Fruit Trait Variation in a Caribbean Germplasm Collection of Aromatic Hot Peppers (Capsicum chinense Jacq.)

Aromatic hot peppers (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) are an important agricultural commodity for many small-scale farmers in the Caribbean because it is a commercially viable crop and one that is integral to the cuisines of the region. The large variation in fruit shape, size, color, pungency, and aroma of this species facilitates a diverse range of uses. Using 264 accessions from a Caribbean germplasm collection (representing primarily the Caribbean Basin, Central and South America), this study investigated 1) morphological variation in 13 fruit descriptors of agro-economic importance; and 2) morphological groups based on geographic origin. All 13 fruit descriptors showed significant variation. Fruit color [immature (six states) and mature (12 states)] was the most diverse qualitative fruit trait. Among the quantitative traits, fruit weight and fruit width showed the highest broad-sense heritability (0.81), and fruit weight was highly correlated with fruit width and placenta size. Cluster analysis revealed four main clusters, which did not show a clear separation of accessions based on major geographic regions, but there was a highly significant association (P < 0.0001) between geographic subgroups and the clusters to which they were assigned. Most accessions of the Northern Caribbean (particularly the Bahamas and Puerto Rico) separated quite distinctly from most accessions of the Southern Caribbean and clustered with most accessions of Central and South America. Accessions of the Southern Caribbean (Lesser Antilles, Trinidad & Tobago) were substantially more similar to each other than they were to most accessions of Central and South America, thereby suggesting genetic differences between accessions of the Southern Caribbean islands and the mainland populations. Collectively, the results show that this germplasm collection contains useful accessions with desired fruit quality traits and a level of genetic variation that can be used to encourage its active conservation and use for further evaluation trials and crop improvement as well as guide ongoing complementary germplasm introductions to augment the collection’s diversity.

Download Full-text

Genetic Structure and Phylogenetic Relationships of Capsicum chinense

Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science ◽

10.21273/jashs.137.4.250 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 137 (4) ◽

pp. 250-262 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Marissa Moses ◽

Pathmanathan Umaharan

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Amazon Region ◽

Greater Antilles ◽

Capsicum Chinense ◽

Arbitrary Primers ◽

Geographical Regions ◽

Major Cluster ◽

Phylogenetic Origin ◽

The Caribbean

Capsicum chinense is commercially the most important pepper species grown in the Caribbean. It is popularly used to impart pungency and flavor to Caribbean cuisine. However, unlike Capsicum annuum, which is the most commercially exploited domesticated species internationally, C. chinense has not been methodically collected or characterized for systematic improvement through plant breeding. The objectives of the study were to assess the diversity of C. chinense and its structure within the Caribbean basin and to determine its phylogenetic relationship to groups within South America. DNA isolated from 201 accessions of C. chinense, representing geographical regions where the species is found, were amplified using arbitrary primers to generate 138 polymorphic and reproducible random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Nei’s and Shannon’s diversity indices for C. chinense (0.28 and 0.419, respectively) were higher in South America compared with Central America or the Caribbean, corresponding to its putative center of diversity. The study showed the existence of three phylogenetic clusters within C. chinense. The largest cluster consisted of accessions from the Upper Amazon region, the Guianas including Venezuela, and the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. The other major cluster was represented by accessions principally from the Lower Amazon region. Another distinct but small cluster consisted of samples solely from the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. The discovery of the three phylogenetic clusters within C. chinense may have potential for exploiting heterosis in breeding. The implications of the findings to the understanding of the phylogenetic origin and distribution of C. chinense are discussed.

Download Full-text

COMENTARIOS PRELIMINARES SOBRE LOS CLINIDOS (TELEOS TEI: PERCIFORMES: CLINIDAE) DEL CARIBE COLOMBIANO

Bulletin of Marine and Coastal Research ◽

10.25268/bimc.invemar.1979.11.0.619 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Arturo Acero P.

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

The South ◽

Caribbean Coast ◽

Isthmus Of Panama ◽

Southern Caribbean ◽

The Caribbean

Included is a list of the 26 clinid species known from the Colombian Caribbean. Labrisomus sp., L. albigenys, L. bucciferus, Starksia atlantica, Acanthemblemaria rwasi, Coralliozetus sp., Ekemblemaria nigra, Emblemariopsis sp. and Enneanectes sp., are new reports from the northern Caribbean coast of South America. Malacoctenus macropus and Stathmonotus stahli (subespecies tekla) are new reports from the Colombian Caribbean. The richness of species of clinid fishes of the southern Caribbean is demostrated since there are 49 species known, of which 13 are supposed to be exclusive to this zone. This restricted zoogeographical distribution is clearly shown for the chaenopsids, since one fourth of the Caribbean species are known only from the south. The genera Ekemblemaria, Coralliozetus and Protemblemaria have been speciated principally in the American Pacific and in the Caribbean next to the Isthmus of Panama.

