Genetic Diversity Assessment of Spanish and Some Endangered Tunisian Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Accessions Based on Microsatellite Markers (SSRs).

In the current investigation, 28 accessions of Spanish and Tunisian peas were characterized by eight SSR polymorphic markers to assess their genetic diversity. Many methods have been applied to evaluate these relationships including diversity indices, analysis of molecular variance, cluster analysis, and population structure. The means of diversity indices, the polymorphism information content (PIC), the allelic richness, and the Shannon information index were 0.

Oxalic Acid Preharvest Treatment Improves Colour and Quality of Seedless Table Grape 'Magenta' Upregulating on-Vine Abscisic Acid Metabolism, Relative NCED1 Gene Expression, and the Antioxidant System in Berries.

The effect of oxalic acid (OA) in determining poorly coloured table grape quality remains relatively unknown. Some red cultivars, such as seedless table grape 'Magenta' are characterised by a poor berry colour, an attribute highly demanded by the consumer. The aim of this research was to elucidate the effect of a preharvest OA treatment (5 mM) on berry colour and quality of table grape by investigating its role in berry development, on-vine ripening, and postharvest senescence.

Grafting Snake Melon [ L. subsp. Var. (L.) Naudin] in Organic Farming: Effects on Agronomic Performance; Resistance to Pathogens; Sugar, Acid, and VOC Profiles; and Consumer Acceptance.

The performance of snake melon [ var. (L.)] in organic farming was studied under high biotic and salt stress conditions.

Enhancing antioxidant systems by preharvest treatments with methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid leads to maintain lemon quality during cold storage.

The effects of preharvest treatments with 0.1 mM methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and 0.5 mM salicylic acid (SA) on quality parameters of lemon fruit and their relationship with antioxidant systems, gene expression and bioactive compounds at harvest and during cold storage were evaluated.

Identification, introgression, and validation of fruit volatile QTLs from a red-fruited wild tomato species.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major determinants of fruit flavor, a primary objective in tomato breeding. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population consisting of 169 lines derived from a cross between Solanum lycopersicum and a red-fruited wild tomato species Solanum pimpinellifolium accession (SP) was characterized for VOCs in three different seasons. Correlation and hierarchical cluster analyses were performed on the 52 VOCs identified, providing a tool for the putative assignation of individual compounds to metabolic pathways.

Exploring New Alleles Involved in Tomato Fruit Quality in an Introgression Line Library of Solanum pimpinellifolium.

We have studied a genomic library of introgression lines from the Solanum pimpinellifolium accession TO-937 into the genetic background of the "Moneymaker" cultivar in order to evaluate the accession's breeding potential. Overall, no deleterious phenotypes were observed, and the plants and fruits were phenotypically very similar to those of "Moneymaker," which confirms the feasibility of translating the current results into elite breeding programs. We identified chromosomal regions associated with traits that were both vegetative (plant vigor, trichome density) and fruit-related (morphology, organoleptic quality, color).

Quality assessment of tomato landraces and virus-resistant breeding lines: quick estimation by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy.

Background: Several tomato landraces are very popular in south-eastern Spain for their organoleptic fruit quality, but these cultivars are highly susceptible to several viruses. A breeding programme is being carried out for the introduction of virus resistances into these landraces. In the last steps of our breeding programme a high number of breeding lines must be evaluated for agronomic and organoleptic quality parameters.

Comparative post-harvest behaviour of traditional and virus-resistant Muchamiel tomatoes.

Background: Nowadays, organoleptic quality is the primary objective for almost all tomato breeding programmes. In this study, post-harvest behaviour of a breeding line with genetic resistance to important viruses (tomato mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus and tomato yellow leaf curl virus) has been compared with the original traditional landrace (Muchamiel). The breeding line has been obtained by backcrossing, introgressing three resistance genes but aiming to keep the quality characteristics of the traditional variety.

Evaluation of amplified fragment length polymorphism and simple sequence repeats for tomato germplasm fingerprinting: utility for grouping closely related traditional cultivars.

Cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) germplasm shows limited genetic variation. Many DNA marker systems have been used for genetic diversity studies in wild and cultivated tomatoes, but their usefulness for characterizing phenotypic differences among very closely related cultivars remains uncertain.

Genetic architecture of NaCl tolerance in Arabidopsis.

The little success of breeding approaches toward the improvement of salt tolerance in crop species is thought to be attributable to the quantitative nature of most, if not all the processes implicated. Hence, the identification of some of the quantitative trait loci (QTL) that contribute to natural variation in salt tolerance should be instrumental in eventually manipulating the perception of salinity and the corresponding responses. A good choice to reach this goal is the plant model system Arabidopsis, whose complete genome sequence is now available.