Genetic relationships among species and cultivars of Pistacia using RAPDs and AFLPs

The genus Pistacia (Anacardiaceae) includes 11 species divided into four sections, according to leaf characters and nut morphology. Recently two monophyletic groups have been proposed by using cpDNA,Lentiscus and Terebinthus,containing evergreen and deciduous species, respectively. In the present work molecular markers, derived from two different methods, RAPD and AFLP, are used to study the relationships of native and introducedPistacia species present in Greece. According to the cophenetic correlation coefficients best results for both methods were obtained by using the Jaccard algorithm and the UPGMA clustering method. However, phenograms were constructed using the NJ method (r_cs= 0.987 for RAPDs and r_cs= 0.982 for AFLP), since it is less sensitive against varying mutation rates. Correlation among the genetic similarity (GS) matrices for the two methods was high(r = 0.941). The AFLP and RAPD phenograms were comparable with minor clustering differences. According to our results, two main branches are obtained, one containing the evergreen species P. lentiscusand the resin producing P. lentiscuscv. Chia (cultivated only in the island of Chios), and the other branch containing the deciduous species P. terebinthus,P. palaestina and P. vera, P. chinensis was clustered either with the evergreen species (RAPD data) or with the deciduous species (AFLP data). P. palaestina is clustered to P. terebinthus and can be considered as a subspecies of P. terebinthus, since its GS values are close or smaller than GS values of entries within species (P. vera). The four female cultivars were found to have a narrow genetic basis, probably related to cultivar ‘Nazareth‘ with Syrian origin. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum of 'high oleic' sunflower inbred lines

Cultivation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is strongly affected by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. To identify new sources of genetic diversity for sunflower breeding 25 sunflower inbred lines were analysed using eight Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations and their genetic similarities (GS) were estimated. Data were used to develop a Unweighted Pair Group Method using Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA) dendrogram. GS values of 0.58‐0.98 were observed but with no separate groupings dependant on oil quality. The inbred lines were screened for their reaction to inoculation with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary. Sunflower heads were artificially inoculated with S. sclerotiorum in three environments. Head infection was monitored after 1 week (lesion length) and 2 weeks (head rot). The F5 generation of a cross between a resistant (SWS‐B‐04) and a susceptible inbred line (SWS‐B‐01) was also tested for sclerotinia reaction across three environments. Significant differences in sclerotinia resistance, moderate heritabilities and a high correlation between the two assessments were observed. Inbred lines with a high level of resistance could be identified. These lines can be used for further breeding to improve sunflower sclerotinia resistance and to develop superior new hybrids.     

Assessment of genetic relationships among Cucumis spp. by SSR and RAPD marker analysis

The first successful production of a sterile interspecific hybrid obtained from a cross between Cucumis hystrix Chakr. (2n = 2x = 24) and Cucumis sativus var. sativus L. (2n =2x = 14), and its subsequent fertility restoration through chromosome doubling provide an effective means for investigating genetic relationships among Cucumis spp. In this study, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to investigate relationships among C. s. var. sativus L., C. s. var. hardwickii (R.) Alef., C hystrix, C. hytivus Chen & Kirkbride (the amphidiploid species from chromosome doubling of the C. sativus x C. hystrix interspecific hybrid, 2n = 38), C. melo (2n =2x = 24) and C. metuliferus Meyer and Naudin (2n =2x= 24). A total of 109 SSR bands and 398 RAPD primed sites were used to calculate Jaccard's distance coefficients for cluster analysis using a unweighted pair‐group method using an arithmetic averaging (UPGMA) algorithm. The genetic relationships identified using SSR and RAPD markers were highly concordant, such that the correlation between SSR and RAPD genetic distance (GD) estimates was r = 0.94. SSR and RAPD analysis of 22 accessions allowed for their grouping into two distinct groups designated as CS and CM. While group CS consisted of 11 C. sativus genotypes, and the C. hytivus and C. hystrix accessions, group CM included six C. melo genotypes and C. metuliferus. The GD values between C. hystrix and C. sativus ascribed by SSR and RAPD matrices were 0.59 and 0.57, respectively. These GDs were smaller than those detected between C. hystrix and C melo (0.87 and 0.70 derived from SSR and RAPD markers, respectively).     

Origin and genetic diversity of Tunisian grapes as revealed by microsatellite markers

Ten SSR loci, previously developed for grapevine, were analyzed to evaluate the genetic variability, cultivar relatedness, and parentage in a collection of 61 autochthonous Vitis vinifera cultivars from Tunisia.The number of alleles per locus ranged from 6 to 11, while the number of genotype patterns varied between 10 and 21. The expected heterozygosity varied between 0.621 and 0.855 and the observed heterozygosity was higher than 0.9 at 4 loci (VVMD28, VVMD5, VVIP31 and VVS2) indicating that the SSRs were highly informative.Cluster analysis using unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averaging (UPGMA) suggested 14 groups among studied cultivars and 53 grapevine denominations out of 61 were unequivocally distinguished, with all accessions showing at least one-specific combination of alleles.On the other hand, in order to overcome the existing confusion in Tunisian grapevine nomenclature, of the analyzed homonymous pairs of cultivars, only ‘Balta 2’ and ‘Balta 3’ have shown identical allelic profiles, consistent with their being the same genotype. Hence, nomenclature distinction is meaningless and only one denomination should be retained.Due to the high overall power of exclusion (Q) (greater than 99.99%) and to the absence of null alleles, the set of microsatellite loci used is appropriate to determine parentage in Tunisian grapevines beyond any reasonable doubt. The analysis of fingerprints indicated that the Tunisian grape vines have evolved through out crossing between five possible parents: Balta 1, Beldi Baddar, Beldi Rafraf, Beldi Local Rafraf and Khedhiri 3.     

