Abstract
Plums are a large group of closely related stone fruit species and hybrids of worldwide economic importance and diffusion. This review deals with the main aspects concerning plum agrobiodiversity and its relationship with current and potential contributions offered by breeding in enhancing plum varieties. The most recent breeding achievements are revised according to updated information proceeding from relevant scientific reports and official inventories of plum genetic resources. A special emphasis has been given to the potential sources of genetic traits of interest for breeding programs as well as to the need for efficient and coordinated efforts aimed at efficaciously preserving the rich and underexploited extant plum agrobiodiversity. The specific objective of this review was to: (i) analyze and possibly evaluate the degree of biodiversity existing in the cultivated plum germplasm, (ii) examine the set of traits of prominent agronomic and pomological interest currently targeted by the breeders, and (iii) determine how and to what extent this germplasm was appropriately exploited in breeding programs or could represent concrete prospects for the future.
Highlights
Plums include a large and diverse group of closely related Prunus species of the Rosaceae family, having a common putative ancestor originated about 31 Myr [1,2], and presenting a wide range of variation in terms of fruit size and shape, flavor, aroma, texture, and color, greater than in any other fruit crop [3], together with a large range of potential utilizations, for direct consumption and processing
The specific objective of this review is to: (i) analyze and possibly evaluate the degree of biodiversity existing in the cultivated plum germplasm, (ii) examine the set of traits of prominent agronomic and pomological interest currently targeted by the breeders, and (iii) determine how and to what extent this germplasm was appropriately exploited in breeding programs or could represent concrete prospects for the future
Most of the collected accessions of Japanese plum in the GRINGlobal database are classified as “not available” or “historic”, which means that data exists in the database, but the genebank no longer maintains a living germplasm. These data suggest a limited representation of existing diversity, especially for Asian-related species and Japanese plums, that deserves additional effort for collecting and establishing the germplasm at the repository, available to enhancement programs [20]. This is especially true if we consider that, according to Blažek [77], a large part of these genetic resources are being preserved in Russia, China, Japan and Iran, and that a large, not deeply explored germplasm is represented by the related species that can provide an ‘untapped source of genetic material’ [35] in hybridization programs, both for cultivars and rootstocks
Summary
Plums include a large and diverse group of closely related Prunus species of the Rosaceae family, having a common putative ancestor originated about 31 Myr [1,2], and presenting a wide range of variation in terms of fruit size and shape, flavor, aroma, texture, and color, greater than in any other fruit crop [3], together with a large range of potential utilizations, for direct consumption and processing This plurality within “plums”, has only two types, the hexaploid (2n = 6x = 48) European plums (Prunus domestica L.). We describe the overall genetic and varietal aspects influencing plum diversity and review the implications and opportunities for present and future breeding strategies in relation to these
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