ALBERT

Description:    The contribution of farmers to the creation and maintenance of genetic diversity is beginning to receive more recognition in developed countries. Although the use of landraces and historic varieties has largely disappeared in countries with industrialized agricultural systems and formal seed markets, certain varieties with particular cultural significance have been continuously cultivated by farmers and other varieties have been preserved ex situ in genebanks. Recently, associations of organic farmers have become involved in the conservation and use of landraces and historic varieties (called farmer varieties in this article) because these varieties possess agronomic and quality traits that they have not found in modern varieties. In this study, eight farmer varieties of bread wheat from Europe selected by participating farmers were evaluated in on-farm trials during 3 years of cultivation. Each variety was grown on each farm, and phenotypic changes in each variety were measured the third year in a replicated split-plot trial on each farm comparing the version of each variety the farmer had multiplied to a sample of each variety from the region of origin. All varieties, including the two modern pureline varieties used as checks, showed statistically significant phenotypic changes over 3 years of multiplication. However, the magnitude of these changes was moderate and did not call into question varietal identity or distinctness. In addition, some traits of putative agronomic and adaptive importance, such as grain weight per spike and thousand kernel weight, did not respond positively to natural selection (environmental conditions and management practices) which suggests the necessity of farmer selection to maintain and improve varietal performance. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 1-19 DOI 10.1007/s10722-012-9822-x Authors J. C. Dawson, UMR de Génétique Vegetale, Ferme du Moulon, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France E. Serpolay, INRA SAD Paysage, 65 rue de St. Brieuc, 35042 Rennes, France S. Giuliano, Ecole d’Ingénieurs de Purpan, 75 voie du Toec, 31076 Toulouse, France N. Schermann, INRA SAD Paysage, 65 rue de St. Brieuc, 35042 Rennes, France N. Galic, UMR de Génétique Vegetale, Ferme du Moulon, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France J.-F. Berthellot, Réseau Semences Paysannes Cazalens, 81600 Brens, France V. Chesneau, Réseau Semences Paysannes Cazalens, 81600 Brens, France H. Ferté, Réseau Semences Paysannes Cazalens, 81600 Brens, France F. Mercier, Réseau Semences Paysannes Cazalens, 81600 Brens, France A. Osman, Louis Bolk Institute, 3972 LA Driebergen, The Netherlands S. Pino, Istituto di Genetica e Sperimentazione Agraria, Lonigo, Veneto, Italy I. Goldringer, UMR de Génétique Vegetale, Ferme du Moulon, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864

Description:    In the present study, analyses of SSR molecular markers were performed to investigate the genetic diversity of 133 tuber mustard cultivars. Eighty-one pairs of SSR primers from a total of 600 in Brassica produced stable amplified bands. In addition, 810 bands were detected among the cultivars, and 724 of those were polymorphic (89.38 %). The average number of bands per locus was 10.0 with a range from 5 to 16. Shannon’s information index for each SSR locus varied from 0.52 to 3.72, with an average of 2.74. The coefficients of genetic similarity in the SSR marker patterns among the 133 cultivars ranged from 0.77 to 0.91, with an average of 0.85. The cluster analysis showed that the cultivars could be classified into six clusters when the genetic similarity was 0.83, with 90.23 % of the cultivars included in Clusters 5 and 6. Principal component analysis was carried based on the SSR data. The results showed that the first three principal components could explain the genetic variation with 85.47, 0.67, and 0.61 %, and the 133 cultivars could be divided into six clusters according to the nearest phylogenetic relationship. It was indicated that the similarity was high and the genetic diversity was narrow among the 133 mustard tuber cultivars. 360 individuals from 24 cultivars were analyzed to reveal the genetic structure and genetic diversity within cultivars. A total of 925 alleles were detected in the 24 cultivars. Estimates of the mean number of alleles ‘A’, the effective allelic number ‘A e ’, the observed heterozygosity ‘H o ’, and expected heterozygosity ‘H e ’ were 6.0, 3.6, 0.64, and 0.37, respectively. An obvious genetic deviation from Hardy–Weinberg expectation was observed both among and within cultivars and a considerable genetic variation was revealed within rather than among cultivars. It is necessary to broaden the genetic basis of the breeding germplasm in tuber mustard. Based on their geographical distributions, the tuber mustard cultivars in this study can be divided into up-Yangtze river, mid-Yangtze river, and down-Yangtze river groups. Genetic diversity was highest in mid-Yangtze river group, followed by up-Yangtze river group, and then down-Yangtze river group. It was presumed that the origin center or genetic diversity center of tuber mustard was mid-Yangtze river, and the crop was transmitted along the Yangtze river in both directions. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 1-15 DOI 10.1007/s10722-012-9821-y Authors Ping Fang, Department of Life Sciences, Yangtze Normal University, Fuling, 408100 People’s Republic of China Fa-Bo Chen, Department of Life Sciences, Yangtze Normal University, Fuling, 408100 People’s Republic of China Qi-Lun Yao, Department of Life Sciences, Yangtze Normal University, Fuling, 408100 People’s Republic of China Ke-Cheng Yang, Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources and Improvement, Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultual University, Yaan, 625014 People’s Republic of China Guang-Fan Zhou, Fuling Agricultural Science Institute of Chongqing, Fuling, 408000 People’s Republic of China Yong-Hong Fan, Fuling Agricultural Science Institute of Chongqing, Fuling, 408000 People’s Republic of China Zhao-Rong Zhang, Fuling Agricultural Science Institute of Chongqing, Fuling, 408000 People’s Republic of China Jin-Juan Shen, Fuling Agricultural Science Institute of Chongqing, Fuling, 408000 People’s Republic of China Hong Zhang, Fuling Agricultural Science Institute of Chongqing, Fuling, 408000 People’s Republic of China Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864

