Peach ( Prunus persica L.) is native to China and has been cultivated in China for the past 4000 to 5000 years ( Ahmad et al., 2011 ; Maynard, 2008 ; Thacker, 1985 ). The homogeneity of peach recently resulted in the erosion of genetic diversity
Abstract
Ice formation was initiated between –0.6° and –2.6°C in mature Prunus persica (L.) Batsch trees growing in the field. Trees supercooled very little. Ice formation was initiated at several locations in the tree and subsequently spread throughout. The release of the latent heat of fusion following ice formation in the tissue maintained tissue temperatures 1° to 3° above air temperature for several hours and mitigated the tissue's response to ambient temperatures.
Leaf segments of Prunus persica L. (peach) collected from greenhouse-grown plants and from micropropagated shoots were cultured on a basal medium containing half-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS), Staba vitamins, sucrose (30 g/1) and agar (6.5 g/l); medium adjusted to pH 5.6. The influence of 6 different growth regulators at 3 concentrations (5, 10, 15 μM) were investigated using leaf explants from proliferating shoots of 'Elberta Queen' peach. With thidiazuron (TDZ), compact and multiple green calli were obtained; with benzyladenine and zeatin, lower numbers of small sized calli were obtained; with kinetin, no callus development was observed. Among auxin treatments, both Dicamba and 2,4-D resulted in friable white and yellow calli. Most of the calli produced in all treatments were formed along the cut margins of the explants. In an another experiment, leaf explants of' Bellaire' (greenhouse) and `Elberta Queen' (in vitro shoots) were used to determine the influence of a large scale concentration of TDZ (3 to 23 |iM). Explants from greenhouse and in vitro leaves resulted in higher levels of callus development at TDZ concentrations of 8-13 μM. Higher TDZ levels resulted in necrosis of leaf explants. The-influence of different carbon sources on callogenesis was investigated. We observed more green and compact calli with glucose than with sucrose and fructose at 100 mM. The influence of the glucose at 10 different concentrations (30 to 300 mM) was also investigated.
Evergreen genotypes of peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] have been identified in Mexico, where terminal growth on evergreen trees is continuous under favorable environmental conditions. This evergreen trait in peach is controlled by one single gene (evg), and this evergreen condition is homozygous recessive. Four dominant AFLP markers, EAT/MCAC, ETT/MCCA2, EAT/MCTA, and ETT/MACC, were found to be tightly linked to the evg locus at 1 cM, 4.6 cM, 5.8 cM, and 11 cM, respectively. All four markers were sequenced and identified. A peach BAC library was constructed by using the pBeloBAC11 vector for building the physical map for the evg gene. This library represents four times the coverage of the peach genome with the average insert size of 50 to 70 kb. The EAT/MCAC AFLP marker fragment was used for screening the peach BAC library. A single BAC clone, 18F12, was confirmed to contain this fragment. The final BAC contig for this evg gene region and the potential homology between peach and Arabidopsis thaliana will be presented and discussed.
During the past several years, we have been interested in genes and gene-products involved in various aspects of ripening and maturation in peach (Prunus persica) fruit. The ethylene biosynthetic and signal transduction pathways are of particular interest due to the role of this hormone in such processes. Recently, we isolated a cDNA encoding a homologue of the ethylene receptor ETR1 from a near fully ripe (20–60N) peach fruit cDNA library. This cDNA clone, PpETR1, is nearly 2300 bp in length, with a 5' untranslated region of 268 bp, a 3' untranslated region of 150 bp, and an ORF of 1881 bp, encoding a protein of 70 kDa. The cDNA is most closely related to an ETR1 homologue from apple (Malus domestica), i.e., 95% identity at the amino acid level, but shows considerable similarity to Arabidopsis thaliana ETR1, as well. A comparison of the similarity among cloned ETR1 genes from a range of plant species will be presented.
Fruit of four clingstone peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.] seedling populations, 54 advanced selections, and the cultivars Allgold and Goldilocks were analyzed for sugar content, soluble solids concentration (SSC), and acidity. Sucrose, glucose, fructose, and sorbitol were identified and quantified by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Variation was found for all the sugars between the seedling populations. Comparison of the means for the advanced selections with `Goldilocks' indicates that progress has already been made toward selection for a sweeter peach. Glucose, fructose, sorbitol, SSC, and acidity (citric) differed significantly for two harvest years, while sucrose and total sugar concentrations showed no significant yearly variation. A fruit maturity study revealed no significant changes in SSC, percentages of glucose, fructose, and total sugar during ripening on the tree. Acidity and percent sorbitol decreased, while the sugar: acid ratio and percent sucrose increased with increasing maturity. Broad-sense heritability of SSC, acidity, and sugar: acid ratio bad values >0.72, while values for individual sugars and total sugars were much lower. Transgressive segregation for each sugar was found in seedling populations.
Effects of fertilizer application levels on fruit texture and flesh pectin compositions of a melting peach were investigated. Hakuho trees (Prunus persica Batsch) were supplied with normal (M), high (H; M × 2), and superhigh (SH; M × 4) levels of complete liquid fertilizer twice a week. Flesh firmness of the H and SH treatment fruit was lower than that of M treatment fruit at the hard-mature and firm-mature stages, although no difference was detected at the full ripe stage. Sensory scores for flesh texture at the full ripe stage were highest in the N treatment fruit and lowest in the SH treatment fruit. The content of water-soluble polyuronides (WSP) in flesh was highest in SH fruit and lowest in M fruit at the hard-mature stage, although the difference became smaller at the full ripe stage. Molecular mass analysis using a gel filtration column revealed that water-soluble polysaccharides in alcohol-insoluble solids (AIS) of the H and SH fruits had a peak of high molecular mass, ≈200 kDa, at the hard-mature stage, and the molecular mass decreased gradually to ≈23 kDa at the full ripe stage. In the M fruit, however, the molecular mass was rather constant during the ripening period, 112 kDa even at the full ripe stage. The analysis of acidic fractions (pectin) in the polysaccharides using an ion exchange column, as well as juice gellation test by adding Ca and Tris buffer, also indicated that high levels of fertilizer application impairs an early degradation of flesh polyuronides resulting in the accumulation of low-molecular-weight WSP. This may ultimately cause the inferior flesh texture of overfertilized peach fruit.
great importance. The HS314 rootstock is a hybrid between almond and peach ( Prunus amygdalus × P. persica ), which is well adapted to drought conditions ( Dejampour et al., 2005 ). This rootstock that has been bred in Sahand Horticultural Research
area) on the graft success of Mangifera indica (mango), Persia americana (avocado), and Prunus persica (peach) fruit trees. We selected these three tree species because they are among the commonly grafted fruit trees in the tropics although peach
.C. Cronjé, C. Balla, I. Ham, H. Rubio-Cabetas, M.J. 2015 Embryo rescue of Prunus persica: Medium composition has little influence on germination. In VIII International Peach Symposium 1084 (pp. 207–210). http://dx.doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1084.28 10