Background Stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) is harvested for its edible kernels. It is an important forest tree species, and also plays an important role in afforestation. Successful afforestation activities strongly depend on the quality of seeds and seedlings. Five eastern native populations of stone pine were analyzed, in terms of their geographical and climatic parameters, in order to identify their cone, seed, pine nut, and seedling traits. With this regard, we aimed to contribute to the reforestation, yield, and breeding of this species. Results All native populations occur in the sub-humid bioclimatic zone, according to Emberger’s bioclimatic classification, ranging 74.7–63.2 of Emberger’s Q Index value (Q), which synthesizes humidity and temperature, with lower values indicating more arid conditions. With regard to geographical factors, altitude was found to have the greatest effect on cone diameter and seed weight, while there was a weak correlation of cone, seed, and pine nut dimension with longitude and latitude. In terms of climatic factors, Q and mean of the maximum temperature of June, July, and August (ME) were found to be the main drivers behind significant effects in cone, seed, and pine nut morphometric traits. The most negative effect on seed number cone−1 (r: − 0.897), pine nut number cone−1 (r: − 0.923), pine nut yield (r: − 0.903), and pine nut weight (r: − 0.878) was Q, whereas cone diameter, seed length, and seed weight were positively correlated with the ME (r: 0.939, r: 0.889, and r: 0.866, respectively). Cone and seed diameter and seed weight increased with decreasing summer drought index (r: − 0.806, r: − 0.846, and r: − 0.866, respectively). Rainfall in the June of the third year prior to harvest time (RJ) had a negative effect on the percentage of sound seeds per cone. Annual rainfall in the third year prior to harvest time (AR) significantly affected pine nut weight (r: 0.889), although rainfall during summer had a negative effect. The empty seed ratio of the different populations ranged from 20 to 68%, while considering all populations, the empty seed ratio was 46%. Conclusions The study suggests that the Q Index and ME should be taken into account to determine cone to pine nut yield. With this regard, plantations of stone pine should be established on sub-humid areas and Q values should not exceed 75.
Intraspecific and interspecific diversity between Phoenix theophrasti individuals (92 from Turkey and 70 from Crete, Greece) and P. dactylifera specimens (28 from Turkey) were investigated by inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analysis. A total of 45 polymorphic fragments, 360-3454 bps long, were produced. Intraspecific diversity for P. dactylifera was 26.63% and similarities ranged between 0.5 and 1. In the constructed dendrogram, P. dactylifera specimens clustered together in the first main group, outside branches consisting of P. theophrasti samples that generated the second main group. The intraspecific diversity for Turkish P. theophrasti populations was found to be 18.60% and for Cretan populations 13.45%. Antalya-Kumluca-Karaöz samples were grouped outside the branches of the remaining P. theophrasti samples. All three Cretan populations formed their own, separate branch. Datça-Eksera Stream samples together with two Datça-Hurmalıbük specimens constituted a group excluding Datça-Hurmalıbük and Bodrum-Gölköy specimens. Five Bodrum-Gölköy genotypes were clustered separately. Gene flow (N m ) values among populations were estimated from 0.157 to 59.615. AMOVA analysis revealed the percentages of variance among and within Phoenix populations: 73% and 27%, respectively. The first three principal coordinate components accounted for 37.60, 29.32 and 20.04%, respectively, thus the total variance obtained from the first three principal coordinate components was 86.96%. A positive correlation between geographic and genetic distances of populations was detected by Mantel tests (Rx,y = 0.44, p = 0.04). The populations were classified into four clusters by STRUCTURE analysis, supported the PCoA data. To conclude, ISSR results support that P. dactylifera and P. theophrasti are different species. Moreover, the findings not only revealed relationships between natural Phoenix theophrasti populations but also supported the identification of the P. theophrasti individuals that are phenotypically differentiated in the divided Bodrum-Gölköy population (P. theophrasti subsp. golkoyana).ISSR genotyping of Phoenix theophrasti natural populations in Turkey and Crete (Greece) and P. dactylifera
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