Genetic diversity of Cuban pineapple germplasm assessed by AFLP Markers

Ermis Yanes Paz,Daniel Uriza,Andrés Rebolledo,Miriam Isidrón,Katia Gil,José Carlos Lorenzo,June Simpson,Leyanes Díaz,Laureano Rebolledo,Octavio Martínez

doi:10.1590/s1984-70332012000200002

Abstract

The Cuban pineapple germplasm collection represents the genetic diversity of pineapple cultivated in that country and includes other important genotypes obtained from the germplasm collections in Brazil and Martinique. The collection has previously been characterized with morphological descriptors but a molecular characterization has been lacking. With this aim, 56 six genotypes of A. comosus and one of Bromelia pinguin were analyzed with a total of 191 AFLP markers. A dendrogram that represents the genetic relationships between these samples based on the AFLP results showed a low level of diversity in the Cuban pineapple collection. All Ananas comosus accessions, being the majority obtained from farmers in different regions in Cuba, are grouped at distances lower than 0.20. Molecular characterization was in line with morphological characterization. These results are useful for breeding and conservation purposes.

Highlights

Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L) Merr) is an important crop for many countries in Central and South America as well as in the Asia-Pacific region
The Cuban pineapple germplasm collection represents the genetic diversity of pineapple cultivated in that country and includes other important genotypes obtained from the germplasm collections in Brazil and Martinique
It was possible to differentiate the somaclones from Española Roja pinareña M-35 and P3R5 obtained by Pérez (2008)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L) Merr) is an important crop for many countries in Central and South America as well as in the Asia-Pacific region. The most important are the collections maintained by EMBRAPA/CNPMF, in Cruz das Almas, Brazil, by CIRAD-FLHOR, in Martinique, and the USDA collection, in Hawaii These collections have been partially characterized with morphological descriptors (Leal et al 1986, Duval and Coppens d’Eeckenbrugge 1993, Ferreira and Cabral 1993, Duval et al 1996). Cuba maintains a small but still important collection, since it represents the genetic diversity of the cultivated pineapple in that country. Three hundred and one accessions including all Ananas species and the related species Pseudoananas sagenarius were tested This technique revealed a higher level of polymorphism since 41 % of the probes were polymorphic. Based on these studies, Coppens d’Eeckenbrugge and Leal (2002) have proposed a simplification for the pineapple classification. AFLP markers were used to assess the genetic diversity of the Cuban pineapple germplasm collection that represents both commercially cultivated material grown in Cuba and germplasm used in ongoing breeding programs

MATERIALS AND METHODS

40 Ananas

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION