Search

Cyclopia (honeybush) species are widely-used in the production of a South African herbal tea and are endemic to the fynbos region of the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces. Honeybush is still one of the orphan agriculture crops and recent breeding efforts by researchers are hampered by the lack of basic genetic information e.g. basic chromosome numbers and ploidy levels. This study determined nuclear DNA content and ploidy level of various genotypes of three Cyclopia species using flow cytometry and cytological counting of chromosomes. Nuclei analysis of young leaves of C. genistoides, C. longifolia and C. subternata were done using a flow cytometer, while root tip squashes were carried out in order to correlate flow cytometry results. Flow cytometry analysis indicated differences in the nuclear DNA content among and within species whilst the DNA ploidy level only differed among species. Cyclopia genistoides had a higher DNA ploidy level (≥ 10C) and DNA content (10.63 pg) than C. longifolia (6.09 pg) and C. subternata (5.99 pg), with no differences observed between the ploidy level of the latter two species (6C). The inferred ploidy level from nuclear DNA content by flow cytometry was consistent in all 30 genotypes of C. longifolia, and 24 of the 25 C. subternata and in only four of the 15 C. genistoides studied genotypes. These findings are important in breeding new cultivars with desired horticultural traits, thus improving the commercial characteristics for the sustainable production of honeybush. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blush skin and flowering time are agronomic traits of interest to the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) Infruitec-Nietvoorbij pear breeding programme. The genetic control of these traits was investigated in the pear progeny derived from ‘Flamingo’ (blush cultivar) × ‘Abate Fetel’ (slightly blush) made up of 121 seedlings. Blush skin was scored phenotypically over three seasons and flowering time was scored over two seasons. A total of 160 loci from 137 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were scored in the progeny and used to construct parental genetic linkage maps. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis revealed two QTLs for blush skin, a major QTL on linkage group (LG) 5 in ‘Flamingo’, and a major QTL on LG9 in ‘Abate Fetel’. Two SSR markers, NB101a and SAmsCO865954, were closely linked with the major QTL on LG5 in ‘Flamingo’, with alleles 139 bp and 462 bp in coupling, respectively. These markers were present in approximately 90% of the seedlings scored as good blush (class 4) based on the average data set. These two markers were used to genotype other pear accessions to validate the QTL on LG5 with the view of marker-assisted selection. Two candidate genes, MYB86 and UDP-glucosyl transferase, were associated with the QTL on LG5 and MYB21 and MYB39 were associated with the QTL on LG9. QTL analysis for flowering time revealed a major QTL located on LG9 in both parents. Marker GD142 with allele 161 bp from ‘Flamingo’ was present in approximately 88% of the seedlings that flowered earlier than either parent, based on the average data set. The QTLs and linked markers will facilitate marker-assisted selection for the improvement of these complex traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]