Andean Varieties Research Articles

Assessment of Genetic Diversity and Relatedness in an Andean Potato Collection from Argentina by High-Density Genotyping

Native potatoes are the most diverse among cultivated potato species and thus constitute a valuable source for identifying genes for potato improvement. Nevertheless, high-density mapping, needed to reveal allelic diversity, has not been performed for native Argentinian potatoes. We present a study of the genetic variability and population structure of 96 Andigena potatoes from Northwestern Argentina performed using a subset of 5035 SNPs with no missing data and full reproducibility. These high-density markers are distributed across the genome and present a good coverage of genomic regions. A Bayesian approach revealed the presence of: (I) a major group comprised of most of the Andean accessions; (II) a smaller group containing the out-group cv. Spunta and the sequenced genotype DM; and (III) a third group containing colored flesh potatoes. This grouping was also consistent when maximum likelihood trees were constructed and further confirmed by a principal coordinate analysis. A group of 19 accessions stored as Andean varieties clustered consistently with group Tuberosum accessions. This was in agreement with previous studies and we hypothesize that they may be reintroductions of European-bred long day-adapted potatoes. The present study constitutes a valuable source for allele mining of genes of interest and thus provides a tool for association mapping studies.

Te Andean Spanish of Peru Trough Folk Tales: Psycholinguocultural Approach

National varieties of Spanish have been studied successfully since the second half of the XX-th century. Te object of this research is the Andean varieties of Spanish, which we intend to study from a psycholinguocultural perspective, which is a novel approach, developed by a number of Russian linguists.Te research is aimed at analyzing some linguistic characteristics of the natural bilinguals of the Andean world and answering the questions, if there is a connection between language and ethnicity and if an ethnic group can have two or more linguistic identities. Between language and ethnicity there is a close and direct interdependence. However similar the language spoken by different ethnic groups living in the same territory may seem, it is only on the surface, as the language is determined by psycho- and linguocultural factors. A monolingual ethnic group does not usually have more than one linguistic identity, but in diglossia situations, a person who acts as two (or more) speaking subjects, using one or more languages depending on the circumstances, brings together two (or more) linguistic personalities.

A Study on the Biodiversity of Pigmented Andean Potatoes: Nutritional Profile and Phenolic Composition.

The characterization of six varieties of native Andean potatoes with a wide biodiversity in tuber shape, flesh, and skin color was performed, through the determination of their proximate composition, mineral content, and phenolic profile. Minerals concentration revealed significant genotypic variation. Potassium was the most abundant element in all varieties, ranging from 7272.9 to 13,059.9 µg/g and from 12,418 to 17,388.6 µg/g dried weight for the flesh and skin samples, respectively. Iron content was relevant, ranging from 20.5 to 39.9 µg/g and from 112.2 to 288.8 µg/g dried weight in flesh and skin samples, respectively. Phenolic compounds were consistently higher in the skin than in the flesh. The total content varied greatly from 19.5 to 2015.3 µg/g and from 1592.3 to 14807.3 µg/g dried weight for flesh and skin tissues, respectively. 5-caffeoylquinic acid was 74% of the total phenolic acids. Different pattern of anthocyanins was found, depending on the color of the variety; the red genotypes contained predominantly pelargonidin derivatives, while the purple samples had petunidin as a major anthocyanidin. This study increases the knowledge of the composition of the local Andean varieties (which are only scarcely studied so far), helping to enhance these genotypes and the conservation of biodiversity.

Variable past-time expression across multiple tasks in Tucumán, Argentina

Abstract We examine variable past-time expression in urban Tucumán, Argentina, an understudied region representative of the set of Andean varieties included in Northwestern Argentinean Spanish. We analyze the present perfect (PP) and preterit in two contexts of data collection: a sociolinguistic interview and a contextualized preference task across a range of linguistic and social factors, such as temporal reference and speaker age. Oral results indicate that Tucumán has a higher frequency of use of the PP than has yet been documented in Latin American varieties and even Peninsular Spanish, previously argued to have the highest rate. Preference task results yielded somewhat lower PP rates, confirming that the PP is preferred in speech, whereas the preterit is more viable in written language. The current study documents the highest rate of use of the PP to date across a number of linguistic contexts, contributing to our knowledge of the processes of grammaticalization and task-related differences.

