Chloroplast DNA Variations in Wild Brassicas and Their Implication in Breeding and Population Genetics Studies

Abstract

Evaluation of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) diversity in wild relatives of crop brassicas is important for characterization of cytoplasm and also for population genetics/phylogeographic analyses. The former is useful for breeding programs involving wide hybridization and synthesis of alloplasmic lines, while the latter is important for formulating conservation strategies. Therefore, PCR-RFLP (Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) technique was applied to study cpDNA diversity in 14 wild brassicas (including 31 accessions) which revealed a total of 219 polymorphic fragments. The combination of polymorphisms obtained by using only two primer pair-restriction enzyme combinations was sufficient to distinguish all 14 wild brassicas. Moreover, 11 primer pairs-restriction enzyme combinations revealed intraspecific polymorphisms in eight wild brassicas (including endemic and endangered species, B. cretica and B. insularis, resp.). Thus, even within a small number of accessions that were screened, intraspecific polymorphisms were observed, which is important for population genetics analyses in wild brassicas and consequently for conservation studies.

Infraspecific Identity of the Wild Brassica Nigra (L.) Koch. Using Morphological, Cytogenetics and Molecular (Nuclear and Chloroplast) Approaches

“…This postulation was supported by Yang et al, (2002), who reported that the chloroplast noncoding region between trnD & trnT and that between trnT & trnF are useful for studying the interspecific relationships among angiosperms. The achieved results for the cpDNA markers reveal the intraspecific polymorphisms in Egyptian wild B. nigra taxa, is a useful tool for conservation and as marker assisted Brassica breeding programs, as reported by Sarin et al (2015). The detected low divergence between the two forms of var.…”

Biochemical and molecular identification of ten plum (Prunus salicina L.) cultivars in Egypt based on their physiological traits, chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA markers

“…Studies on cpDNA diversity are also essential for population genetics and phylogeographic analysis of rare, endemic and endangered varieties [20]. Additionally, cpDNA's conserved structure and low nucleotide replacement rate are crucial for phylogenetic investigations [21].…”

Induction of Male Sterility by Targeted Mutation of a Restorer-of-Fertility Gene with CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing in Brassica napus L.

“…Maternal inheritance is essential for hybrid breeding programs and mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes. CMS is a maternally inherited trait in flowering plants that cannot produce functional pollen [3]. Several cellular metabolic processes mandatory for higher plants, such as ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation, occur in mitochondria.…”