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Genetic relatedness among Asian Cotoneaster species investigated with DNA marker analysis
43-46.Views:164The widespread genus Cotoneaster has its centre of diversity in the Himalayas and surrounding areas. Most taxa appear to be polyploid and apomictic, and many of them have become popular ornamentals due to their attractive foliage and berries. One of the taxonomically most critical groups is Section Alpigeni which contains several important ornamental plants. The number of species belonging to this section varies widely between different taxonomic treatises, depending on whether 'splitting' or 'lumping' of species is preferred. Using a rather narrow species definition, we have investigated 13 different species using RAPD analysis. A simple matching (SM) coefficient-based principle coordinate analysis (PCO) was calculated from the RAPD data. Some species were clearly more similar to each other than to other species in the analysis. The levels of similarity did, however, not correspond very well to the lumping together of several taxa under the same species name as performed e.g. in the recent Flora of China. Obviously, the complex hybridogenous origination and, in some cases, still ongoing recombination with sexual species or among the apomictic taxa themselves, produces a genetic variability structure that cannot be properly reflected in a hierarchical taxonomy.
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Application of DNA markers for detection of scab resistant apple cultivars and selections
59-63.Views:108A DNA marker-based study was undertaken to identify the occurrence of major scab resistance genes in some apple cultivars and selections of importance for apple breeding. Unfortunately none of the RAPD-based markers previously reported to detect the Va, Vb, Vr and Vx genes produced unambiguous results. By contrast, the CAPS marker MI8 produced the expected three bands in all cultivars and selections already known or suspected to have the Vf gene, as well as in the Russian cultivar 'Antonovka Polotora Funtovaja' suspected to have Va resistance which however may be allelic to Vf. Vf-carrying selections and newly named cultivars 'Frida' and 'Fredrik' are grown successfully in Sweden without fungicides, suggesting that the Vr resistance breaking scab races 6 and 7 have not yet become a problem. The SCAR marker B12 detected the Vm gene in 'Prairifire', 'Rouville', clones 'OR45T132' and 'OR48T70', and selection '16-36-193'. The SSR locus 0102b10 detected one band at 118 by in 'Reka'. This is presumed to be identical to the Vr gene marker previously reported.
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Impact of foliar fungi on dogroses
23-30.Views:188Wild roses of the section Caninae, commonly known as dogroses, have been described as more disease tolerant than ornamental roses and could therefore become valuable for breeding improved rose cultivars. Two fields with dogroses, one with plants obtained by open pollination in wild populations, and one with plants obtained from intra- and interspecific crosses, were evaluated for blackspot, powdery mildew, rust and leafspots in the autumn of 2005. Symptoms of the different fungi on different dogrose species were carefully evaluated in a microscope and documented by photography. Interestingly, almost no symptoms of powdery mildew were found in either field, although the fungus infected wild roses of a different section in a field closeby. Surprisingly few symptoms were found also of blackspot, and they differed considerably from those found on ornamental cultivars, indicating a lower susceptibility in dogroses. The most important fungal disease in 2005 was rust, followed by leafspot symptoms. The latter were apparently caused by Sphaceloma rosarum and Septoria rosae which can be properly discriminated only in a microscope. The investigated dogrose species and their progeny groups varied significantly in disease susceptibility and in the appearance of encountered symptoms but there was no evidence of major resistance genes, except possibly in Rosa rubiginosa which did not show any symptoms of Septoria. In 2006, a subset of the plant material in Field 1 was evaluated to check for consistency between the years. Leafspots had overtaken rust as the most important disease but results were otherwise very similar to those of 2005.