Description: Åsmund Bjørnstad: Vårt daglege brød—kornets kulturhistorie [Our daily bread—the biological and the cultural history of the cereals] Content Type Journal Article Category Book Review Pages 1-2 DOI 10.1007/s10722-012-9829-3 Authors Axel Diederichsen, Plant Gene Resources of Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0X2, Canada Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864

Description:    Diospyros kaki Thunb. originated in Eastern Asia, as evidenced of its culture in China as early as several centuries B.C. In the seventh century, persimmon was introduced to Japan and later, in the fourteenth century to Korea. There is no information about persimmon culture in Europe until the seventeenth century, with the spread over the world occurring in the eighteenth century. The genus Diospyros contains more than 400 species, with levels of ploidy ranging from diploid (2n = 2x = 30) up to nonaploid (2n = 9x = 135). The primary economic crop species is Diospyros kaki Thunb., which is mainly hexaploid (2n = 6x = 90) and includes hundreds of cultivars. Although a relatively recent introduction in Europe, the species has adapted well, and the genetic diversity have been expanded with culture and selection for the past 200 years in the Mediterranean basin. These locally adapted cultivars were evaluated with cultivars from Asian origin in a germplasm collection established at IVIA in Valencia, Spain. In this paper 27 cultivars from the IVIA collection were studied by multivariate analysis, and 37 variables were analyzed using a Principal Components Analysis and cluster analysis following the method UPGMA. Studies on correlations and significance among variables identified the most relevant ones, and thus provided information for a future core collection. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s10722-012-9828-4 Authors J. Martínez-Calvo, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Apartado Oficial 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain M. Naval, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Apartado Oficial 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain E. Zuriaga, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Apartado Oficial 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain G. Llácer, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Apartado Oficial 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain M. L. Badenes, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Apartado Oficial 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864

Description:    Emmer wheat ( Triticum dicoccon Schrank) is still largely cultivated in India, and highly appreciated for the preparation of traditional dishes. Moreover, its nutritional characteristics could justify a development of its cultivation. The perspective of genetic improvement however requires a good knowledge of the genetic diversity existing within the eco-geographic group of Indian emmer wheats. A set of 48 emmer wheat accessions from India including 28 from a local collection and 20 Indian accessions obtained from CIMMYT, Mexico, was assessed for genetic variability using 47 microsatellite (SSR) markers, distributed over all the 14 chromosomes. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 9, with an average of 3.87 alleles per locus. A total of 201 alleles were detected at 52 loci with average polymorphic information content of 0.35 per locus and a mean resolving power of 1. The pair-wise similarity coefficients calculated from binary data matrix based on presence or absence of alleles varied from 0.15 to 0.98, but was greater than 0.5 for most accessions, indicating a high level of similarity. A cluster analysis based on the similarity matrix identified nine distinct accessions and three clusters. All the recently developed commercial varieties were distinctly different from the clusters. Based on the analysis, it appears that Indian emmer wheats are not very diverse. Consequently, there is a need to increase the diversity within the Indian emmer wheat eco-geographic group, by introducing diversity from other eco-geographic groups, or even from other wheat species. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s10722-012-9823-9 Authors Arvindkumar Salunkhe, Genetics Group, Agharkar Research Institute, Agarkar Road, Pune, 411004 India Shubhada Tamhankar, Genetics Group, Agharkar Research Institute, Agarkar Road, Pune, 411004 India Sujata Tetali, Genetics Group, Agharkar Research Institute, Agarkar Road, Pune, 411004 India Maria Zaharieva, Centro Internacional de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT), A. P. 6-641, 06600 Mexico, DF, Mexico David Bonnett, Centro Internacional de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT), A. P. 6-641, 06600 Mexico, DF, Mexico Richard Trethowan, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney, 107 Cobbitty Road, Cobbitty, NSW, Australia Satish Misra, Genetics Group, Agharkar Research Institute, Agarkar Road, Pune, 411004 India Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864

