Authors: J E MuñozFalcón J Prohens S Vilanova F Nuez
Publish Date: 2008/04/09
Volume: 164, Issue: 2, Pages: 405-419
Abstract
Spanish striped eggplants Solanum melongena L are generally known as Listada Among them the most internationally renowned is the Listada de Gandía heirloom Enhancement and legal protection of these local materials requires the analysis of their characteristics diversity and relationships with similar accessions We performed a morphological agronomic and molecular amplified fragment length polymorphism AFLP characterization of 33 eggplant accessions which included 20 Striped accessions of which nine were Spanish five Listada de Gandía and four of Other Spanish Listada 11 nonSpanish six of NonSpanish Listada and five of Other NonSpanish Striped and 13 NonStriped accessions The Striped accessions presented a range of morphological agronomic and genetic diversity comparable to the one observed in the NonStriped accessions Multivariate PCA morphological and PCoA molecular analyzes group together the Listada accessions and clearly separate the three Listada subgroups Listada de Gandía Other Spanish Listada and NonSpanish Listada On the other hand the Other NonSpanish Striped accessions are closer to NonStriped than to Listada accessions Listada eggplants as well as each of their subgroups are characterized by a syndrome of morphological traits that allows distinguishing them from other accessions Furthermore AFLP markers which allow distinguishing Listada accessions and the Listada de Gandía heirloom have been found The agronomic characterization shows that despite the low diversity within Listada de Gandía group it is possible to select accessions with improved agronomic performance The results obtained have important implications for the conservation improvement and legal protection of Spanish striped eggplants and in particular of the Listada de Gandía heirloom The methodology and approaches used may provide a model for the enhancement and protection of other vegetable crops heirloomsThe authors are grateful to Mrs Núria Palacios for her help with the morphological and agronomic characterization This work was financed by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia Grants AGL200303949 RF2004000020000 and AGL200604878/AGR and Generalitat Valenciana Grants GVA04A/056 ACOMP06/059 and ACOMP07/201
Keywords: