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As part of a strawberry (Fragaria sp.) genome mapping project, we studied the linkage relationship between runnering and phosphoglucoisomerase PGI-2 allozymes in diploid strawberry. The respective r and Pgi-2 loci were found linked with a recombination frequency of 18.1% ± 1.6%(a map distance of 18.9 ± 1.6 cM). This is the second reported linkage in strawberry. The linkage between runnering and phosphoglucoisomerase allozymes, if conserved at the octoploid level, might provide a means of marker-assisted selection for the nonrunnering and bushy branching growth habits in cultivated strawberry. Severe distortion of monogenic segregation ratios was observed for runnering and PGI-2, and also for an unlinked locus for shikimate dehydrogenase allozymes. Alleles from the perpetual flowering (alpine F. vesca) parents were favored in this distortion. This phenomenon should be considered in future genetic studies using crosses between alpine and nonalpine strawberries.
Wild Anagallis monelli exhibits blue or orange flower colors in geographically isolated populations. A new red flower color was developed through breeding, and a three-gene model was proposed for the inheritance of flower color in this species. In this study, blue and orange wild diploid accessions were used as parents to develop six F2 populations (n = 19 to 64). Sexual compatibility between blue and orange wild individuals was low with only 29% of the hybridizations producing F1 individuals. Six of 14 cross combinations between F1 siblings produced fruits, and fruiting success ranged from 55% to 90%. The number of seeds per fruit averaged 14.1 and germination rates for the F2s were low (16.8% to 30.7%). In three of six F2 populations obtained, flower color segregation ratios for orange, blue, and red were not significantly different from the expected ratios under a previously proposed three-gene model. White flower color was obtained as a fourth color variant in two of the remaining F2 populations. For one of these populations, segregation ratios were not significantly different from expected ratios for an expanded four-gene model. White flowers did not contain anthocyanidins, suggesting that there was a mutation in the early stage of the anthocyanin pathway. Orange flower color was found to be primarily the result of pelargonidin, blue to malvidin, and red to delphinidin. These three pigments may be present simultaneously, and their ratios play a significant role in determining flower color. Other factors such as copigments, metal ions, or a different molecular conformation of the anthocyanin could also be involved in flower color determination.
The cultivated strawberry, Fragaria ×ananassa Duchesne ex Rozier, originated via hybridization between octoploids F. chiloensis (L.) Mill. and F. virginiana Mill. These three octoploid species are thought to share a putative genome composition of AAA`A'BBB`B'. Diploid F. vesca L., is considered to have donated the A genome. Current attention to the development of a diploid model system for strawberry genomics warrants the assessment of simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker transferability between the octoploid and diploid species in Fragaria L. In the present study, 23 SSR primer pairs derived from F. ×ananassa `Earliglow' by genomic library screening were evaluated for their utility in six diploid Fragaria species, including eight representatives of F. vesca, four of F. viridis Weston, and one each of F. nubicola (Hook. f.) Lindl. ex Lacaita, F. mandshurica Staudt, F. iinumae Makino, and F. nilgerrensis Schltdl. ex J. Gay. SSR primer pair functionality, as measured by amplification success rate (= 100% - failure rate) in each species, was ranked (from highest to lowest) as follows: F. vesca (98.4%) > F. iinumae (93.8%) = F. nubicola (93.8%) > F. mandshurica (87.5%) > F. nilgerrensis (75%) > F. viridis (73.4%). The extent to which these octoploid-derived SSR primer pairs generated markers that could be added to the F. vesca linkage map also was assessed. Of the 13 F. ×ananassa SSR markers that segregated codominantly in the F. vesca mapping population, 11 were assigned to linkage groups based upon close linkages to previously mapped loci. These markers were distributed over six of the seven F. vesca linkage groups, and can serve as anchor loci defining these six groups for purposes of comparative mapping between F. vesca and F. ×ananassa.
Strawberry flowering habit can be classified as either day-neutral (DN) or short-day (SD), depending on whether plants are insensitive or sensitive to photoperiod, respectively. Short-day (SD) cultivars produce mature fruit for just a few weeks in early summer. New floral initiation does not commence until triggered by the combination of short daylength and low temperature in the fall. Day-neutral (DN) cultivars do not require particular daylength conditions to initiate flowering, and so continue to produce flowers and mature fruit into late summer and early fall. We are using a map-based approach to characterize the genetic determinants of flowering habit in strawberry at both the diploid and octoploid levels. A recessive gene conferring DN flowering habit has been identified, and its position determined with respect to molecular markers on the Fragaria vesca genetic linkage map. We are using the technique of bulked segregant analysis (BSA) in an effort to find random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers linked to a putative dominant gene conferring the DN habit in the octoploid, cultivated strawberry, F. ánanassa.
The past year has brought substantial progress in the development of functional and structural genomic tools for strawberry. Sequencing of cDNA library clones from the cultivated strawberry Fragaria × ananassa and the diploid model species Fragaria vesca has provided more than 3000 new EST sequences. We have also constructed a large (∼40 kb) insert genomic (fosmid) library from F. vesca. About 33,000 fosmid clones have been picked and spotted onto hybridization filters. Filters have been successfully probed with three single copy gene probes, one gene family probe, and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) probe sets. The combined cpDNA and mtDNA clone content of the library is about 11%. After correction for organelle insert content, the nuclear genome coverage of the library is about 6×. Complete sequencing of two fosmid clones identified 12 putative protein-encoding genes, four of which were organized in colinearity with the corresponding chromosomal region of Arabidopsis thaliana. We will sequence an additional 50 fosmid clones, and use the resulting sequence data as the basis for developing a novel marker technology, to be described. These genomic tools will provide a basis for connecting specific genes to specific traits in the octoploid, cultivated strawberry, paving the way for implementation of gene-based, marker assisted selection as a tool for strawberry breeders. Opportunity for cross-species comparisons of gene sequence and composition, as well as genome organization and linkage group structure, between Fragaria and other members of the economically important Rosaceae family has been significantly enhanced, thus expanding the relevance of the project results to peach, cherry, apple, rose, brambles, and many other Rosaceous species.
Asian germplasm has significantly contributed to berry crops in America in several ways. The American wild octoploid species [Fragaria chiloensis (L.) Mill. and F. virginiana Mill.], and subsequently, the cultivated strawberry (F. ×ananassa Duch. ex Rozier), have benefitted from Asian heritage in the evolutionary time scale. Second, breeders have combined Asian germplasm in crosses for improved fruit cultivars. Third, Asian temperate fruit species have been collected from wild stands in their native ranges, imported, and in some cases improved and are now cultivated in the West or throughout the world. The objectives of this article were to 1) describe evolutionary contributions of Asian species to the American strawberry genome; 2) present examples of breeding Asian species (Rubus L. subgenus Idaeobatus) into cultivated raspberries; and 3) give examples of two Asian fruit species that have been recently introduced and cultivated or that could be developed for cultivation in the United States.
A mechanical planter was developed to sow seed of baby lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) in small plots. The mechanical seeder allowed small plots to be quickly and consistently seeded at a fixed spacing. Seeds were manually spread along a 10-ft (3.0 m) base plate containing 50 holes of slightly larger diameter than the seed length and at the desired seed spacing [2.4 inches (6 cm)]. Once all the holes were filled, a slider plate below the base plate containing holes of the same diameter and spacing, but which were slightly offset, was slid horizontally so that the holes of the base and slider plates aligned and the seeds dropped to the bottom of the furrow. Compared to manual planting, the mechanical planter increased the precision of seed placement and reduced the time needed to plant 50 seeds. The planter was easy to use and transport, and was inexpensive.