Description:    Twenty two germplasm accessions of Cordia myxa were collected from Rajasthan and established at the field gene bank for conservation and evaluation. Morphological characterization of 10 year-old trees for 17 traits indicated wide variations among the accessions tested. Higher number of flowers per cyme was found in accession ACHM11 and higher pulp:stone ratio in AHCM25. Overall, AHCM22 was found to be a superior germplasm line for most of the horticulturally useful traits among the accessions tested as it had higher percent of fruit set, pulp:stone ratio and fruit weight. High significant positive correlation was obtained between leaf, fruit characters and pulp:stone ratio. However, these characters were found to be negatively correlated with number of flowers per cyme. Out of 50 random decamer primers used for random amplification (RAPD), 25 were polymorphic. Average polymorphism resolved by these markers among these accessions was 69.8% with an average polymorphic information content of 0.43. Genetic diversity revealed by Jaccard’s co-efficient was between 0.44 and 0.94, and three major clusters were identified among these accessions by phylogenetic analysis using NTSYSpc-2.02e software. RAPD markers associated with leaf size and pulp:stone ratio were also identified. This study shows the existence of high genetic diversity among these accessions. Content Type Journal Article Category Notes on Neglected and Underutilized Crops Pages 305-316 DOI 10.1007/s10722-011-9781-7 Authors P. N. Sivalingam, Central Institute for Arid Horticulture (ICAR), NH-15, SriGanganagar Road, Beechwal, Bikaner, 334006 India Dhurendra Singh, Central Institute for Arid Horticulture (ICAR), NH-15, SriGanganagar Road, Beechwal, Bikaner, 334006 India Sarita Chauhan, Central Institute for Arid Horticulture (ICAR), NH-15, SriGanganagar Road, Beechwal, Bikaner, 334006 India Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864 Journal Volume Volume 59 Journal Issue Volume 59, Number 2

Description:    109 Pyrus accessions including 92 local Chinese accessions of P. bretschneideri were identified genetically using nine microsatellite loci developed from apple and pear. The nine SSR loci revealed 129 alleles in 109 pear accessions and 114 alleles in 92 Chinese white pears. Among the 92 local Chinese accessions of P. bretschneideri , 70 could be differentiated successfully except for 10 sets of synonymous or mutants. For the 92 accessions, the number of putative alleles per locus ranged from seven to 18, with an average of 12.67; the average values of observed heterozygosity and Shannon’s Information index were 0.60 and 1.85, respectively. A phenogram based on the SSR (simple sequence repeat) genotypes was obtained. The 109 accessions clustered into 11 groups based on geographical origin. The European pears and the Asian pears did not form independent two groups, but three P. communis cultivars grouped together independently. The Japanese P. pyrifolia cultivars mingled together with the Chinese P. bretschneideri cultivars, but four P. ussuriensis cultivars except for one (Jianbali) grouped together independently. The results indicated that the relationship of P. bretschneideri cultivars and P. pyrifolia cultivars was much closer than others. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 317-326 DOI 10.1007/s10722-011-9785-3 Authors Luming Tian, Research Institute of Pomology, CAAS/Key Laboratory of Fruit Germplasm Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Xingcheng, 125100 Liaoning, China Yuan Gao, Research Institute of Pomology, CAAS/Key Laboratory of Fruit Germplasm Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Xingcheng, 125100 Liaoning, China Yufen Cao, Research Institute of Pomology, CAAS/Key Laboratory of Fruit Germplasm Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Xingcheng, 125100 Liaoning, China Fengzhi Liu, Research Institute of Pomology, CAAS/Key Laboratory of Fruit Germplasm Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Xingcheng, 125100 Liaoning, China Jun Yang, Research Institute of Pomology, CAAS/Key Laboratory of Fruit Germplasm Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Xingcheng, 125100 Liaoning, China Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864 Journal Volume Volume 59 Journal Issue Volume 59, Number 3

