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Title: Genotyping-by-sequencing reveals the origin of the Tunisian relatives of cultivated carrot

Author
item MEZGHANI, NAJLA - National Bank Of Genes
item Ruess, Holly
item TARCHOUN, NEJI - Higher Institute Of Agronomic Sciences Of Chott-Mariem
item BEN AMOR, JIHENE - Higher Institute Of Agronomic Sciences Of Chott-Mariem
item Simon, Philipp
item Spooner, David

Submitted to: Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/20/2018
Publication Date: 3/6/2018
Citation: Mezghani, N., Ruess, H.M., Tarchoun, N., Ben Amor, J., Simon, P.W., Spooner, D.M. 2018. Genotyping-by-sequencing reveals the origin of the Tunisian relatives of cultivated carrot. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 65:1359-1368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-018-0619-4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-018-0619-4

Interpretive Summary: Tunisia, other countries in northwestern Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula, represent a center of diversity of wild and 'ultivated carrot (genus Daucus). Daucus includes about 20-25 species worldwide. We assessed the diversity of a representative collection from the Tunisia, the wild relative of carrot, technically known as Daucus carota, by the use of a powerful molecular technique known as Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS). GBS examines similarities and differences of different collections (accessions) from thousands of DNA building blocks of DNA (nucleotides), and uses these to examine diversity. An analysis of these GBS data from 103 Daucus carota accessions at the National Gene Bank of Tunisia showed that the Tunisian collections are most similar to those from adjacent areas to the north in Italy or its surrounding islands. Our results will assist in the development of a world-wide knowledge of relationships of the Daucus carota collections in genebanks, and aid breeders in the use of these collections for breeders.

Technical Abstract: Tunisia, other countries in northwestern Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula, represent a center of diversity of Daucus. The genus traditionally has included about 20–25 species worldwide but a recent molecular study redefined and expanded Daucus to include representatives from nine other genera. By this classification Daucus now contains about 40 species, with some of them having winged fruits in addition to its traditionally recognized spiny fruits. The taxonomy of Daucus in Tunisia has recently been studied with morphological data, concluding that D. carota subsp. capillifolius is a subspecies that co-occurs and intermates with subsp. carota. The present study extends these with additional data from Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) from 33 Tunisian accessions of D. carota (93 individuals with two to three replicates per accession), including the first collections of subsp. gummifer from Tunisia. Placed in the context of additional GBS data, D. carota subsp. gummifer has separate origins from other collections of subsp. carota in Tunisia and/or immediately adjacent areas to the north in Italy or its surrounding islands. Our results add support to the utility of large SNP datasets for species-level phylogenetic studies in Daucus.