Performance of a Set of Eggplant (Solanum melongena) Lines With Introgressions From Its Wild Relative S. incanum Under Open Field and Screenhouse Conditions and Detection of QTLs

[EN] Introgression lines (ILs) of eggplant (Solanum melongena) represent a resource of high value for breeding and the genetic analysis of important traits. We have conducted a phenotypic evaluation in two environments (open field and screenhouse) of 16 ILs from the first set of eggplant ILs developed so far. Each of the ILs carries a single marker-defined chromosomal segment from the wild eggplant relative S. incanum (accession MM577) in the genetic background of S. melongena (accession AN-S-26). Seventeen agronomic traits were scored to test the performance of ILs compared to the recurrent parent and of identifying QTLs for the investigated traits. Significant morphological differences were found between parents, and the hybrid was heterotic for vigour-related traits. Despite the presence of large introgressed fragments from a wild exotic parent, individual ILs did not display differences with respect to the recipient parent for most traits, although significant genotype x environment interaction (G x E) was detected for most traits. Heritability values for the agronomic traits were generally low to moderate. A total of ten stable QTLs scattered across seven chromosomes was detected. For five QTLs, the S. incanum introgression was associated with higher mean values for plant- and flower-related traits, including vigour prickliness and stigma length. For one flower- and four fruit-related-trait QTLs, including flower peduncle and fruit pedicel lengths and fruit weight, the S. incanum introgression was associated with lower mean values for fruit-related traits. Evidence of synteny to other previously reported in eggplant populations was found for three of the fruit-related QTLs. The other seven stable QTLs are new, demonstrating that eggplant ILs are of great interest for eggplant breeding under different environments.This work was undertaken as part of the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting, and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives", which is supported by the Government of Norway. The project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes around the world. For further information, see the project website: http://www.cwrdiversity.org/.Funding was also received from Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant AGL2015-64755-R from MINECO/FEDER); from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant RTI-2018-094592-B-100 from MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE); from European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 677379 (G2P-SOL project: Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops); and from Vicerrectorado de Investigacion, Innovacion y Transferencia de la Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Ayuda a Primeros Proyectos de Investigacion; PAID-06-18). Giulio Mangino is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana for a predoctoral grant within the Santiago Grisolia programme (GRISOLIAP/2016/012). Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for a postdoctoral grant (P19105, FY2019 JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan (Standard)).Mangino, G.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Gramazio, P. (2020). Performance of a Set of Eggplant (Solanum melongena) Lines With Introgressions From Its Wild Relative S. incanum Under Open Field and Screenhouse Conditions and Detection of QTLs. Agronomy. 10(4):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10040467S115104FAOSTAThttp://www.fao.org/faostat/Gebhardt, C. (2016). The historical role of species from the Solanaceae plant family in genetic research. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 129(12), 2281-2294. doi:10.1007/s00122-016-2804-1Hirakawa, H., Shirasawa, K., Miyatake, K., Nunome, T., Negoro, S., Ohyama, A., … Fukuoka, H. (2014). Draft Genome Sequence of Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.): the Representative Solanum Species Indigenous to the Old World. DNA Research, 21(6), 649-660. doi:10.1093/dnares/dsu027Barchi, L., Pietrella, M., Venturini, L., Minio, A., Toppino, L., Acquadro, A., … Rotino, G. L. (2019). A chromosome-anchored eggplant genome sequence reveals key events in Solanaceae evolution. Scientific Reports, 9(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47985-wGramazio, P., Yan, H., Hasing, T., Vilanova, S., Prohens, J., & Bombarely, A. (2019). Whole-Genome Resequencing of Seven Eggplant (Solanum melongena) and One Wild Relative (S. incanum) Accessions Provides New Insights and Breeding Tools for Eggplant Enhancement. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10. doi:10.3389/fpls.2019.01220GRAMAZIO, P., PROHENS, J., PLAZAS, M., MANGINO, G., HERRAIZ, F. J., GARCÍA-FORTEA, E., & VILANOVA, S. (2018). Genomic Tools for the Enhancement of Vegetable Crops: A Case in Eggplant. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 46(1), 1-13. doi:10.15835/nbha46110936Frary, A., Frary, A., Daunay, M.