Search

The cultivation of mango in Mediterranean-type climates is challenged by the depletion of freshwater. Polyploids are alternative genotypes with potential greater water use efficiency, but field evaluations of the anatomy and physiology of conspecific adult polyploid trees under water stress remain poorly explored. We combined field anatomical evaluations with measurements of leaf water potential (Ψ l ) and stomatal conductance (G s ) comparing one diploid and one autotetraploid tree per treatment with and without irrigation during dry summers (when fruits develop). Autotetraploid leaves displayed lower Ψ l and G s in both treatments, but the lack of irrigation only affected G s . Foliar cells of the adaxial epidermis and the spongy mesophyll contained linear pectin epitopes, whereas branched pectins were localized in the abaxial epidermis, the chloroplast membrane, and the sieve tube elements of the phloem. Cell and fruit organ size was larger in autotetraploid than in diploid mango trees, but the sugar content in the fruits was similar between both cytotypes. Specific cell wall hygroscopic pectins correlate with more stable Ψ l of autotetraploid leaves under soil water shortage, keeping lower G s compared with diploids. These preliminary results point to diploids as more susceptible to water deficits than tetraploids.

Spain dominates avocado production in Europe, with the Hass variety being the most prominent. Despite this, Spanish production satisfies less than 10% of the overall avocado demand in Europe. Consequently, the European avocado market heavily relies on imports from overseas, primarily sourced from Peru and Chile. Herein, a comprehensive characterization of the metabolic profile of Hass avocado fruits from Spain, Peru, and Chile, available in the European market throughout the year, was carried out. The determination of relevant substances was performed using high- and low-resolution RP-LC-MS. Remarkable quantitative differences regarding phenolic compounds, amino acids, and nucleosides were observed. Principal component analysis revealed a natural clustering of avocados according to geographical origin. Moreover, a specific metabolic pattern was established for each avocado-producing country using supervised partial least squares discriminant analysis. Spanish fruits exhibited high levels of coumaric acid malonyl-hexose II, coumaric acid hexose II, and ferulic acid hexose II, together with considerably low levels of pantothenic acid and uridine. Chilean avocado fruits presented high concentrations of abscisic acid, uridine, ferulic acid, succinic acid, and tryptophan. Fruits from Peru showed high concentrations of dihydroxybenzoic acid hexose, alongside very low levels of p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, coumaric acid malonyl-hexose I, and ferulic acid hexose II.

Mango ( Mangifera indica L.) (2n = 40) is a member of the Anacardiaceae family, which was domesticated at least 4000 years ago in Asia. Mangoes are delicious fruits with great nutritional value. They are one of the major fruit crops worldwide, cultivated in more than 100 countries, with a production of more than 40 million tons. Recently the genome sequences of several mango varieties have been released, but there are no bioinformatics platforms dedicated to mango genomics and breeding to host mango omics data. Here, we present MangoBase, a web portal dedicated to mango genomics, which provides multiple interactive bioinformatics tools, sequences, and annotations to analyze, visualize, and download omics data related to mango. Additionally, MangoBase includes a gene expression atlas with 12 datasets and 80 experiments representing some of the most significant mango RNA-seq experiments published to this date. These experiments study mango fruit ripening in several cultivars with different pulp firmness and sweetness or peel coloration, and other experiments also study hot water postharvest treatment, infection with C. gloeosporioides , and the main mango tree organ tissues.

In recent years, an important renewal of apricot cultivars is taking place worldwide, with the introduction of many new releases. Self-incompatible genotypes tolerant to the sharka disease caused by the plum pox virus (PPV), which can severely reduce fruit production and quality, are being used as parents in most breeding programs. As a result, the self-incompatibility trait present in most of those accessions can be transmitted to the offspring, leading to the release of new self-incompatible cultivars. This situation can considerably affect apricot management, since pollination requirements were traditionally not considered in this crop and information is lacking for many cultivars. Thus, the objective of this work was to determine the pollination requirements of a group of new apricot cultivars by molecular identification of the S -alleles through PCR amplification of RNase and SFB regions with different primer combinations. The S -genotype of 66 apricot cultivars is reported, 41 for the first time. Forty-nine cultivars were considered self-compatible and 12 self-incompatible, which were allocated in their corresponding incompatibility groups. Additionally, the available information was reviewed and added to the new results obtained, resulting in a compilation of the pollination requirements of 235 apricot cultivars. This information will allow an efficient selection of parents in apricot breeding programs, the proper design of new orchards, and the identification and solution of production problems associated with a lack of fruit set in established orchards. The diversity at the S -locus observed in the cultivars developed in breeding programs indicates a possible genetic bottleneck due to the use of a reduced number of parents.

Avocado consumption and trade are increasing worldwide, with North America and Europe being the main importing regions. Spain is the major European avocado producer (90% of the production), yet it only supplies 10% of the market. Consequently, more than 90% of the avocados consumed in Europe are imported from overseas, mainly from Chile and Peru. In this work, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) impact associated with the transport of two avocado supply chains (short (Spanish) and long (Chilean)) and the effect of the fruit origin and distance of both chains on primary and secondary metabolites from harvest to edible ripeness were evaluated using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection (LC-DAD) based metabolite analysis. The LCA transport impact of the fresh supply chain from production centers in Chile (Quillota) and Spain (Malaga), and then the distribution to several cities in Europe, suggested road export from Spain to European capitals to have the lowest impact (0.14 to 0.22 kg CO 2 eq/kg of avocado). When export from Chile was considered, the option of oceanic freight to European ports closer to final destinations was clearly a better option (0.21 to 0.26 kg CO 2 eq/kg) than via the Algeciras port in Spain followed by road transport to final destinations in European capitals (0.34 to 0.43 kg CO 2 eq/kg), although the situation could be somewhat different if the avocados are transported from the destination ports in northern Europe to long-distance capitals in other European countries. Fruit origin had a significant impact on avocado primary and secondary metabolites. The conditions of the supply chain itself (10 d in cold storage in regular conditions vs. 30 d cold storage + controlled atmosphere conditions) largely influence the fate of some metabolites that certainly affect the pool of metabolites at edible ripeness. The long-assumed hypothesis that the longer the supply chain the more negative impact on nutritional and functional compounds might not hold in this case, as long as transport conditions are adequate in terms of temperature, atmosphere conditions, and time considering distance from origin to destination.