Characterization of a New Natural Periclinal Navel–Satsuma Chimera of Citrus: ‘Zaohong’ Navel Orange

Abstract

‘Zaohong’ navel orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck + C. unshiu Marc.], a new strain of citrus from a graft chimera, was discovered in China. It was diploid and arose at the junction where a ‘Robertson’ navel orange scion was top-worked onto a Satsuma mandarin (C. unshiu). Some characteristics determined by the L1 cell layer, such as juice sacs of fruit and stoma length, were similar to those of Satsuma mandarin, while others, including leaf index, fruit shape, navel, and color and aroma of the rind, were determined by the L2 cell layer, were similar to ‘Robertson’ navel orange. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of the carotenoid extracts of the flesh of ‘Zaohong’ navel orange indicated that it had the carotenoids profile of Satsuma mandarin with β-cryptoxanthin as the predominant component in the juice sacs in mature fruit. Simple sequence repeats (SSR) and chloroplast simple sequence repeats (cpSSR) analysis showed that both nuclear and chloroplast genomes of ‘Zaohong’ navel orange were composed of both donor plants. On the basis of these facts, ‘Zaohong’ navel orange was found to be a periclinal chimera consisting of L1 derived from Satsuma mandarin and L2/L3 from ‘Robertson’ navel orange. It combined the valuable traits of both donor plants, matured ≈1 month earlier than the present navel orange cultivars, and therefore had good potential in citrus fresh market.