and lithophytic growth habits, of which approximately 70% of all epiphytic
(Zotz and Winkler
2013).
J. C. Cardoso (✉) · C. M. Iiyama
Department of Biotechnology, Plant and Animal Production, Lab of Plant Physiology and
Tissue Culture, Center of Agricultural Sciences, Federal University of Sao Carlos (DBPVA,
CCA/UFSCar), Araras, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Graduate Program of Plant Production and Associated Bioprocesses, CCA/UFSCar, Araras, Sao
Paulo, Brazil
e-mail:
[email protected]
J. A. Vilcherrez-Atoche
Graduate Program of Plant Production and Associated Bioprocesses, CCA/UFSCar, Araras, Sao
Paulo, Brazil
Graduate Program of Plant Genetics and Breeding, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de
Queiroz, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil
M. A. Germanà
Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali (SAAF), Università degli Studi di
Palermo, Palermo, Italy
W. A. Vendrame
Environmental Horticulture Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
© P. Tiwari, J.-T. Chen (eds.),
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1079-3_2
27