Phenotypic diversity within native Iranian almond (Prunus spp.) species and their breeding potential

Abstract

A total of 137 accessions from 18 wild almond species were collected from Iran and leaf and fruit traits were characterized. Also evaluated were flowering and ripening date, self-incompatibility and kernel bitterness. An extensive phenotypic diversity was found both among and within species. Differences in average leaf dimensions among and within species were associated with average rainfall but not altitude of collection site. Adjacent accessions located in drier areas had smaller leaf dimensions than those located in semi-humid or humid regions. No relation was found between average fruit dimensions and collection site conditions. Principal component analysis revealed that the nut weight and width, and the kernel weight had highest loading in the first component accounting for 45.8% of total variation. In contrast, leaf traits in the second component accounted for 22.3% of total variation. No significant correlations were detected between leaf dimensions and fruit traits in all species evaluated. Results document a rich source of new germplasm for almond improvement programs. Small fruit size, pollen-pistil self-incompatibility, and bitter kernel flavour are the most common obstacles to the utilization of this wild germplasm in breeding.

Evaluation of an almond collection using morphological variables to choose superior trees

“…In the present study, kernel weight ranged between 0.46 and 2.28 g. Zeinalabedini et al [11] recorded kernel weight from Determining relationships between various traits can help breeders set goals for parental partner selection and breeding [10]. Strong correlations were observed between many of the studied traits (table III).…”

“…As a place of origin of the almond, the genetic diversity of almond germplasm in Iran has been widely investigated by the use of hierarchical and principal component analyses [10][11][12]. Iranian almond germplasm is regarded as one of the most diverse and valuable of almond genetic resources in the world.…”

Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Moroccan Cultivated Almond (<i>Prunus dulcis</i> Mill. DA Webb) in Its Area of Extreme Diffusion, Using Nuclear Microsatellites

“…Morphological characters were used in phenotypic observations to characterize the genetic diversity of almond species, but their interactions with the environment and the small number of characters [20][21][22] prompted the use of other more discriminating techniques. Currently, DNA markers are widely used in studies of genetic diversity and the clarification of certain research questions, among others, those concerning their genetic origin [9].…”

Pollen-mediated gene flow and fine-scale spatial genetic structure inOlea europaeasubsp.europaeavar.sylvestris

“…In recent years, fruit breeding programmes have increased interest in wild germplasm as a source of useful traits (e.g. resistance to diseases, stress) to be introduced into the genome of cultivated plants (Fischer and Fischer, 2004;Hajjar and Hodgkin, 2007;Sorkheh et al, 2009;De la Rosa et al, 2014). Indeed, Klepo et al (2013Klepo et al ( , 2014 and Arias-Calderon et al (2015) demonstrated the usefulness of wild olive for generating new genotypes with relevant characteristics.…”