Abstract
Despite the commercial importance of the Concord grape, its origin has remained unresolved for over 150 years without a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis. In this study we aimed to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Concord grape using sequence data from four nuclear markers (AT103, GAI1, PHYA, and SQD1), six plastid markers (matK, psbA-trnH, petN-trnC, ycf1, trnL-F, and trnS-G), and the plastid genome. We sampled extensively the Vitis species native to northeastern North America as well as representative species from Europe and Asia, including the commercially important Vitis vinifera (wine grape), a native European species with hermaphroditic flowers, and its wild progenitor, V. vinifera subsp. sylvestris. We also sequenced the plastid genome of one accession of the Concord grape and compared the plastid genome data to the recently published data set of Vitis plastomes. Phylogenetic analyses of the plastid and nuclear data using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference support the hybrid origin of the Concord grape. The results clearly pinpoint the wine grape, V. vinifera, as the maternal donor and the fox grape, Vitis labrusca, which is common in northeastern North America, as the paternal donor. Moreover, we infer that the breeding history of the Concord grape must have involved the backcrossing of the F1 hybrid with the paternal parent V. labrusca. This backcrossing also explains the higher morphological similarity of the Concord grape to V. labrusca than to V. vinifera. This study provides concrete genetic evidence for the hybrid origin of a widespread Vitis cultivar and is, therefore, promising for similar future studies focused on resolving ambiguous origins of major crops or to create successful hybrid fruit crops.
Highlights
The Concord grape is an economically important cultivar in the United States and Canada as a source of juice, jelly, jam, table grape, candy, and sweet wine, as well as a popular garden plant
Munson (1909) hypothesized that the Concord grape was primarily derived from V. labrusca L. but might contain a trace of V. vulpina L. (=Vitis riparia Michx. sensu Moore and Wen, 2016, not sensu Munson as V. riparia was misidentified as V. vulpina by Munson)
The wine grape V. vinifera L. was regarded as a potential parent due to the Concord grape having hermaphroditic flowers, a trait only found in V. vinifera (Munson, 1909; Schofield, 1988), even though the Concord grape is highly similar to the fox grape V. labrusca in many other morphological characters
Summary
The Concord grape is an economically important cultivar in the United States and Canada as a source of juice, jelly, jam, table grape, candy, and sweet wine, as well as a popular garden plant. It is a hardy and productive vine that bears hermaphroditic flowers and large blue-black berries. Many workers believe that the Concord grape was derived from selection from the native local fox grape Vitis labrusca that Bull planted from seeds (Munson, 1909; Galet, 1979; Schofield, 1988). The wine grape V. vinifera L. was regarded as a potential parent due to the Concord grape having hermaphroditic flowers, a trait only found in V. vinifera (Munson, 1909; Schofield, 1988), even though the Concord grape is highly similar to the fox grape V. labrusca in many other morphological characters
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
