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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Riverside, California » National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Citrus » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #348890
Title: The Citrus genus

Author
item OLLITRAULT, PATRICK - Cirad, France
item CURK, FRANCK - Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
item Krueger, Robert

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/12/2018
Publication Date: 1/17/2020
Citation: Ollitrault, P., Curk, F., Krueger, R. 2020. Citrus taxonomy. Book Chapter. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812163-4.00004-8.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812163-4.00004-8

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Citrus classification remains an unresolved problem. In the first part of this chapter, after a short description of their morphological characters, the justification for the separation of the ‘true citrus’ group of 6 genera is discussed on the basis of reproductive biology and plastone phylogenetics. It is concluded that all true citrus plus the genus Oxanthera genus should be joined within the genus Citrus. Moreover, despite full sexual compatibility between the species in the genus Citrus sensu Swingle, the phenotypic and molecular differentiation between the ancestral taxa (C maxima, C medica, C micrantha, C reticulata) of the cultivated forms fit with the phylogenetic species concepts based on diagnosability and monophyly. In the second part, after an historical perspective, the species subdivision rank of the genus Citrus is discussed on the basis of recent phylogenomic data and a new concept is proposed for citrus classification. Finally, in the third part, the phenotypical diversity of the Asian ancestors of edible citrus and of the most important horticultural groups of interspecific origins is presented after a discussion of the implication of the reticulate evolutioncoupled with apomixis on the phenotypical diversity structure of edible Citrus.