Download Full-text

A global barley panel revealing genomic signatures of breeding in modern cultivars

10.1101/2020.03.04.976324 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Camilla Beate Hill ◽

Tefera Tolera Angessa ◽

Xiao-Qi Zhang ◽

Kefei Chen ◽

Gaofeng Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Agronomic Traits ◽

Crop Improvement ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Germplasm Collection ◽

Geographic Region ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Crop Species ◽

Diverse Range ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe future of plant cultivar improvement lies in the evaluation of genetic resources from currently available germplasm. Recent efforts in plant breeding have been aimed at developing new and improved varieties from poorly adapted crops to suit local environments. However, the impact of these breeding efforts is poorly understood. Here, we assess the contributions of both historical and recent breeding efforts to local adaptation and crop improvement in a global barley panel by analysing the distribution of genetic variants with respect to geographic region or historical breeding category. By tracing the impact breeding had on the genetic diversity of barley released in Australia, where the history of barley production is relatively young, we identify 69 candidate regions within 922 genes that were under selection pressure. We also show that modern Australian barley varieties exhibit 12% higher genetic diversity than historical cultivars. Finally, field-trialling and phenotyping for agriculturally relevant traits across a diverse range of Australian environments suggests that genomic regions under strong breeding selection and their candidate genes are closely associated with key agronomic traits. In conclusion, our combined dataset and germplasm collection provide a rich source of genetic diversity that can be applied to understanding and improving environmental adaptation and enhanced yields.Author summaryToday’s gene pool of crop genetic diversity has been shaped during domestication and more recently by breeding. Genetic diversity is vital for crop species to be able to adapt to changing environments. There is concern that recent breeding efforts have eroded the genetic diversity of many domesticated crops including barley. The present study assembled a global panel of barley genotypes with a focus on historical and modern Australian varieties.Genome-wide data was used to detect genes that are thought to have been under selection during crop breeding in Australian barley. The results demonstrate that despite being more extensively bred, modern Australian barley varieties exhibit higher genetic diversity than historical cultivars, countering the common perception that intensive breeding leads to genetic erosion of adaptive diversity in modern cultivars. In addition, some loci (particularly those related to phenology) were subject to selection during the introduction of other barley varieties to Australia – these genes might continue to be important targets in breeding efforts in the face of changing climatic conditions.

Download Full-text

Variation for Fruit Morphological Characteristics in a Capsicum chinense Jacq. Germplasm Collection

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.43.6.1694 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 43 (6) ◽

pp. 1694-1697 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Robert Lawrence Jarret ◽

Terry Berke

Keyword(s):

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Germplasm Collection ◽

Fruit Weight ◽

Capsicum Chinense ◽

Mature Fruit ◽

Fruit Length ◽

Kolmogorov Smirnov ◽

Length Width ◽

Primitive Forms ◽

Test For Normality

Mature fruit of 330 accessions of Capsicum chinense Jacq. from the USDA/ARS Capsicum germplasm collection were characterized for fruit length, width, weight, and color. Mean fruit length was determined to be 47 mm with a range from 7.9 mm to 113.7 mm. Mean fruit width was 21.17 mm with a range of 6.18 mm to 40.0 mm. Mean fruit weight was 6.31 g with a range of 0.18 g to 22.7 g. Distributions of all characteristics were positively skewed. Distributions of fruit length, fruit weight, and fruit length/width failed the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality. The distribution for fruit width was normal. Ninety-two percent of the accessions examined were elongate. Mature fruit colors included red, orange, yellow, brown (chocolate), and cream. The germplasm collection contained primarily pendent larger-fruited cultivated forms of the species, but also contained upright small-fruited primitive and semipendent transitional forms. These data define the variability for mature fruit characteristics within this germplasm collection and provide a baseline against which future introductions/acquisitions can be compared. Additional sampling of the gene pool might be expected to substantially enhance the genetic variability within the primitive forms of this species.

Download Full-text

Animal taxa named for Rollo H. Beck

Archives of Natural History ◽

10.3366/anh.2014.0214 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 113-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gary M. Fellers

Keyword(s):

Natural History ◽

South America ◽

Southern California ◽

American Museum ◽

Type Specimens ◽

California Academy ◽

Vertebrate Zoology ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Set Up ◽

Academy Of Sciences

Rollo Howard Beck (1870–1950) was a professional bird collector who spent most of his career on expeditions to the Channel Islands off southern California, the Galápagos Islands, South America, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. Some of the expeditions lasted as long as ten years during which time he and his wife, Ida, were often working in primitive conditions on sailing vessels or camps set up on shore. Throughout these expeditions, Beck collected specimens for the California Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley (California), the American Museum of Natural History, and the Walter Rothschild Museum at Tring, England. Beck was one of the premier collectors of his time and his contributions were recognized by having 17 taxa named becki in his honor. Of these taxa, Beck collected 15 of the type specimens.

Download Full-text

Diversity and Integration in Private International Law

10.3366/edinburgh/9781474447850.001.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

International Law ◽

Value Systems ◽

Private International Law ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Cross Border ◽

Wide Range ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

And Shifts ◽

Substantive Law

This book opens a cross-regional dialogue and shifts the Eurocentric discussion on diversity and integration to a more inclusive engagement with South America in private international law issues. It promotes a contemporary vision of private international law as a discipline enabling legal interconnectivity, with the potential to transcend its disciplinary boundaries to further promote the reality of cross-border integration, with its focus on the ever-increasing cross-border mobility of individuals. Private international law embraces legal diversity and pluralism. Different legal traditions continue to meet, interact and integrate in different forms, at the national, regional and international levels. Different systems of substantive law couple with divergent systems of private international law (designed to accommodate the former in cross-border situations). This complex legal landscape impacts individuals and families in cross-border scenarios, and international commerce broadly conceived. Private international law methodologies and techniques offer means for the coordination of this constellation of legal orders and value systems in cross-border situations. Bringing together world-renowned academics and experienced private international lawyers from a wide range of jurisdictions in Europe and South America, this edited collection focuses on the connective capabilities of private international law in bridging and balancing legal diversity as a corollary for the development of integration. The book provides in-depth analysis of the role of private international law in dealing with legal diversity across a diverse range of topics and jurisdictions.

Download Full-text