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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » National Clonal Germplasm Repository » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #232112
Title: Nomenclature and Genetic Relationships of Apples and Pears from Terceira Island

Author
item Bassil, Nahla
item Hummer, Kim
item Postman, Joseph
item Fazio, Gennaro
item Baldo, Angela
item ARMAS, ISABEL - SERVICO DE AGARIO
item WILLIAMS, ROGER - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/31/2008
Publication Date: 9/13/2008
Citation: Bassil, N.V., Hummer, K.E., Postman, J.D., Fazio, G., Baldo, A.M., Armas, I., Williams, R. 2008. Nomenclature and Genetic Relationships of Apples and Pears from Terceira Island. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution (2009). 56:339-352.

Interpretive Summary: Heritage apple and pear trees grow in villages throughout Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal. Some of these pears have different names but similar appearance. The objective of this study was to determine synonymy, homology, and relationships of apples and pears from Terceira and to examine potential relationships of the island pears with standard apples and pears of Portuguese or American descent. Nine apple DNA-based markers of the microsatellite marker type were used to determine genetic relationships. These genotypes grouped into separate apple and pear groups. The Terceira apples were divided into two groups: the maça and the reineta-reinette. Among the 17 heritage apple genotypes, seven were unique and four groups of synonyms, or possibly sport mutants, were detected including: ‘Reineta Agosto’ and ‘Reineta Verde’ from Altares; ‘Reineta Castanha’ and ‘Reineta Verde Miuda’; ‘Maça Pêra,’ ‘Maça Calhau’, ‘Pêro Branco’ from Salga and from Terra-Cha and ‘Maça Marmelo’; and the five genotypes ‘Maça Sao Joao’, ‘Malápio Rosa’, ‘Maça Gaspar’, ‘Maça Branca’ and ‘Maça Pato’. In addition, two homonyms (genotypes that have the same name but are genetically different from each other) were detected. ‘Pêro Vermelho’ from Terra Cha was a separate genotype from a tree from Doze Ribeiras of the same name, but Pêro Branco from Terra Cha appears to be a sport that can be distinguished by one difference at one of the markers from a tree with that name from Salga. One pair of apple sports, ‘Reineta Agosto’ and ‘Reineta Verde’ from Altares appear to be derived from ‘Golden Delicious.’ Another apple genotype ‘Maça Acida’ could be a sibling of the ‘Maça Pêra’ group. Other tested standard apples from the US genebank were unrelated to Terceira genotypes. Of the seven heritage pears, five unique genotypes and one pair of synonyms were detected. ‘Pêra Papo Pintassilgo’ from Raminho and ‘Pêra Vermelha’ from the nursery of Serviço de Desenvolvimento Agario da Terceira (SDAT) were synonyms. ‘Passans du Portugal’ was related to ‘Pêra Cabaca’ but other standard pears from the US genebank were unrelated to Terceira genotypes. Future studies will include additional apple and pear cultivars from other Islands of the Azores and continental Portugal, and wild Asian species to further explore genetic relationships.

Technical Abstract: Heritage apple (Malus domestica Borkh. hybrids) and pear (Pyrus communis L. hybrid) trees grow in villages throughout Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal. Some of these pears have different names but similar morphology. The objective of this study was to determine synonymy, homology, and phylogeny of apples and pears from Terceira and to examine potential relationships of the island pears with standard apples and pears of Portuguese or American descent. Nine apple microsatellite markers were used to determine genetic relationships. Distance- and parsimony-based cluster analysis grouped these genotypes into separate apple and pear clades. The Terceira apples were divided into two clades: the maça and the reineta-reinette. Among the 17 heritage apple genotypes, seven unique accessions were identified and four groups of synonyms, or possibly clones, were detected including: ‘Reineta Agosto’ and ‘Reineta Verde’ from Altares; ‘Reineta Castanha’ and ‘Reineta Verde Miuda’; ‘Maça Pêra,’ ‘Maça Calhau’, ‘Pêro Branco’ from Salga and from Terra-Cha and ‘Maça Marmelo’; and the five genotypes ‘Maça Sao Joao’, ‘Malápio Rosa’, ‘Maça Gaspar’, ‘Maça Branca’ and ‘Maça Pato’. In addition, two homonyms were detected. ‘Pêro Vermelho’ from Terra Cha was a separate genotype from a tree from Doze Ribeiras of the same name, but Pêro Branco from Terra Cha appears to be a clone that can be distinguished by an additional allele at CH1F07a from a tree with that name from Salga. One pair of apple clones, ‘Reineta Agosto’ and ‘Reineta Verde’ from Altares appear to be derived from an unreduced gamete of ‘Golden Delicious.’ Another apple genotype ‘Maça Acida’ could be a sibling of the ‘Maça Pêra’ clonal group. Other tested standard apples from the US genebank were unrelated to Terceira genotypes. Of the seven heritage pears, five unique genotypes and one pair of synonyms were detected. ‘Pêra Papo Pintassilgo’ from Raminho and ‘Pêra Vermelha’ from the nursery of Serviço de Desenvolvimento Agario da Terceira (SDAT) were synonyms. ‘Passans du Portugal’ was related to ‘Pêra Cabaca’ but other standard pears from the US genebank were unrelated to Terceira genotypes. Future studies will include additional apple and pear cultivars from other Islands of the Azores and continental Portugal, and wild Asian species to further explore genetic relationships.