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Severely pollen-limited fruit set in a pear (Pyrus communis) orchard revealed by yield assessments and DNA-based paternity assignment of seedlings
67-74.Views:170In commercial fruit tree orchards, consistently high yields are necessary for a durable economy. The Swedish pear cultivar 'Carola' has been noted for low setting in some orchards, possibly due to insufficient pollination. In this study, fruit set was evaluated in a research orchard where `Carola' had been planted together with four potential pollinators. Total yield and number of fruits was noted during three and four years, respectively. In 2003, seeds were germinated from the harvested `Carola' fruits, and the paternity of three seedlings from 50 trees was determined with RAPD analysis. 'Clapp's Favourite' had sired 39.6% of the seedlings, closely followed by `Seigneur d'Esperen' (30.7%) and 'Clara Frijs' (26.7%) whereas 'Skanskt sockerparon' only sired 1.1% of the seedlings. The remaining 2.3% appeared to have been derived by selfing. Pollen-limited seed set was indicated at surprisingly short distances; accumulated number of fruits on the `Carola' trees was significantly higher when separated by only 2 m from one of the two most efficient pollinators, 'Clapp's Favourite' or 'Seigneur d'Esperen‘, compared to trees 4—l0 in away in the same row. Number of viable seeds per fruit was also higher in fruits from trees immediately adjacent to the pollinators, suggesting an effect of improved pollination success. The importance of very short inter-cultivar distances for efficient pollen transfer became even more clear when comparisons involved the true pollination distances as determined by RAPD; the accumulated yields decreased linearly from 55 kg at a 2 in distance to only 17 kg at 13 m.
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Genetic diversity in a collection of apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) cultivars as revealed by RAPD markers
25-35.Views:179A collection of 151 apple cultivars was investigated with 7 RAPD primers generating 71 informative bands, to evaluate genetic variability and relatedness. All cultivars presumably derived through genetic recombination were distinguished whereas identical DNA profiles indicated that some cultivars had arisen as sports. A cluster analysis and a PCO did not reveal any distinct geographic patterns, but there was a weak tendency for Swedish and foreign cultivars to differentiate.. Many cultivars however clustered together with either one of their parents or with siblings. Overall genetic diversity among the 151 cultivars was estimated with Nei's diversity index (H), 0.269, and with Shannon's index (H'), 0.594. The cultivars were also analysed in six groups, according to time of origination and country of origin, with an average H = 0.262 and H' = 0.546. No major differences in genetic diversity were observed over time or space, although the group with recent, foreign cultivars had the lowest diversity (FL = 0.235, H' = 0.493). Comparison between the entire material and a subset with 94 mandate cultivars chosen for preservation in Sweden, showed similar genetic diversity: HFN.rj1E = 0.268, frE,NTIRE, = 0.593 and HMANDATE = 0.263, WMANDATE = 0.575. No major differences in band frequencies were observed between these two sets, but 5 RAPD bands were missing in the set with mandate cultivars.
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DNA-based determination of suitable pollinating cultivars for the pear cultivar 'Carola' (Pyrus communis)
15-19.Views:134Pollen-limited fruit set has long been suspected in some relatively low-yielding orchards with the Swedish pear cultivar 'Carola'. Fruit was therefore harvested on 23 'Carola' trees in a commercial pear orchard. The seeds were germinated and five seedlings from each tree were sampled to determine which of the surrounding cultivars had been the most successful pollinators. Leaves of 'Carola', the 7 putative pollinating cultivars and the 115 seedlings were analysed with 6 RAPD primers. By comparison of the band patterns, paternity could be ascertained for 74 seedlings. The by far most successful pollinator was 'Clara Frijs' which had sired approx. half of the seedlings, followed by 'Herzogin Elsa', `Skanskt Sockerpiiron', 'Alexandre Lucas', 'Coloree de Juillet' and 'Doyenne du Cornice'. The latter is the maternal parent of 'Carola', and these two cultivars must therefore share one S-allele and hence can only be semi-compatible. In addition, 6% of the seedlings were in all likelihood derived from selling_ since they showed no bands that did not occur also in 'Carola'. Maximum distance between 'Carola' trees and suitable pollinators should not exceed 15-20 tn. Longer distances may produce a serious dearth of compatible pollen as evidenced by the large percentage of seedlings derived either from selling. (25%) or from long-distance (> 40 m) pollen transfer (25%) when 'Carola' trees were surrounded by non-preferred pollinators.