Quality Characteristics and Anthocyanin Profiles of Different Vitis amurensis Grape Cultivars and Hybrids from Chinese Germplasm

To evaluate the important Vitis amurensis germplasm, the quality characteristics and anthocyanin profiles of the ripe berries of 20 V. amurensis grapes and 11 interspecific hybrids in two consecutive years were analysed. Compared with the V. vinifera grapes, V. amurensis grapes had small berries with low total soluble solids and high titratable acids, and were richer in phenolic compounds except for flanan-3-ols in their skins but had lower phenolic contents in their seeds and showed lower antioxidant activities. An outstanding feature of the V. amurensis grapes was their abundant anthocyanin contents, which was 8.18-fold higher than the three wine grapes of V. vinifera. The anthocyanin composition of V. amurensis was characterized by an extremely high proportion of diglucoside anthocyanins (91.71%) and low acylated anthocyanins (0.04%). Interestingly, a new type of speculated 3,5,7-O-triglucoside anthocyanins was first identified and only detected in V. amurensis grapes and hybrids. Based on the total phenolic and anthocyanin characteristics, V. amurensis grapes were set apart from V. vinifera cultivars and the interspecific hybrids, for the same qualities, fell between them, as assessed by principal component analysis.

Genome-wide development of insertion-deletion (InDel) markers for Cannabis and its uses in genetic structure analysis of Chinese germplasm and sex-linked marker identification

Background Cannabis sativa L., a dioecious plant derived from China, demonstrates important medicinal properties and economic value worldwide. Cannabis properties have been usually harnessed depending on the sex of the plant. To analyse the genetic structure of Chinese Cannabis and identify sex-linked makers, genome-wide insertion-deletion (InDel) markers were designed and used. Results In this study, a genome-wide analysis of insertion-deletion (InDel) polymorphisms was performed based on the recent genome sequences. In total, 47,558 InDels were detected between the two varieties, and the length of InDels ranged from 4 bp to 87 bp. The most common InDels were tetranucleotides, followed by pentanucleotides. Chromosome 5 exhibited the highest number of InDels among the Cannabis chromosomes, while chromosome 10 exhibited the lowest number. Additionally, 31,802 non-redundant InDel markers were designed, and 84 primers evenly distributed in the Cannabis genome were chosen for polymorphism analysis. A total of 38 primers exhibited polymorphisms among three accessions, and of the polymorphism primers, 14 biallelic primers were further used to analyse the genetic structure. A total of 39 fragments were detected, and the PIC value ranged from 0.1209 to 0.6351. According to the InDel markers and the flowering time, the 115 Chinese germplasms were divided into two subgroups, mainly composed of cultivars obtained from the northernmost and southernmost regions, respectively. Additional two markers, “Cs-I1–10” and “Cs-I1–15”, were found to amplify two bands (398 bp and 251 bp; 293 bp and 141 bp) in the male plants, while 389-bp or 293-bp bands were amplified in female plants. Using the two markers, the feminized and dioecious varieties could also be distinguished. Conclusion Based on the findings obtained herein, we believe that this study will facilitate the genetic improvement and germplasm conservation of Cannabis in China, and the sex-linked InDel markers will provide accurate sex identification strategies for Cannabis breeding and production.

Genome-wide Development of Insertion-deletion (InDel) Markers Database for Cannabis and its uses for Genetic Structure Analysis of Chinese Germplasm and Identification of Sex-linked Marker

Background: Cannabis sativa L., a dioecious plant, derived from China, demonstrates important medicinal properties and economic value worldwide. Cannabis properties were usually harnessed depending on the sex of the plant. To analyze the genetic structure of Chinese cannabis and identify sex-linked makers, the genome-wide insertion-deletion (InDel) markers were designed and used. Results: In this study, a genome-wide analysis of insertion–deletion (InDel) polymorphisms was performed based on the recent genome sequences. In total, 47558 InDels were detected between the two varieties, and the length of InDels ranged from 4 bp to 87 bp. The most common InDels were tetranucleotides, followed by pentanucleotides. Chromosome 5 had the highest number of InDels among the cannabis chromosomes, while chromosome 10 had the lowest number. Additionally, a total of 47558 InDel markers were designed, and 84 primers evenly distributed in the cannabis genome were chosen for polymorphism analysis. A total of 38 primers exhibited polymorphisms among three accessions, and of the polymorphism primers, 14 biallelic primers were further used to analyse the genetic structure. A total of 39 fragments were detected, and the PIC value ranged from 0.1209 to 0.6351. According to the Indel markers as well as the flowering time, the 115 Chinese germplasms were divided in two subgroups, which were mainly composed of cultivars from the most north and south regions, respectively. Additional, the marker “ I1-10” was found to amplify two bands (398bp and 251bp) in the male plants, while a 389bp bands in female plants. Using this marker, the feminized and dioecious varieties can also be distinguished.Conclusion: This study will facilitate the genetic improvement and germplasm conservation of cannabis in China, and the sex-linked InDel markers will provide accurate sex identification strategies for cannabis breeding and production.

Measurement of Genetic Diversity of Chinese Seashore Paspalum Resources through Morphological and Sequence-related Amplified Polymorphism Analysis

Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) is a notable warm-season turfgrass. Certain germplasm resources are distributed in the southern regions of China. The objectives of this study were to investigate the genetic diversity and genetic variation of Chinese seashore paspalum resources. Morphological characteristics and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers were used to assess genetic relationships and genetic variation among 36 germplasm resources from China and six cultivars from the United States. The results showed significant variation for 13 morphological characteristics among 42 tested seashore paspalum accessions, and that the phenotypic cv was, in turn, turf height > turf density > internode length > inflorescence density > leaf width > reproductive branch height > spikelet width > leaf length > spikelet number > inflorescence length > internode diameter > inflorescence width > spikelet length. According to the morphological characteristics and cluster analysis, 42 seashore paspalum accessions were divided into six morphological types. In total, 374 clear bands were amplified using 30 SRAP primer combinations; among these bands, 321 were polymorphic with 85.83% polymorphism. SRAP marker cluster analysis showed that 42 seashore paspalum accessions were grouped into seven major groups, with a genetic similarity coefficient ranging from 0.4385 to 0.9893 and genetic distance values ranging from 0.0108 to 0.8244. The high level of genetic diversity occurred among Chinese germplasm, and the genetic distance was relatively high between Chinese germplasm and cultivars introduced from the United States. The patterns in morphological trait variations and genetic diversity will be useful for the further exploitation and use of Chinese seashore paspalum resources.

Agricultural selection and presence–absence variation in spring-type canola germplasm

Brassica napus (rapeseed, canola) is an important oilseed crop worldwide as well as a recent agricultural hybrid species, resulting from crosses between progenitor B. rapa (turnip) and B. oleracea (cabbage) species in the last few thousand years. No wild form of B. napus is known to exist, making B. napus an interesting model for studies of genetic and genomic evolution in a polyploid under agricultural selective pressure. We generated genotype (Illumina Infinium 60K Brassica array) and phenotype data for elite spring-type B. napus lines from Australia, China and India (only one line). Phenotypically, plant growth, silique development and flowering traits were more likely to differentiate Chinese germplasm, whereas resistance to blackleg disease, secondary branching and seed traits were more likely to differentiate Australian germplasm. Genetic differentiation between the Australian and Chinese populations was low (FST = 0.035). Genetic relationship was not a predictor of similarity in yield traits between lines. Presence–absence variants were detected across the population: variants shared by at least three lines were present in every chromosome in the B. napus genome, and large missing chromosome segments (>1 Mbp) putatively due to A–C genome translocations were observed on chromosomes A7, A10, C1, C2, C6, C8 and C9. Our results highlight that widespread presence–absence variation is usual in B. napus, and may suggest that phenotypic and genetic diversity are not closely linked within spring-type B. napus from Australia and China, although the low sample numbers in our study prevent strong conclusions. We propose that inbreeding and low levels of genetic diversity, coupled with exchanges between the A and C genomes, were major driving forces behind genome evolution in this recent agricultural crop species.