Solanum muricatum Aiton is an herbaceous perennial fruit species native to the Andean region of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In Chile, it was probably introduced in pre-Columbian times as a domesticated species and is presently grown in the coastal areas of the north-central regions of Coquimbo and Valparaíso. The species has been bred, but little information is available on its genetic variability in Chile. To characterize the genetic variability in this species, fruits were collected from 14 different ecotypes and seeds were sown to generate approximately 60 segregants from each accession. Segregants were planted at two different locations to characterize their fruits and fruiting habits. Fruit weight ranged from 30 to 485 g, while length was 3.5 to 16.7 cm, equatorial diameter 3.4 to 9.5 cm, pulp firmness 1.7 to 10 N, and soluble solids content 6.3 to 13.5° Brix. Fruit shape ranged from flat to oblong. When analyzing the estimated variance components with a mixed linear model, most of the variability between different ecotypes was in fruit shape, length, and weight, which resulted in a genetic contribution of 34.6%, 29.3%, and 18.1% of the total variability of these traits, respectively. Genetic variability was also found for pulp firmness and soluble solids content. Therefore, enough variability is available in seed-propagated pepinos from Chilean ecotypes to allow genetic improvement of these fruit quality traits. There was also variability from genotype × environment interactions; therefore, selections must be performed for specific environments or stable selections must be found.
Eulychnia acida Phil. is an arborescent cactus species endemic to Chile, and widespread in the Coquimbo Region, Chile. Wild populations are found on north facing slopes and vary morphologically in fruit shape and color. We conducted a study on reproductive phenology at three locations in the region: Quebrada Honda in the coastal area, Gualliguaica in the Elqui Valley, and La Coipa in the Limarí Valley. A total of 120 stems from 30 selected plants of wild populations were monitored weekly and the phenological stages were evaluated over a season. Through multivariate analysis was determined if climatic factors affected the number of individual and/or reproductive organs observed. The presence of reproductive phenophases is asynchronous, beginning in late autumn with the appearance of flower buds, which bloom mainly in spring and set at the end of the season. Flowering has a unimodal pattern. The variable fruits by stems is strongly correlated (p < 0.05) with the relative humidity (negative) and the degree days (positive). Locations show differences in the duration of the phenological events, which appear to be related to plant size and abundance of reproductive structures. Flowering synchrony among individuals is low when compared with other cacti; this means less overlap of the flowering periods among individuals, which could be a strategy to ensure insect visitation and pollination. Longer term studies are necessary to establish how weather conditions, rainfall and temperature influence the generation of flower buds, since production is affected in periods of drought.
There are endemic cacti species in the North of Chile with edible fruits and a fledgling productive potential, with unknown degree diversity. Low diversity compromises the ability of populations to evolve and reduces their chances of survival under environmental changes. Copao (Eulychnia acida Phil.), a cactus endemic to Chile that grows in the Coquimbo Region (30º S lat) and able to bear fruit in water stress conditions, were morphologically characterized using descriptors of other columnar cacti at three different locations where it usually grows wild. Five inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers, which were reported for other cacti that produced replicable and informative amplifications, were selected for the genetic characterization. Statistical analysis was performed to describe the diversity of this species and morphological and genetic results compared each other. High variation was observed between and within the evaluated populations for parameters of central tendency, dispersion, and univariate statistical analysis of the morphological traits. Principal component analysis showed that 73% of the population variation at the three locations could be explained by the first three principal components with 34%, 22%, and 17% of the observed variation, respectively. The five ISSR primers generated 7 to 11 polymorphic bands with a band range between 100 and 1517 bp. The polymorphic information content (PIC) averaged 0.75, which suggests high diversity between and within populations. Consensus of 85% existed between the selected descriptors and the ISSR markers, which points them out as suitable tools to analyze diversity in this species.K e y w o r d s : C o p a o , d e s c r i p t o r s , g e n e r a l i z e d procrustes analysis (GPA), genetic and morphological characterization, inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR).
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