Recovery, Assessment, and Molecular Characterization of Minor Olive Genotypes in Tunisia

Olive is one of the oldest cultivated species in the Mediterranean Basin, including Tunisia, where it has a wide diversity, with more than 200 cultivars, of both wild and feral forms. Many minor cultivars are still present in marginal areas of Tunisia, where they are maintained by farmers in small local groves, but they are poorly characterized and evaluated. In order to recover this neglected germplasm, surveys were conducted in different areas, and 31 genotypes were collected, molecularly characterized with 12 nuclear microsatellite (simple sequence repeat (SSR)) markers, and compared with 26 reference cultivars present in the Tunisian National Olive collection. The analysis revealed an overall high genetic diversity of this olive’s germplasm, but also discovered the presence of synonymies and homonymies among the commercialized varieties. The structure analysis showed the presence of different gene pools in the analyzed germplasm. In particular, the marginal germplasm from Ras Jbal and Azmour is characterized by gene pools not present in commercial (Nurseries) varieties, pointing out the very narrow genetic base of the commercialized olive material in Tunisia, and the need to broaden it to avoid the risk of genetic erosion of this species in this country.

Agro-morphological diversity of traditional fig cultivars grown in central-western Spain

There are not many exhaustive works addressing the agromorphological characterization of traditional fig (Ficus carica L.) cultivars in Spain. In order to analyze the diversity of these fig genetic resources, twelve traditional fig cultivars from the Central-Western Region of Spain were surveyed and characterized agromorphologically. A total of forty descriptors, mainly defined by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute and the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, were used to describe the fruits, leaves and the tree itself over two consecutive years (2013-2014). Some of the cultivars showed distinctive and interesting agronomical characters from a commercial point of view, such as two crops per year (breba and fig), high yields, and fruit quality. This was the case of the fig cultivar widely distributed through the Duero river valley called ?Cuarter?n?. Its fruits were quite heavy and sweet (breba: 93.75 g and 25.91? Brix; fig: 42.41 g and 31.50? Brix), easy to peel, and juicy. Principal component analysis revealed that more than 67% of the agromorphological variability observed was explained by the first three components, some of the breba size parameters (fruit and neck length and fruit width) being the most important factors in differentiating the genotypes. A dendrogram clustered the cultivars into two major groups (unifera and bifera type) and revealed existing synonymies and homonymies. ?Carballar Negra? and ?Moscatel? were the only fig cultivars which did not have breba crops. This work is an important step in the conservation of genetic fig resources in Spain.

Ampelographic characterization of white grapevine cul-tivars (Vitis vinifera L.) grown in Palestine

In Palestine, grape culture consists of ecotypes and cultivars (also called local varieties), for which a large number of homonymous and synonymous designations exist as well as misnaming of cultivars. The present study is the first report using detailed ampelographic characterizations (39 informative traits) to assess genetic diversity and detect similarities among sixteen accessions collected from putative diverse grape genotypes In general, 30 descriptors presented highly and satisfactory divergent genotypes, whereas the remaining traits showed no or very little ampelographic variation. Based on the similarity matrix and the resulting dendrogram of these ampelographic data, distinguishable genotypes as well as some cases of synonymies and homonymies clearly exist. A synonymy case seemed to be in four genotypes including Jandali-Mfarad, Jan-dali-Mrazraz, Jandali, and Hamadani-Mattar, which indeed showed genetic distances of less than 0.5, sug-gesting their relatedness, and the possibility that they are the same genotype, but with different names. In addition, homonym cases also occur in the following pairs of “Marawi’s, Hamadani’s, and Zaini’s genotypes, in which each pair seems to be two distinctive genotypes. Finally, among the 16 examined genotypes, the Zaini-Baladi genotype tended to show the highest genetic distance values from the others and thus could be potentially incorporated into any further local or regional breeding programs as well as germplasm conservation.