Morphological and molecular characterization of local varieties, modern cultivars and wild relatives of an emerging vegetable crop, the pepino (Solanum muricatum), provides insight into its diversity, relationships and breeding history

Availability of standardized morphological and molecular characterization data is essential for the efficient development of breeding programmes in emerging crops. Pepino (Solanum muricatum) is an increasingly important vegetatively propagated vegetable crop for which concurrent data on morphological descriptors and molecular markers are not available. We evaluated 58 morphological traits, using a collection of 14 accessions of pepinos (including local Andean varieties and modern cultivars) and 8 of wild relatives, using the IPGRI and COMAV descriptors lists coupled with 20 EST-SSRs from tomato. High morphological diversity was found in both cultivated and wild accessions; all morphological traits except three were variable. Cultivated pepino and wild relatives were significantly different for 26 traits. Also, local varieties and modern cultivars of pepino were different from each other for 13 morphological traits and were clearly separated in a principal components analysis. Fourteen of the 20 tomato EST-SSRs were polymorphic, with an average number of alleles per locus of 4.07 and a polymorphic information content value of 0.4132. This revealed a high degree of transferability from tomato to pepino and wide molecular diversity in the collection. Cultivated materials manifest high levels of observed heterozygosity, suggesting that it is related to heterosis for yield associated with heterozygosis. SSR data clearly differentiated cultivated and wild materials. Furthermore, for pepinos, the modern varieties were genetically much less diverse than the traditional local varieties. However, both groups of cultivated material expressed a low degree of genetic differentiation. A strong correlation (r = 0.673) between morphological and molecular distances was found. Our results provide foundational information for programmes of germplasm conservation, and that can be used to enhance breeding for this emerging crop.

Changes during Cooking Processes in 6 Varieties of Andean Potatoes (<i>Solanum tuberosum</i> ssp. Andinum)

The value of the native potato varieties grown in Argentinean northwest lies both in their fundamental role as a source of food for the population and in their potential for the development of new products. The aim of this work was to study the changes produced by two common cooking processes (boiling and frying) on the nutritional, textural and functional characteristics of five Andean potatoes varieties. The cooking process (boiling) does not significantly affect the composition of potatoes, but there are losses of vitamin C; a greater loss was observed when they were boiled shelled. In frying potatoes vitamin C is completely destroyed. Resistant starch values between 0.90 and 4.58 g/100g of potato were found for raw Andean varieties; they decreased during the cooking process (boiled) (0.15 to 0.54 g/100g of potato) and increased again to be stored for 48 h at 4&degC (0.73 - 1.88 g/100g of potato). The frying process produced an increment in energy value between 92% and 148% according to variety. Regarding to the fracture strength and hardness, no significant differences were observed between the Andean varieties and the control (Spunta) at the initial or final stages, but there were differences during the intermediate stages.

Increase of potato genetic resources in their center of diversity: the role of natural outcrossing and selection by the Andean farmer

