Abstract
BackgroundEggplant is a powerful source of polyphenols which seems to play a key role in the prevention of several human diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Chlorogenic acid is the polyphenol most present in eggplant, comprising between the 70% and 90% of the total polyphenol content. Introduction of the high chlorogenic acid content of wild relatives, such as S. incanum, into eggplant varieties will be of great interest. A potential side effect of the increased level polyphenols could be a decrease on apparent quality due to browning caused by the polyphenol oxidase enzymes mediated oxidation of polyphenols. We report the development of a new interspecific S. melongena × S. incanum linkage map based on a first backcross generation (BC1) towards the cultivated S. melongena as a tool for introgressing S. incanum alleles involved in the biosynthesis of chlorogenic acid in the genetic background of S. melongena.ResultsThe interspecific genetic linkage map of eggplant developed in this work anchor the most informative previously published genetic maps of eggplant using common markers. The 91 BC1 plants of the mapping population were genotyped with 42 COSII, 99 SSRs, 88 AFLPs, 9 CAPS, 4 SNPs and one morphological polymorphic markers. Segregation marker data resulted in a map encompassing 1085 cM distributed in 12 linkage groups. Based on the syntheny with tomato, the candidate genes involved in the core chlorogenic acid synthesis pathway in eggplant (PAL, C4H, 4CL, HCT, C3′H, HQT) as well as five polyphenol oxidase (PPO1, PPO2, PPO3, PPO4, PPO5) were mapped. Except for 4CL and HCT chlorogenic acid genes were not linked. On the contrary, all PPO genes clustered together. Candidate genes important in domestication such as fruit shape (OVATE, SISUN1) and prickliness were also located.ConclusionsThe achievements in location of candidate genes will allow the search of favorable alleles employing marker-assisted selection in order to develop new varieties with higher chlorogenic content alongside a lower polyphenol oxidase activity. This will result into an enhanced product showing a lower fruit flesh browning with improved human health properties.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-014-0350-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Eggplant is a powerful source of polyphenols which seems to play a key role in the prevention of several human diseases, such as cancer and diabetes
We report the development of a new interspecific S. melongena ? S. incanum linkage map with the aim of locating, and in the future introgressing, S. incanum alleles involved in the biosynthesis of chlorogenic acid (CGA) in the genetic background of S. melongena
Genetic map construction The mapping population was genotyped with 243 molecular markers comprising 42 COSII, 99 SSRs, 88 AFLPs, nine CAPS, four SNPs and the morphological marker PRICKLINESS
Summary
Eggplant is a powerful source of polyphenols which seems to play a key role in the prevention of several human diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Chlorogenic acid is the polyphenol most present in eggplant, comprising between the 70% and 90% of the total polyphenol content. Introduction of the high chlorogenic acid content of wild relatives, such as S. incanum, into eggplant varieties will be of great interest. ? 2014 Gramazio et al.; licensee BioMed Central CGA is highly stable at high temperatures, and its bioavailability in eggplant increases, as compared to the raw product, after cooking [3]
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