Abstract
Selenicereus megalanthus H. is a tropical fruit belonging to the family Cactaceae, is rich in essential nutrients, antioxidants and bioactive components. It presents wide variability in different characteristics and a great demand in the market; however, genetic studies in Colombia are scarce. The main of this study was to characterize the genetic diversity of 76 yellow pitahaya genotypes with eight ISSR markers. Genetic parameters expected average heterozygosity (He), percentage of polymorphic loci, genetic distances and Fst were estimated with TFPGA. The analysis of the population genetic structure was carried out with the STRUCTURE 2.3.4. As a result, 225 alleles were generated and the number of polymorphic loci ranged 85 (CT, AG) to 90 (GT). High genetic diversity was found, with an average value of heterozygosity was 0.34 with a genetic differentiation coefficient (Fst) of 0.26, indicating that there was a great genetic diversity, similar values than those reported in other studies of pitahaya genetic diversity in Colombia. The 76 genotypes were grouped into K=3 according to geographic location, however, in some groups a mixture of individuals from different origins was observed. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed higher variation (75%) within groups than among groups (25%). These results provide information that can be used to develop conservation strategies for dragon fruit and breeding programs to obtain more productive pitahaya genotypes with superior quality, high yield and with resistance to biotic and abiotic factors.
Highlights
In Colombia the crop of pitahaya mainly comes from the empirical process of farmers for this reason we can see morphological and genetic heterogeneity on fruit and others characters like vegetative structures, which leads to confusion to identify them at botanic, taxonomic or specie level (Morillo et al, 2016; Abirami et al, 2021)
The present study was determined the genetic diversity in yellow pitahaya using molecular inter simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) markers to determine the existing genetic variation in the producing municipalities of Colombia, as an approach towards the conservation and genetic improvement of the species
In order to establish a strategy and management plant for phytogenetic resources for pitahaya, it is necessary to begin studies on morphological, agronomic, physiological and molecular characterizations, in this sense, eight ISSR evaluated in 76 genotypes of yellow pitahaya generated 225 bands, with 89% polymorphism
Summary
It is considered an exotic cacti specie, with characteristic, eye-catching fruits Their popularity is due to the unique appearance rich source in antioxidants (vitamins and minerals), as well as dietary fiber and low calories, flavonoids and phenolic acids, but especially betacyanins (Pásko et al, 2021), natural food pigments rarely found in edible products; with important biological properties (Zain et al, 2019), which may be helpful in prevent some oxidative stress-related disorders (Quiroz et al, 2018), prevent cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinary diseases (Thokchom et al, 2019). It has drawn worldwide attention, to its new flavour, color and attractive appearance and their enormous health benefits (Abirami et al, 2021; Pásko et al, 2021)
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