Description:    Madagascar has 59 species of Coffea, of which 42 are listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable by criteria of the Red List Category system of the World Conservation Union. In an attempt to assess the conservation value of ex situ collections of Malagasy coffee species, a study was undertaken using the field genebank collections maintained at the Kianjavato Coffee Research Station. Three species were selected for this purpose, C. kianjavatensis, C. montis - sacri, and C. vatovavyensis , and for comparative purposes extant, in situ populations of the same species were studied. Parentage analyses of ex situ propagated offspring of C. kianjavatensis and C. montis - sacri were performed to assess if crossing with other Coffea species maintained in the field genebank is compromising the genetic integrity of the collection. For these three species, higher genetic diversity was observed in the ex situ populations compared to the in situ populations, highlighting the importance of preserving the plants currently in ex situ collections. Parentage analyses of seed-propagated offspring of C. kianjavatensis and C. montis - sacri revealed that cross contamination with pollen from other Coffea species in the ex situ field genebank is occurring. These results have significant implications for the conservation management of wild Coffea species and for the management of ex situ genebanks. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 1-16 DOI 10.1007/s10722-012-9898-3 Authors Sarada Krishnan, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA Tom A. Ranker, Division of Environmental Biology, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22230, USA Aaron P. Davis, The Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB UK Jean Jacques Rakotomalala, FOFIFA-DRA, P.O. Box 1444, 101 Antananarivo, Madagascar Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864

Description:    A collection of 220 accessions of parsley ( Petroselinum crispum [Mill.] Nyman) was evaluated at two experimental stations (Gatersleben and Quedlinburg, Germany) under natural infection. Widespread origins of tested accessions provide the opportunity for first-time characterization of existence, spreading and level of resistance/susceptibility to the economically important pathogens Septoria petroselini Desm., Plasmopara petroselini Săvul. et O. Săvul. and Erysiphe heraclei DC. ex Saint-Aman causing Septoria blight, downy mildew and powdery mildew respectively throughout the species P. crispum . For each pathogen, accessions free or nearly free of symptoms were found: S. petroselini : free 1, nearly free 25, P. petroselini : free 51, nearly free 22 and E. heraclei : free 166. Eight accessions are free or nearly free of symptoms for all three pathogens: PET36, PET169, PET172, PET177, PET178, PET192, PET212 and PET214. The accession PET16 is free of symptoms for both S. petroselini and P. petroselini . Most of the resistant material comes from Southern and Eastern Europe. There could be a centre for resistances of parsley. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 1-14 DOI 10.1007/s10722-012-9897-4 Authors F. Marthe, Institute for Breeding Research on Horticultural and Fruit Crops-Quedlinburg (ZGO-Q), Julius Kuehn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Erwin-Baur-Str. 27, 06484 Quedlinburg, Germany T. Bruchmüller, Institute for Breeding Research on Horticultural and Fruit Crops-Quedlinburg (ZGO-Q), Julius Kuehn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Erwin-Baur-Str. 27, 06484 Quedlinburg, Germany A. Börner, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research Gatersleben, Corrensstr. 3, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany U. Lohwasser, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research Gatersleben, Corrensstr. 3, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864

Description:    Panicum virgatum L. (switchgrass) is an obligate outcrossing C 4 perennial prairie grass currently being pursued for the production of lignocellulosic ethanol. Commercial production of switchgrass for bioenergy has increased substantially in the United States. Understanding the degree of native genetic diversity within and among switchgrass populations will facilitate effective germplasm improvement, conservation, and management programs. In this study, the genetic diversity and differentiation among natural and agronomic switchgrass populations were analyzed at the molecular level by using random amplified polymorphic (RAPD) DNA markers. The mean genetic diversity among populations ranged from 0.051 ± 0.136 to 0.243 ± 0.214 and the mean genetic similarity among all the switchgrass populations was 0.775. The clustering pattern of switchgrass populations grouped the individuals based on their sites of origin, with agronomic cultivars predominantly separated into distinct clusters. The grouping of individuals within and across the populations was corroborated by principal component analysis. These results are consistent with previous reports for switchgrass accessions. RAPD DNA markers were suitable for quickly estimating the genetic diversity of native and agronomic switchgrass populations, and suggest that introgression of agronomic genes into natural switchgrass populations and subsequent changes in genetic structure may be detectable. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s10722-012-9903-x Authors Madhugiri Nageswara-Rao, Department of Plant Sciences, The University of Tennessee, 252 Ellington Plant Sciences, 2431 Joe Johnson Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996, USA C. Neal Stewart Jr., Department of Plant Sciences, The University of Tennessee, 252 Ellington Plant Sciences, 2431 Joe Johnson Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996, USA Charles Kwit, Department of Plant Sciences, The University of Tennessee, 252 Ellington Plant Sciences, 2431 Joe Johnson Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996, USA Journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Online ISSN 1573-5109 Print ISSN 0925-9864