The Andean farmer conserves and maintains the existing genetic diversity of potato cultivars by means of clonal propagation of tubers. However, surveys of traditional farms showed that botanical seed propagation was used for disease elimination, stock rejuvenation and the creation of new cultivars. Electrophoretic surveys based on 542 tubers collected from 18 markets sampled in the Cusco area disclosed a total of 229 different cultivars from diploid, triploid and tetraploid forms of Solanum tuberosum L. These could be classified by isozyme cluster analysis into four major groups and six minor groups. However, they did not agree with groups based on flesh or skin color. It is therefore concluded that all genotypes belong to a single, large gene pool with considerable gene flow between cultivars of different groups. When the samples were grouped by the three most common tuber skin colors, namely red/pink (‘Q'ompis type’), purple (‘Yana Imilla’ type), and yellowish/brown (‘Yuraq Kusi’ type), similar allozymes were observed in all three classes. The structure of the isozymic phenotypes within each group indicate that they may have been derived as segregants after outcrossing of diverse parental types. In order to provide further evidence for the origin of new types by hybridization, two segregating diploid progenies were generated by crossing purple by yellow skin types. In the resulting F1, most of the tuber phenotypes observed in the Andean varieties were reproduced in these crosses. It can be concluded that the Andean potatoes form a large and plastic gene pool amplified and renovated by outcrossing followed in some cases by human selection of desirable phenotypes.

Allozyme Variation and Morphological Relationships of Chenopodium hircinum (s.l.)

The domesticated Andean grain chenopod, Chenopodium quinoa, is sympatric with closely related wild types that are classified as two species. Large-fruited (1.5-1.8 mm diam.), broad- leaved plants are placed with C. quinoa, as either subsp. milleanum or var. melanospermum. Plants with smaller fruits (1.0-1.5 mm) and rhombic to tri-lobed leaves are treated as Andean varieties of C. hircinum, a species originally described from the eastern plains of South America. This alignment was evaluated by comparative analysis of electrophoretic and morphometric data taken from pop- ulations occurring throughout the range of C. hircinum (s.l.). Samples from the eastern Andean slopes and plains of Argentina (C. hircinum s. str.) form a coherent group that is positioned at one extreme in the pattern of leaf and fruit variation. These samples, characterized by small, obtuse-margined fruits and acute, lobed leaves, are linked to material from the high Andes through a series of intermediate Andean samples. Andean material shows a wide range of variation in fruit size and shape. Leaf shape is more conservative, although samples from Bolivia trend toward the acute, tri- lobed condition. In contrast to morphological relationships, allozyme variation is simple and well defined. Andean material is homogeneous (I > 0.98), with unique alleles widely dispersed, mainly in southern populations. Populations of C. hircinum (s. str.) are more variable (I = 0.951) and well differentiated from the highland group (I = 0.825) by a relatively common set of unique alleles. Minimal electrophoretic differentiation among Andean samples indicates that the companion weed of C. quinoa is a single biological entity that may represent an Andean element of C. hircinum,

ORIGIN OF THE FIRST EUROPEAN POTATOES AND THEIR REACTION TO LENGTH OF DAY

AMONG the consequences of the recent Russian expeditions to South America was a revival of interest in the origin of the European potato. There are two centres from which potatoes might have come: the Chiloe region of South Chile, and the Andes at tropical latitudes. Bukasov1 and his co-workers chose Chile, partly for morphological reasons which by themselves were insufficient, but primarily because the Chilean potatoes are adapted to long summer days, whereas the Andean potatoes are suited to the approximately twelve-hour day of the tropics and, as a rule, fare badly if grown in Europe during summer. But Salaman2 pointed out that at the time when potatoes were known in Europe the Spanish hold on Chile was tenuous., and Magellan had not yet navigated the Straits ; it was unlikely either that the Spaniards could have acquired the potato in Chile or, if they had, that they could have brought it safely over the slow route home. On grounds of probability, it was much more likely that they took potatoes from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia or Peru., which had been conquered half a century earlier and which were in constant touch with Spain. On the question of photoperiodism, Hawkes! suggests in support of this hypothesis first, that the first European potatoes may have been long-day or day-neutral types, since these occur occasionally among Andean varieties ; secondly, that if they were short-day types, their character might have been changed by breeding, as Salaman2 suggested earlier ; and, thirdly, that if they were short-day types, they might not have done too badly at the fairly low latitudes of southern Europe, to which they first came.