Comparative molecular analysis of old olive (Olea europaea L.) genotypes from Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey

Olive is an important Mediterranean tree species having many different ways of utilizations. The olive grove is an important farming sector in Turkey and dates back to thousands years, particularly in Anatolia. An historical culture of olive resulted in a broad genetic base for olive which is a long-lived tree. We compared the genetic profiles of six old olive cultivars from an Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey to 15 modern Turkish olive cultivars from different geographical origins. The RAPD profiles successfully clarified the molecular relationships among the genotypes tested. Seventeen RAPD primers generated 153 reproducible bands, 81% of which were polymorphic. The data were subjected tocluster and principle coordinates analyses. Cluster analysis supported three small groups based on geographical origins and these groups did not include any of the old cultivars. The old cultivars scattered around the ungrouped accessions and formed four subgroups. Principle coordinate resulted in similar overall patterns. Our results revealed that although sampled from a relatively narrow region, the old olive cultivars have broad genetic basis and are closely related to some of present-daycultivars/clones

Isolation and Characterization of Novel Microsatellite Markers in Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) has been cultivated from ancient times for its economic, ornamental and medicinal properties globally. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers from a repeat-enriched genomic library of Punica granatum L. The genetic diversity of these loci was assessed in 60 genotypes of Punica granatum L. All loci were variable: the number of polymorphic alleles per locus ranged from two to five (average 2.9). The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.15 to 0.87 and 0.29 to 0.65, respectively. The polymorphic information content ranged from 0.26 to 0.61 (average: 0.43). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that polymorphic microsatellite markers have been reported for P. granatum L. These new markers should allow studies of the population structure and genetic diversity of pomegranate to be performed in the future

Comparison of yield, quality and earliness of apricot varieties at Cukurova

In Turkey, apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) is among the stone fruits whose production has markedly increased in recent years.The most important problem of culture is spring frosts. The Mediterranean coasts of Turkey from Samandag to Finike are safe from late spring frosts and have a suitable ecology for early apricot growing. Since the winters in this area are rather warm, the chilling requirements of apricot trees are assumed to be short. The objective of this work was to select the most suitable high yielding, early ripening and good quality apricot varieties adaptable ecological conditions of Adana. The phenological and pomological characteristics of the cultivars were determined. 01- K-15, Bebeco, Perfection, Rouge de Sernhac, Cafona and 07-K-09 were the highest yielding cultivars, Early Kishinewski, Bebeco, 01-K-15 and Rouge de Sernhac bore the largest fruits and Silistre Rona and Perfection were the most precocious cultivars among those studied ones

Antimicrobial Activity of Six Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Varieties and Their Relation to Some of Their Pomological and Phytonutrient Characteristics

Arils from six pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) varieties grown in the Mediterranean region of Turkey were tested for their antimicrobial properties by the agar diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods against seven bacteria: (Bacillus megaterium DSM 32, Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 9027, Staphylococcus aureus Cowan 1, Corynebacterium xerosis UC 9165, Escherichia coli DM, Enterococcus faecalis A10, Micrococcus luteus LA 2971), and threefungi (Kluvyeromyces marxianus A230, Rhodotorula rubra MC12, Candida albicans ATCC 1023). It has been observed that the pomegranate aril extracts had antimicrobial effect on all microorganisms, giving inhibition zones ranging in size from 13 to 26 mm. The MIC values for active pomegranate extracts ranged between 30 and >90 µg/mL. The results obtained appeared to confirm the antimicrobial potential of the Punica granatum varieties

Leaf mineral composition of grafted eggplant grown in soil infested with Verticillium and root-knot nematodes

