Phenotypic Diversity of Almond-Leaved Pear (Pyrus spinosa Forssk.) along Eastern Adriatic Coast

Antonio Vidaković,Zlatko Liber,Igor Poljak,Marilena Idžojtić,Valentino Pintar,Zlatko Šatović,Ida Volenec,Mira Radunić,Ivana Zegnal

doi:10.3390/f12121630

Abstract

Almond-leaved pear (Pyrus spinosa Forssk., Rosaceae) is a scientifically poorly researched and often overlooked Mediterranean species. It is an insect-pollinated and animal-dispersed spiny, deciduous shrub or a small tree, with high-quality wood and edible fruits. The aim of the study was to assess the phenotypic diversity of almond-leaved pear in the eastern Adriatic region. The examination of phenotypic diversity was based on a morphometric analysis of 17 populations using ten phenotypic traits of leaves. Varieties of multivariate statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate the within- and among-population diversity. In addition, the Mantel tests were used to test the correlations between geographic, environmental, and phenotypic differences among populations. High phenotypic variability was determined both among and within the studied populations. Leaf-size-related traits proved to be the most variable ones, in contrast to more uniform leaf shape traits. Furthermore, three groups of populations were detected using multivariate statistical analyses. The first group included trees from northern- and southernmost populations characterized by high annual precipitation. However, the trees from the second and third group were highly overlapped without a clear geographical pattern. In addition, we revealed that both environmental and geographical interactions proved to be responsible for the patterns of phenotypic variation between almond-leaved pear populations, indicating significant isolation by environment (IBE) and isolation by distance (IBD) patterns. Overall, our results provide useful information about phenotypic diversity of almond-leaved pear populations for further conservation, breeding, and afforestation programs.

Highlights

Leaf traits related to its form (FC, LA1, and LA2) showed less variability compared to those relating to leaf size
Our results show that the predominant pattern of phenotypic differentiation among P. spinosa populations is isolation by environment (IBE), that is, environmental effects play an important role in shaping population diversity and manifesting phenotypic differences between environmentally heterogeneous populations
Almond-leaved pear showed great phenotypic diversity within and among natural populations distributed along the eastern Adriatic coast

Summary

Introduction

The genus Pyrus is believed to have originated in Central Asia, the mountainous regions. Of western and southern China, from Asia Minor to India, and further diversified and moved both in eastern and western directions from the primary center of origin [3]. Today, species from this genus are naturally distributed in Europe, temperate Asia, and the mountainous area of northwest Africa [4,5]. Humans already recognized the value of pears as a source of food, and selection for improved fruit characters has been practiced for several thousand years. Pears are, along with apples, one of the most important deciduous tree fruit crops in the world [6]

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