干旱胁迫下老芒麦遗传多样性分析

对干旱胁迫处理的20份不同居群的老芒麦10对多态性引物进行SSR分析,研究干旱胁迫处理对老芒麦遗传多样性的影响。结果显示:10对引物总扩增带数115条,平均每个引物对扩增11.5条,多态性带数为103条,占总条带数的89.57%,每对引物扩增7~15条,平均为10.3条,多态性信息含量(PIC)为0.255~0.473,平均为0.368,SSR标记效率(MI)为3.87;通过POPGENE软件得出供试材料的Nei’s遗传多样性指数(He)为0.332 4,Shannon指数(Ho)为0.492 6。NTSYSpc 2.1软件和POPGENE 32软件聚类结果均表明,胁迫处理材料与同批材料胁迫前的聚类结果差异较大。意味着干旱胁迫处理造成非编码区的微卫星序列的遗传变异和分化,致使其重复次数发生相应改变;而胁迫前后UPGMA聚类都表明产地相同的材料大多聚为一类,但不完全一致,其中,内蒙古的材料胁迫前后差异较大。分析结果表明,供试老芒麦材料间差异明显,遗传多样性丰富,应加快其开发和合理利用。     

Genetic Relationships of some PCNA Persimmons (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) from China and Japan revealed by SRAP analysis

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) marker was employed to analyze genetic relationships of 10 Chinese, 11 Japanese varieties of persimmon and its 6 relatives. Twenty out of 72 primer combinations could amplify clearly and consistently. Just only one primer set could discriminate all the genotypes used in this study. The genetic relationships were analyzed using unweighted pair-group method of arithmetic average cluster analysis (UPGMA) and principal coordinated analysis (PCOA). The results showed: Chinese varieties were grouped into two clusters, while the Japanese varieties were grouped into one cluster with two subgroups. The persimmon relatives were clustered together. Probably, Chinese and Japanese Pollination-constant and Non-astringent (PCNA) persimmons had different genetic background. ‘Eshi No.1’ from Hubei province was close to Male type 6. ‘Xiangxitianshi’ from Xiangxi municipality, Hunan province, had a high similarity coefficient with ‘Maekawa-Jirou’ and was clustered in the Japanese varieties group, indicating that ‘Xiangxitianshi’ maybe close to the Japanese variety in terms of genetic background. The Chinese Pollination-constant and Astringent (PCA) and PCNA persimmons were not distinctly distinguished implying that the non-astringent trait of Chinese PCNA type might result from the PCA type.     

A comparative analysis of the genetic diversity between inbred lines of Zinnia elegans using morphological traits and RAPD and ISSR markers

Genetic diversity within Zinnia elegans is key to the genetic improvement of this important ornamental species. Here, morphological traits and RAPD and ISSR molecular markers were used to assess levels of polymorphism across 20 inbred lines. Thirty-four morphological traits were scored and also 147 RAPD marker-fragments, as amplified by 12 arbitrary primers, and 128 ISSR marker-fragments as generated by 9 primers. The number of polymorphic loci, the percentage of polymorphic loci, Shannon's Information index (I) and the effective number of alleles (Ne) were calculated from the RAPD data as 100, 68.03%, 0.3559 and 1.4169, respectively. From the ISSR data, these respective statistics were calculated as 97, 76.38%, 0.4013 and 1.4728. Thus, ISSR markers were considered slightly superior to RAPD markers for assessing genetic diversity between the accessions; however, Mantel's test indicated significant correlation (R = 0.733) of the RAPD and ISSR results. By contrast, the morphological matrix showed low correlation with both RAPD and ISSR data matrices (R = 0.3814 and 0.3765, respectively). Cluster analysis showed that groupings of the accessions according to all three methods correlated well with their geographic region of origin, but flower color was not strongly associated with the genetic classification of these inbred lines of Z. elegans.     

江西柑橘地方品种资源及野生近缘种SSR分子标记

利用SSR分子标记方法研究了63个江西柑橘地方品种资源及野生近缘种的遗传多样性，用30对SSR引物，检测到374条等位基因，平均每对引物检测到等位基因3～28个，平均12．47个，平均信息量为0．805。用UPGMA方法可将63个试材划分为8个类群．聚类结果可以推断出崇义野生橘可能是江西柑橘的始祖，井冈野生橙可能是橘类和橙类的杂交种。     

甘肃省苹果蠹蛾不同地理种群遗传多样性分析

为探明苹果蠹蛾不同地理种群的遗传变异、种群分化及传播扩散情况,利用9对微卫星引物对甘肃9个不同苹果蠹蛾地理种群的遗传多样性进行了研究。应用POPGENE 1.32和NTSYSpc 2.1软件分析表明:9对引物共检测到21个多样性位点,多态性百分比为95.45%;9个不同地理种群的观测等位基因为1.954 5,有效等位基因为1.741 3,Nei氏指数为0.411 3,Shannon指数为0.592 7±0.147 2;遗传相似度在0.325 8~0.817 0范围内。UPGMA聚类分析表明甘州、金塔种群聚为一支,与肃州种群合为一支;临泽种群与总寨种群聚为一支;七里河与敦煌种群聚为一支;高台与民勤种群聚为一支,各分支间的遗传分化系数Fst分别为0.795 0、0.531 4、0.857 9、0.598 0。Mantel检测表明,种群间的遗传距离与地理距离无显著相关性。研究表明,甘肃苹果蠹蛾种群的遗传多样性较低,遗传变异主要来自种群内部,种群之间的基因交流较少,在甘肃省的传播以人为被动传播扩散为主。