WOS: 000282876200014The objective of this work was to determine differences in leaf mineral composition between ungrafted and grafted onto (Solanum torvum) eggplant (Solanum melongena), cultivars 'Faselis' and 'Pala', grown in a soil infested with Verticillium dahliae and Meloidogyne incognita, or in a noninfested soil. Grafting increased leaf P and Mn concentrations, and decreased N concentrations, in both soils. Grafting also enhanced leaf Ca concentration of 'Pala', but it did not affect that of 'Faselis' depending on the cropping year. Leaf Mg concentration of grafted plants in infested soil was lower than that of ungrafted ones in noninfested soil. Results showed that, under the same fertilization program, the grafted 'Faselis' plants used the nutrients more efficiently than the 'Pala' ones. Use of S. torvum as a rootstock for 'Faselis' resulted in an effective protection against multiple pathogen infestation. Fertilization may be necessary when grafted 'Faselis' plants are grown in a soil infested with the pathogens, since grafting and infestation generally decrease leaf N, Mg, Ca and Fe concentrations, either by reducing the nutrient concentrations directly or by increasing leaf Mn concentration.Mustafa Kemal UniversityMustafa Kemal UniversityTo Mustafa Kemal University, for funding the project; and to Dr. Mehmet Arslan, for reviewing the earlier version of the manuscript

Leaf mineral composition of grafted eggplant grown in soil infested with Verticillium and root-knot nematodes

WOS: 000282876200014The objective of this work was to determine differences in leaf mineral composition between ungrafted and grafted onto (Solanum torvum) eggplant (Solanum melongena), cultivars 'Faselis' and 'Pala', grown in a soil infested with Verticillium dahliae and Meloidogyne incognita, or in a noninfested soil. Grafting increased leaf P and Mn concentrations, and decreased N concentrations, in both soils. Grafting also enhanced leaf Ca concentration of 'Pala', but it did not affect that of 'Faselis' depending on the cropping year. Leaf Mg concentration of grafted plants in infested soil was lower than that of ungrafted ones in noninfested soil. Results showed that, under the same fertilization program, the grafted 'Faselis' plants used the nutrients more efficiently than the 'Pala' ones. Use of S. torvum as a rootstock for 'Faselis' resulted in an effective protection against multiple pathogen infestation. Fertilization may be necessary when grafted 'Faselis' plants are grown in a soil infested with the pathogens, since grafting and infestation generally decrease leaf N, Mg, Ca and Fe concentrations, either by reducing the nutrient concentrations directly or by increasing leaf Mn concentration.Mustafa Kemal UniversityMustafa Kemal UniversityTo Mustafa Kemal University, for funding the project; and to Dr. Mehmet Arslan, for reviewing the earlier version of the manuscript

Development and characterization of SSR markers for pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) using an enriched library

In the present work, we report the development of 11 microstallite markers (SSR) for Punica granatum. Evaluated on a set of 27 pomegranate accessions sampled in Tunisia, they displayed 25 alleles, with number of alleles per locus ranging between 1 and 4, and an observed heterozygosity from 0.037 and 0.592. This set of SSR markers can be very useful for studies dealing with genetic diversity assessment of germplasm, with cultivars/varieties fingerprinting and pedigree analysis of this economically important fruit species

Molecular and pomological diversity among pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars in Eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an important fruit species for Turkey where many cultivars are being cultivated. In this study, we determined the fruit characteristics and RAPD band patterns of six local cultivars from Hatay, Turkey. Our results demonstrated that there is a great level of morphological variation. The principle component analysis of 18 quantitative fruit characteristics revealed that fruit weight, aril number/fruit, peel color and soluble solids/acidity ratio are important traits for discriminating the cultivars tested. The UPGMA cluster of fruit characteristics indicated that 'Katirbasi' and 'Kan nari' were similar to each other and they were separated from rest of the cultivars. Twenty-two RAPD primers generated total of 106 reproducible bands 22% of which were polymorphic. The UPGMA dendrogram of RAPD data showed that 'Tatli nar' and 'Serife' were very closely related while 'incekabuk' is distinct from the other cultivars. As a result, discrepancies were detected between morphological and molecular data. Therefore, we confirmed that diversity among the fruit characteristics were not good indication of genetic relatedness while molecular tools are valuable to study such similarities