The Multisite PeachRefPop Collection: A True Cultural Heritage and International Scientific Tool for Fruit Trees

Abstract

Plants have evolved a range of adaptive mechanisms that adjust their development and physiology to variable external conditions, particularly in perennial species subjected to long-term interplay with the environment. Exploiting the allelic diversity within available germplasm and leveraging the knowledge of the mechanisms regulating genotype interaction with the environment are crucial to address climatic challenges and assist the breeding of novel cultivars with improved resilience. The development of multisite collections is of utmost importance for the conservation and utilization of genetic materials and will greatly facilitate the dissection of genotype-by-environment interaction. Such resources are still lacking for perennial trees, especially with the intrinsic difficulties of successful propagation, material exchange, and living collection maintenance. This work describes the concept, design, and realization of the first multisite peach (Prunus persica) reference collection (PeachRefPop) located across different European countries and sharing the same experimental design. Other than an invaluable tool for scientific studies in perennial species, PeachRefPop provides a milestone in an international collaborative project for the conservation and exploitation of European peach germplasm resources and, ultimately, as a true heritage for future generations.

Genetic and phenotypic analyses reveal major quantitative loci associated to fruit size and shape traits in a non-flat peach collection (P. persica L. Batsch)

“…For other shape traits ( α , Δ CH , ST L or SH T ), our genomic scan did not allow to find stable and highly significant loci, as they seem to be affected by the environment (and, probably, genotype by environment and/or by management interactions). Unraveling the genetic bases of such traits will require additional studies and particular experimental designs (such as replicated multi-site collections) 61 . Also, novel phenotyping methods should be tested, including the use of machine learning or 3D imaging in morphometric approaches, as tested in other fruit species 43 .…”

Genetic architecture and genomic prediction accuracy of apple quantitative traits across environments

“…The genomic prediction models developed here can be readily used for selecting germplasm in breeding programs, thus providing breeders with tools increasing selection efficiency. Beside the apple REFPOP, one other large multi-environment reference population for fruit trees, the PeachRefPop 64 , was designed in Europe. Application of our study design to other horticultural crops such as peach can promote broader use of genomics-assisted breeding in the future.…”

Identifying sources of metabolomic diversity and reconfiguration in peach fruit: taking notes for quality fruit improvement

“…Fruit of modern cultivated peach varieties belong to Prunus persica and show different phenotypic properties [11,17]. According to their fruit texture and firmness, peach cultivars are classified as melting flesh, showing soft and juicy fruit when fully ripe; non-melting flesh, and stony hard fruits, which remain firm after harvest [18].…”

“…Thus, the wide diversity of peach cultivars that were developed, and are still being developed, in different peach breeding programs around the world, offer consumers a great array of taste, texture and flavor possibilities, with different nutritional and health benefit properties. I should mention the peach reference collection recently developed across different European countries, which all share the same experimental design to conserve and explore peach germplasm resources [17].…”