Ampelographic characterization of white grapevine cul-tivars (Vitis vinifera L.) grown in Palestine

In Palestine, grape culture consists of ecotypes and cultivars (also called local varieties), for which a large number of homonymous and synonymous designations exist as well as misnaming of cultivars. The present study is the first report using detailed ampelographic characterizations (39 informative traits) to assess genetic diversity and detect similarities among sixteen accessions collected from putative diverse grape genotypes In general, 30 descriptors presented highly and satisfactory divergent genotypes, whereas the remaining traits showed no or very little ampelographic variation. Based on the similarity matrix and the resulting dendrogram of these ampelographic data, distinguishable genotypes as well as some cases of synonymies and homonymies clearly exist. A synonymy case seemed to be in four genotypes including Jandali-Mfarad, Jan-dali-Mrazraz, Jandali, and Hamadani-Mattar, which indeed showed genetic distances of less than 0.5, sug-gesting their relatedness, and the possibility that they are the same genotype, but with different names. In addition, homonym cases also occur in the following pairs of “Marawi’s, Hamadani’s, and Zaini’s genotypes, in which each pair seems to be two distinctive genotypes. Finally, among the 16 examined genotypes, the Zaini-Baladi genotype tended to show the highest genetic distance values from the others and thus could be potentially incorporated into any further local or regional breeding programs as well as germplasm conservation.

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Fingerprinting to Identify Genetic Relatedness among Lychee Cultivars and Markers Associated with Small-seeded Cultivars

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was used to assess genetic relatedness among 23 popular commercial cultivars of lychee (Litchi chinensis) and identify the markers associated with small-seeded cultivars. A combination of three primer pairs with high discriminatory ability was selected for resolving the identity of lychee cultivars. The marker system resolved the instances of synonymies and homonymies. The two cultivars, Dehrarose and Dehradun, whose names are often used interchangeably, could be discriminated by AFLP. A cultivar, Calcuttia (H), grown in the Punjab region was found genetically very similar to China (M) of Bihar region in India, suggesting that both could be the same clone. A number of cultivars with contrasting seed size were included in the study. The cultivars Bedana, Seedless Late, and China were positioned in one group, unlike the grouping previously reported based on morphological traits. The AFLP fingerprinting revealed five marker fragments exclusive to the genotypes, which bear fruit with small seed and large pulp.

Study of a part of the A. G. Olivier Lixini collection (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): lectotype designations, new synonymies and nomenclatural acts

A search for Lixini (Curculionidae: Lixinae) species housed in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris and the Swedish Natural History Museum, Stockholm allowed the study of a part of the G. -A. Olivier collection. Lectotypes are designated for Larinus centaurii (Olivier, 1807), Larinus cuniculus (Olivier, 1807), Larinus gravidus (Olivier, 1807), Larinus carthami (Olivier, 1807), Lixus cardui Olivier, 1807, Lixus iridis Olivier, 1807, Lixus recurvus Olivier, 1807 and Lixus myagri Olivier, 1807. The following new synonymies and homonymies become evident: Larinus centaurii (Olivier, 1807) [= L. ungulatus Gyllenhal, 1835 syn. nov., L. centaureae Becker, 1864 nom. nud., L. beckeri Petri, 1907 syn. nov.]; Larinus cuniculus (Olivier, 1807) [= L. marki Ter-Minassian, 1982 syn. nov.]; Larinus ursus (Fabricius, 1792) [= L. cuniculus Walker, 1871 hom. nov. nec L. cuniculus (Olivier, 1807) syn. nov.]; Larinus gravidus (Olivier, 1807) [= L. schoenherri Capiomont, 1874 syn. nov.]; Larinus carthami (Olivier, 1807) [= L. crassus Capiomont, 1874 syn. nov., L. griseotessellatus Capiomont, 1874 syn. nov.; L. breviusculus Desbrochers, 1892 syn. nov.]; Lixus recurvus Olivier, 1807 [= L. nordmanni Hochhuth, 1847 syn. nov.]; Lixus myagri Olivier, 1807 [= L. lycophoeus Boheman, 1835 syn. nov. ].

Characterization of sour (Prunus cerasus L.) and sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) varieties with five isozyme systems

Extracts from young leaves of nine sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) and eight sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) varieties, located in the germplasm collection of the 'Direção Regional de Agricultura da Beira Interior' (Fundão, Portugal), were analysed for five isozyme systems in order to characterise these varieties and detect problems of synonymies and homonymies that frequently present. The sweet and sour cherry varieties analyzed showed low isoenzymatic polymorphism, being PGM and PGI the systems with the highest discrimination power. These systems presented seven and five different zymogrames, respectively. IDH showed four patterns. SKDH and 6-PGD grouped the varieties only into two patterns. The evident and discriminant restrictions of this type of analysis had got results that have only been a complement for agronomical and morphological characterization.