A review of genetic resources of almonds and stone fruits (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Prunus</Emphasis> spp.) in Iran

Iran is amongst the countries in the world widely known for cultivation of Prunus spp. (or stone fruits). It is both a centre of origin and diversity of the stone fruits. Numerous wild species as well as many cultivars and landraces of these fruit crops are important genetic resources today in Iran and can be used for improvement and breeding of scion and rootstock cultivars which are resistant to many biotic and abiotic stresses through modern genomics and genetic technologies. This paper discusses the distribution, ethno-botany, diversity and utilization of wild and domesticated genetic resources of stone fruits including almond (Prunus dulcis (Miller) D. A. Webb.), peach and nectarine (P. persica Batsch), European and Japanese plum (P. × domestica L., and P. salicina L., respectively), sweet and sour cherry (P. avium L., and P. cerasus L., respectively), and apricot (P. armeniaca L.), all of which are members of the Rosaceae family. The goal of this paper is to highlight the importance of Iran as a main contributor to the diversity of Prunus genetic resources in the world, as well as, present major achievements regarding identification, collection, evaluation, conservation and utilization of this valuable genetic resource in Iran.     

DNA fingerprinting of apple (Malus spp.) rootstocks using Simple Sequence Repeats

Identification of apple clonal rootstocks based on visual morphological characteristics is often difficult because of the genetic similarity of many rootstocks and the restriction of observable characteristics at the nursery stage. In this study, a total of 66 rootstock clones representing a sub‐sample of a collection of apple rootstocks from different countries maintained at NIFTS, Morioka, Japan, was screened with seven simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to establish genetic identities, estimate genetic diversity, verify parentage and examine genetic relationships. All seven SSR loci produced one or two amplified fragments and made it possible to differentiate among the rootstocks, except between virus‐free subclones and their original parents as well as between ‘Aotea 40’ and ‘Aotea 106’. The parentage of all but one rootstock clone was confirmed. The placement of individual rootstock clones into subgroups in a phenogram generated from un‐weighted pair group average cluster analysis was generally based on parentage or genetic origin. Based upon the ability of the SSR data to differentiate these apple rootstocks and the high level of gene diversity, it is proposed that all commercial apple rootstocks be fingerprinted to provide a mechanism to verify the identity of individual clones.     

Genetic identity and relationships of Iranian apple (Malus?×?domestica Borkh.) cultivars and landraces, wild Malus species and representative old apple cultivars based on simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker analysis

In order to shed light on the role of Iran in apple evolution and domestication, we chose to investigate the relationships of a collection of 159 accessions of wild and domesticated apples including Iranian indigenous apple cultivars and landraces, selected wild species, and old apple scion and rootstock cultivars from different parts of the world. The majority of the wild species belonged to M. sieversii, which is widely believed to be the main maternal wild ancestor of domestic apples, from Kazakhstan and M. orientalis, which is one of the probable minor ancestors of domestic apples, from Turkey and Russia located on the east and west of Iran, respectively. The accessions were assigned into six arbitrary populations for the purpose of generating information on genetic parameters. Nine simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci selected from previous studies in apple were screened over DNA extracted from all the accessions. Results showed that all SSR loci displayed a very high degree of polymorphism with 11–25 alleles per locus. In total, there were 153 alleles across all loci with an average of 17 alleles per locus. The SSR allelic data were then used for estimation of population genetic parameters, including genetic variation statistics, F-statistics, gene flow, genetic identity, genetic distance and then cluster analysis using POPGENE 1.32 software. The F-statistics and gene flow in particular, showed that there was more intra-population than between population variation. The genetic identity and genetic distance estimates, and the dendrogram generated from the un-weighted pair group arithmetic average (UPGMA) method of cluster analysis showed that the Iranian cultivars and landraces were more closely related to M. sieversii from Central Asia (east of Iran) and M. orientalis native to Turkey and Russia than to other accessions of Malus species. Also, the old apple cultivars from different parts of the world have a closer genetic relationship to M. sieversii, M. orientalis and the Iranian apples, than to other wild species. Based on these results, we suggest that the Iranian apples may occupy an intermediate position between the domesticated varieties and wild species. We propose that Iran could be one of the major players in apples’ domestication and transfer from Central Asia to the western countries.     

