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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Byron, Georgia » Fruit and Tree Nut Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #388551
Title: Assessment of prunus rootstock accessions using chloroplast and nuclear microsatellites

Author
item Chen, Chunxian
item Rodriguez Bonilla, Lorraine
item BECKMAN, THOMAS - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/10/2021
Publication Date: 2/4/2022
Citation: Chen, C., Rodriguez Bonilla, L., Beckman, T.G. 2022. Assessment of prunus rootstock accessions using chloroplast and nuclear microsatellites. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 147(2):95-103. https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS05137-21.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS05137-21

Interpretive Summary: A stone fruit rootstock collection maintained at the USDA stone fruit breeding program at Byron, GA and has never been analyzed using molecular markers. In this study we collected and analyzed data from this stone fruit rootstock collection using chloroplast and nuclear molecular markers. Chloroplast makers were used to determine their maternal relationships and nuclear markers to reveal their phylogenetic relationships and genetic diversity. The results would greatly facilitate understanding of the maternal and genetic relationships among the accessions and provide assistance in breeding in the future.

Technical Abstract: A rootstock collection has been maintained at the United States Department of Agriculture stone fruit breeding program at Byron, GA. In this study we genotyped 66 Prunus rootstock accessions and clones using chloroplast and nuclear microsatellites. Chloroplast microsatellites revealed the accessions belong to four previously defined maternal lineage groups (MLG, 1-4) and five new MLG (9-13). MLG-1 and 2 share the same chloroplast alleles of ‘Chinese Cling’ derived scions and of American scions and rootstocks related to early European introductions, respectively. MLG-3 included ‘Guardian’ rootstock and its descendants. MLG-4 had a single genotype ‘Okinawa’ that is the maternal parent of ‘Flordaking’. MLG-9 and MLG-11 to MLG-13 included hybrids with plums in their maternal parentage. MLG-10 included hybrids from almond in the maternal parentage. The neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on nuclear SSR data showed several clusters. Cluster I included only one scion cultivar Elberta from MLG-1. Cluster II, III and V contained peach accessions mostly in MLG-2. Cluster IV and VI included accessions mostly in MLG-3. Cluster VII included most accessions of plum-peach hybrid origin and those found within MLG-13. Cluster VIII were found to be mixed with different plum-peach hybrids and hybrids from other Prunus species, most of which were found in MLG-10, 11 and 12. Most accessions in cluster IX were related to plums in MLG-11 and a few accessions in MLG-9.