Articles
THE PEACH GENOME AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Article number
1100_3
Pages
29 – 33
Language
English
Abstract
The availability of the whole genome sequence has changed the scope and speed
of peach genetics progress and has major implications in stone fruit breeding.
Two
consequences of the increased sequence knowledge: the development of the 9k Illumina
SNP chip and the feasibility of cultivar resequencing, have provided relevant information
on the level, distribution and structure of peach germplasm variability, showing the
agreement and complementarities between molecular data, reproductive biology and
the known history of peach as a crop.
Previous knowledge suggested, and new data
strongly confirm, that peach is the least variable of all cultivated Prunus, which
represents a serious constraint to its breeding prospects.
SNP chip data have also
provided information on linkage disequilibrium and made possible the identification of
sets of markers that are associated with valuable major genes.
New tools are making
possible to advance rapidly towards the cloning of these genes and lead also to the
development of diagnostic markers that are currently used in commercial breeding
programs for marker-assisted selection.
Gene pool enrichment is necessary in peach to
solve urgent problems, such as disease resistance, generate innovative traits, particularly
those related with an extended shelf life and an improved taste of the fruit, and
cope with climate change.
The introgression of new alleles from exotic sources requires
very long term strategies when using conventional approaches and for this reason they
are rarely used by breeders.
The current tools permit novel strategies that can shorten
the number of generations needed and thus reduce these periods.
Our experience using
almond × peach crosses shows that introgression is now feasible in a much faster and
targeted way and also points out to some of the risks of this approach.
of peach genetics progress and has major implications in stone fruit breeding.
Two
consequences of the increased sequence knowledge: the development of the 9k Illumina
SNP chip and the feasibility of cultivar resequencing, have provided relevant information
on the level, distribution and structure of peach germplasm variability, showing the
agreement and complementarities between molecular data, reproductive biology and
the known history of peach as a crop.
Previous knowledge suggested, and new data
strongly confirm, that peach is the least variable of all cultivated Prunus, which
represents a serious constraint to its breeding prospects.
SNP chip data have also
provided information on linkage disequilibrium and made possible the identification of
sets of markers that are associated with valuable major genes.
New tools are making
possible to advance rapidly towards the cloning of these genes and lead also to the
development of diagnostic markers that are currently used in commercial breeding
programs for marker-assisted selection.
Gene pool enrichment is necessary in peach to
solve urgent problems, such as disease resistance, generate innovative traits, particularly
those related with an extended shelf life and an improved taste of the fruit, and
cope with climate change.
The introgression of new alleles from exotic sources requires
very long term strategies when using conventional approaches and for this reason they
are rarely used by breeders.
The current tools permit novel strategies that can shorten
the number of generations needed and thus reduce these periods.
Our experience using
almond × peach crosses shows that introgression is now feasible in a much faster and
targeted way and also points out to some of the risks of this approach.
Authors
P. Arús, M.J. Aranzana, W. Howad, I. Eduardo, J.M. Donoso, E. López-Girona, O. Serra
Keywords
peach, genetics, genome
Online Articles (27)