Conventional and phenomics characterization provides insight into the diversity and relationships of hypervariable scarlet (Solanum aethiopicum L.) and gboma (S. macrocarpon L.) eggplant complexes

Abstract

Scarlet (Solanum aethiopicum) and gboma (S. macrocarpon) eggplants are major vegetable crops in sub-Saharan Africa. Together with their respective wild ancestors (S. anguivi and S. dasyphyllum) and intermediate cultivated-wild forms they constitute the so-called scarlet and gboma eggplant complexes. We used conventional descriptors and the high-throughput phenomics tool Tomato Analyzer for characterizing 63 accessions of the scarlet eggplant complex, including the four S. aethiopicum cultivar groups (Aculeatum, Gilo, Kumba, and Shum), Intermediate S. aethiopicum-S. anguivi forms, and S. anguivi, and 12 cultivated and wild accessions of the gboma eggplant complex. A large diversity was found between both complexes, showing that they are very well differentiated from each other. Within the scarlet eggplant complex, many significant differences were also found among cultivar groups, but more differences were found for fruit traits evaluated with Tomato Analyzer than with conventional descriptors. In particular, Tomato Analyzer phenomics characterization was useful for distinguishing small fruited groups (Shum, Intermediate, and S. anguivi), as well as groups for which few or no significant differences were observed for plant traits. Multivariate principal components analysis (PCA) separated well all groups, except the Intermediate group which plotted between S. anguivi and small fruited S. aethiopicum accessions. For the gboma eggplant complex, S. dasyphyllum was clearly distinguished from S. macrocarpon and an important diversity was found in the latter. The results have shown that both complexes are hypervariable and have provided insight into their diversity and relationships. The information obtained has important implications for the conservation and management of genetic resources as well as for the selection and breeding of both scarlet and gboma eggplants.

Morphological and RAPD-marker characterization of Melia volkensii (Grke) in vitro plants regenerated via direct and indirect somatic embryogenesis

“…Recent applications of multivariate analysis on morphometric and meristic data in the study of morphological variation in plants include Valenzuela et al (2011) and Plazas et al (2014). Similar approaches have been used for other tissue cultured plants such as tomato (Pratta et al, 2000), soybean (Radhakrishnan and Kumari, 2008) banana (Sheidai et al, 2008) and poplar tree (Gamburg and Voinikov, 2013).…”

Genomic Tools for the Enhancement of Vegetable Crops: A Case in Eggplant

“…Eggplant has undergone a constant increase in yield (2.7-fold) and total production (8.7-fold) in the last fifty years, although the largest increases have been recorded in the last decade (FAOSTAT, 2017). Common eggplant is widespread and consumed worldwide even though in some areas, mainly in the African continent, two other cultivated eggplants namely scarlet (S. aethiopicum L.) and gboma (S. macrocarpon L.) eggplants are locally important (Lester and Daunay, 2003;Plazas et al, 2014).…”

“…These genotyping through sequencing methods constitute a really powerful tools to increase precision and accelerate al., 2016b). Thus, to track and easily introgress the alleles involved in the content of CGA (phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), cinnamate 4-hydroxilase (C4H), 4-hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA ligase (4CL), hydroxycinnamoyl-coA shikimate/quinate hydroxycinnamoil transferase (HCT), pcoumaroyl ester 3'-hydroxylase (C3'H), and hydroxycinnamoyl CoA quinate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HQT)) in the genetic background of eggplant, they were successfully mapped in different LGs using 91 BC1 individuals (Gramazio et al, 2014). In addition, five polyphenol oxidase enzymes (PPO1, PPO2, PPO3, PPO4, PPO5), which may be involved in the browning of the fruit flesh by oxidation of GCA and other phenols, mapped in a cluster in LG 8, as well as, candidate genes important in domestication such as fruit shape (OVATE, SISUN1) and prickliness.…”

Angolan vegetable crops have unique genotypes of potential value for future breeding programmes

“…[10][11][12][13] S. aethiopicum is a hypervariable species characterised by many morphologically different types and forms, with hundreds of local varieties. 14,15 Both scarlet and gboma eggplants are also important genetic resources for common eggplant (S. melongena L.) breeding, as the three species can be intercrossed, thus producing hybrids with intermediate fertility. 16 Two accessions of the very variable Solanum lichtensteinii were also collected in Huíla province.…”

“…5 All the SSRs that amplified in the three species and which indicated variability were analysed in the full collection. Amplifications were carried out in 15 …”