A partial diallel study of powdery mildew resistance in six apple cultivars under three growing conditions with different disease pressures

Summary The suitability of large-fruited apple cultivars as alternative donors of powdery mildew resistance to the crabapples carrying major gene resistances was assessed. Five accessions with varying levels of mildew resistance (‘Dülmener Rosen', ‘Liberty', ‘Sciros', ‘Prima' and ‘Red Delicious') and one susceptible cultivar (‘Cox's Orange Pippin') were mated in a partial diallel design, and sub-sets of each seedling family were evaluated for three years at three New Zealand sites (Havelock North, Riwaka and Clyde) with different climatic conditions. There was a high correlation among the powdery mildew susceptibility scores of the individual seedlings over the three years, but disease levels varied among sites, with those at Clyde being the highest. All accessions with some resistance were found to confer additive resistance to their progenies to varying degrees depending on the climatic conditions of the sites, but findings suggest that progeny selection at Clyde will be sufficient for breeding purposes. The performance of the cultivar itself was not necessarily a good predictor of the level of resistance conferred to its progenies. The mostly negative genetic correlations between powdery mildew scores and fruit quality attributes suggest that selecting for powdery mildew resistance and desirable fruit quality traits may not be difficult. However, a larger number of families may be needed for more precise estimates of the genetic correlations to strengthen confidence in this conclusion.     

Assessment of sweet cherry (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Prunus avium</Emphasis> L.) genotypes for response to bacterial canker disease

Integration of alleles for bacterial canker resistance into new sweet cherry cultivars requires information on the sources of resistance in the germplasm. Five market-leading sweet cherry cultivars, ‘Rainier’, ‘Sweetheart’, ‘Bing’, ‘Regina’ and ‘Chelan’, advanced selections ‘AA’, ‘BB’, ‘CC’, ‘DD’, ‘EE’, ‘GG’, and ‘PMR-1’ used as breeding parents in the Washington State University’s Sweet Cherry Breeding Program were evaluated. Comparative genotypic disease severity was obtained with three methods of inoculation (leaf wounding with carborundum, cut wounds in leaf mid-rib and shoot tip) on whole plants. Additionally, genotypic data on susceptibility of detached leaves versus fruit and an assessment of the movement of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (Pss) population in inoculated shoots were obtained. Genotype susceptibility was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) influenced by inoculation method, with shoot inoculation providing the best separation of resistance levels among genotypes. A low correlation (r = 0.26, P = 0.21) was observed between disease responses measured on detached leaf versus fruit, while a moderately high correlation (r = 0.50, P = 0.10) was found among bacterial populations in the tissues and in the degree of symptoms expressed. By all comparative methods, the advanced selections, as well as, ‘PMR-1’, were less susceptible than the market-leading cultivars. Also, movement of Pss from shoot tip inoculation points to the shoot base was not detected for advanced selections ‘AA’, ‘BB’, ‘DD’, and ‘EE’. This study reveals that the advanced selections could be potential sources of resistance alleles to bacterial canker. This is the first evaluation of the advanced selections for bacterial canker disease.     

Pollen Source Influences Fruit Quality,Aril Properties,and Seed Characteristics in Pomegranate

A study was conducted to determine the effect of pollen source on fruit, aril, and seed characteristics in pomegranate. The cultivar Malas Yazdi was pollinated with three pollen sources including: Rabab Neyriz (a commercial cultivar), Malas Pishva Varamin (selected superior local cultivar), and Poost Sefid Dezful (non-commercial cultivar). The results showed that the rate of fruit set from different pollen sources varied from 13% to 46%. Pollen source also had significant effects on other fruit properties, such as fruit weight, fruit shape, fruit length and diameter, fruit peel color, fruit peel thickness, and edible portion of the fruit. Aril characteristics including number of arils per fruit, aril length and diameter, aril weight, and aril color were also significantly affected by pollen source as well as seed physical properties, including seed weight, seed length and diameter, seed hardness, and seed toughness. However ‘Malas Pishva Varamin’ as a pollinizer showed the lowest rate of fruit set, but performed better in terms of fruit quality and seed characteristic than ‘Rabab Neyriz’ and ‘Poost Sefid Dezful’. This is the first observation of xenia effect in pomegranate breeding and could serve as a new area of research for pomegranate production. These findings suggest that selection of suitable pollinizer could be a new area of research for pomegranate production.