Assessing genetic divergence in interspecific hybrids of Aechmea gomosepala and A. recurvata var. recurvata using inflorescence characteristics and sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Conventional hybridization and selection techniques have aided the development of new ornamental crop cultivars. However, little information is available on the genetic divergence of bromeliad hybrids. In the present study, we investigated the genetic variability in interspecific hybrids of Aechmea gomosepala and A. recurvata var. recurvata using inflorescence characteristics and sequencerelated amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. The morphological analysis showed that the putative hybrids were intermediate between both parental species with respect to inflorescence characteristics. The 16 SRAP primer combinations yield 265 bands, among which 154 (57.72%) were polymorphic. The genetic similarity was an average of 0.59 and ranged from 0.21 to 0.87, indicating moderate genetic divergence among the hybrids. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA)-based cluster analysis distinguished the ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 11 (4): 4169-4178 (2012) F. Zhang et al. 4170 hybrids from their parents with a genetic distance coefficient of 0.54. The cophenetic correlation was 0.93, indicating a good fit between the dendrogram and the original distance matrix. The two-dimensional plot from the principal coordinate analysis showed that the hybrids were intermediately dispersed between both parents, corresponding to the results of the UPGMA cluster and the morphological analysis. These results suggest that SRAP markers could help to identify breeders, characterize F 1 hybrids of bromeliads at an early stage, and expedite genetic improvement of bromeliad cultivars.

Early Diverging and Core Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae) Reveal Contrasting Patterns of Genome Size Evolution and Polyploidy

“…It has been shown that interspecific, as well as intergeneric experimental hybridization within core Bromelioideae, is possible (e.g. Zhang et al, 2012;Souza et al, 2017), and rare natural hybridization events (Furtado et al, 2003;Wendt et al, 2008;Matallana et al, 2016) are important drivers of evolution in the group (Goetze et al, 2016). Hence, uniform genomes in terms of genome size and chromosome number could be considered favorable for gene flow as chromosomal and genomic uniformity usually facilitates chromosome pairing and recombination (e.g.…”

Advances in and perspectives on evolution in Bromeliaceae

“…and A. gamosepala Wittm. (Zhang et al, 2012). One commonly observed pattern, in Pitcairnia (Wendt et al, 2002;Palma-Silva et al, 2015), Fosterella (Wagner et al, 2015) and Vriesea (Neri, 2016), is the importance of the mating system as a reproductive isolation barrier, where autogamy may preclude heterospecific hybridization.…”

“…Molecular markers were also applied to study the outcomes of artificial hybridization among several Fosterella spp. (Zhang et al, 2012). and A. gamosepala Wittm.…”

“…Bromeliad species are known to be largely crosscompatible at the species and genus levels and artificial hybrids are easily formed (McWilliams, 1974;Benzing, 2000;Vervaeke et al, 2001;Rôc ßas, Klein & Mattos, 2004;Zhang et al, 2012;Wagner et al, 2015), but comparatively fewer records of natural hybridization are available: Gardner (1984), Luther (1985), Gonc ßalvez & Azevêdo-Gonc ßaves (2009) and Orozco-Ibarrola et al (2015) have reported hybrids in Tillandsia; Read (1984), Neri (2016) and Zanella et al (2016) have reported hybrids in Vriesea; Luther (1984), Wendt, Paz & Rios (2000) and Palma-Silva et al (2011 have reported hybrids in Pitcairnia; and Schulte et al (2010) have reported hybrids in Puya. One possible cause for the lack of reports of natural hybridization is the difficulty in recognizing hybrids based only on morphology (Schulte et al, 2010;Neri, 2016;Zanella et al, 2016).…”

Reprodução e hibridação interespecífica e intergenérica em bromeliáceas com potencial ornamental

“…é uma espécie de bromélia nativa do Brasil e está distribuída na Mata Atlântica no Corredor Central da Biodiversidade. As espécies de Aechmea estão entre as bromélias de maior valor econômico(ZHANG et al, 2012) com muitas espécies neste gênero listadas como vulneráveis e ameaçados de extinção.…”