Climatic Diversity and Ecological Descriptors of Wild Tomato Species (Solanum sect. Lycopersicon) and Close Related Species (Solanum sect. Juglandifolia y sect. Lycopersicoides) in Latin America.

Gabriela Ramírez-Ojeda,José Luis Chávez-Servia,Jaime Sahagún-Castellanos,Juan Enrique Rodríguez-Pérez,Iris E Peralta,Eduardo Rodríguez-Guzmán

doi:10.3390/plants10050855

Abstract

Conservation and sustainable use of species diversity require a description of the environment where they develop. The objectives were to determine ecological descriptors and climatic diversity of areas along the distribution range of 12 species of wild tomatoes (Solanum sect. Lycopersicon) and four wild species of phylogenetically related groups (Solanum sect. Juglandifolia and sect. Lycopersicoides), as well as their ecological similarity in Latin America. With 4228 selected tomato accessions and an environmental information system (EIS) composed of 21 climatic variables, diversity patterns of the distribution areas were identified for each species, as well as ecological descriptors through the use of geographic information systems (GIS). The contribution of climatic variables to the species geographical distribution was identified by principal component analysis (PCA), and similarity in species distribution as a function of the variables identified with cluster analysis (CA). Climatic characteristics and the environmental amplitude of wild tomatoes and related species along their distributional range were satisfactorily determined by ecological descriptors. Eleven climate types were identified, predominantly BSk (arid, steppe, cold), BWh (arid, desert, hot), and Cfb (temperate, no dry season, warm summer). PCA determined 10 most important variables were the most important for the geographical distribution. Six groups of species were identified according to CA and climatic distribution similarity. This approach has shown promissory applications for biodiversity conservation of valuable genetic resources for tomato crop breeding.

Highlights

Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme (SLC); while the second occurred in Mesoamerica from speciesSolanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme (SLC) to the completely domesticated species Solanum lycopersicum L. var. lycopersicum
Razifard et al [2] recently reported that the origin of SLC may be prior to its domestication since many typical characteristics of tomatoes grown in South America come from this species; later, SLC was lost or diminished once the partially domesticated forms extended toward the north
Wild tomato species related to cultivated tomatoes are valuable resources because they provide genetic diversity due to their ecological adaptation

Summary

Introduction

Peru has been considered the center of origin, but it is accepted that the tomato diversification process involved two transitions; the first occurred in South America, from the wild species Solanum pimpinellifolium L. to a partially domesticated species. Cerasiforme (SLC); while the second occurred in Mesoamerica from SLC to the completely domesticated species Solanum lycopersicum L. var. Razifard et al [2] recently reported that the origin of SLC may be prior to its domestication since many typical characteristics of tomatoes grown in South America come from this species; later, SLC was lost or diminished once the partially domesticated forms extended toward the north. In addition to the cultivated species, there are 12 species of wild tomatoes Lycopersicon (Mill.) Wettst), and four wild species from two phylogenetically related groups Wild tomato species of the Lycopersicon section are: Solanum arcanum

Methods

Results

Conclusion