-C., Huvenaars, K., Mank, R., & Doğanlar, S. (2014). QTL hotspots in eggplant (Solanum melongena) detected with a high resolution map and CIM analysis. Euphytica, 197(2), 211-228. doi:10.1007/s10681-013-1060-6Portis, E., Cericola, F., Barchi, L., Toppino, L., Acciarri, N., Pulcini, L., … Rotino, G. L. (2015). Association Mapping for Fruit, Plant and Leaf Morphology Traits in Eggplant. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0135200. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135200Toppino, L., Valè, G., & Rotino, G. L. (2008). Inheritance of Fusarium wilt resistance introgressed from Solanum aethiopicum Gilo and Aculeatum groups into cultivated eggplant (S. melongena) and development of associated PCR-based markers. Molecular Breeding, 22(2), 237-250. doi:10.1007/s11032-008-9170-xLiu, J., Zheng, Z., Zhou, X., Feng, C., & Zhuang, Y. (2014). Improving the resistance of eggplant (Solanum melongena) to Verticillium wilt using wild species Solanum linnaeanum. Euphytica, 201(3), 463-469. doi:10.1007/s10681-014-1234-xKouassi, B., Prohens, J., Gramazio, P., Kouassi, A. B., Vilanova, S., Galán-Ávila, A., … Plazas, M. (2016). Development of backcross generations and new interspecific hybrid combinations for introgression breeding in eggplant (Solanum melongena). Scientia Horticulturae, 213, 199-207. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2016.10.039Plazas, M., Vilanova, S., Gramazio, P., Rodríguez-Burruezo, A., Fita, A., Herraiz, F. J., … Prohens, J. (2016). Interspecific Hybridization between Eggplant and Wild Relatives from Different Genepools. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 141(1), 34-44. doi:10.21273/jashs.141.1.34García-Fortea, E., Gramazio, P., Vilanova, S., Fita, A., Mangino, G., Villanueva, G., … Plazas, M. (2019). First successful backcrossing towards eggplant (Solanum melongena) of a New World species, the silverleaf nightshade (S. elaeagnifolium), and characterization of interspecific hybrids and backcrosses. Scientia Horticulturae, 246, 563-573. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2018.11.018Gramazio, P., Prohens, J., Plazas, M., Mangino, G., Herraiz, F. J., & Vilanova, S. (2017). Development and Genetic Characterization of Advanced Backcross Materials and An Introgression Line Population of Solanum incanum in a S. melongena Background. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8. doi:10.3389/fpls.2017.01477Syfert, M. M., Castañeda-Álvarez, N. P., Khoury, C. K., Särkinen, T., Sosa, C. C., Achicanoy, H. A., … Knapp, S. (2016). Crop wild relatives of the brinjal eggplant (Solanum melongena): Poorly represented in genebanks and many species at risk of extinction. American Journal of Botany, 103(4), 635-651. doi:10.3732/ajb.1500539Knapp, S., Vorontsova, M. S., & Prohens, J. (2013). Wild Relatives of the Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.: Solanaceae): New Understanding of Species Names in a Complex Group. PLoS ONE, 8(2), e57039. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057039Stommel, J. R., & Whitaker, B. D. (2003). Phenolic Acid Content and Composition of Eggplant Fruit in a Germplasm Core Subset. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 128(5), 704-710. doi:10.21273/jashs.128.5.0704Ma, C., Dastmalchi, K., Whitaker, B. D., & Kennelly, E. J. (2011). Two New Antioxidant Malonated Caffeoylquinic Acid Isomers in Fruits of Wild Eggplant Relatives. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59(17), 9645-9651. doi:10.1021/jf202028yProhens, J., Whitaker, B. D., Plazas, M., Vilanova, S., Hurtado, M., Blasco, M., … Stommel, J. R. (2013). Genetic diversity in morphological characters and phenolic acids content resulting from an interspecific cross between eggplant,Solanum melongena, and its wild ancestor (S. incanum). Annals of Applied Biology, 162(2), 242-257. doi:10.1111/aab.12017Meyer, R. S., Whitaker, B. D., Little, D. P., Wu, S.-B., Kennelly, E. J., Long, C.-L., & Litt, A. (2015). Parallel reductions in phenolic constituents resulting from the domestication of eggplant. Phytochemistry, 115, 194-206. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2015.02.006Taher, D., Solberg, S. Ø., Prohens, J., Chou, Y., Rakha, M., & Wu, T. (2017). World Vegetable Center Eggplant Collection: Origin, Composition, Seed Dissemination and Utilization in Breeding. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8. doi:10.3389/fpls.2017.01484Gisbert, C., Prohens, J., Raigón, M. D., Stommel, J. R., & Nuez, F. (2011). Eggplant relatives as sources of variation for developing new rootstocks: Effects of grafting on eggplant yield and fruit apparent quality and composition. Scientia Horticulturae, 128(1), 14-22. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2010.12.007Salas, P., Prohens, J., & Seguí-Simarro, J. M. (2011). Evaluation of androgenic competence through anther culture in common eggplant and related species. Euphytica, 182(2). doi:10.1007/s10681-011-0490-2Gramazio, P., Prohens, J., Plazas, M., Andújar, I., Herraiz, F. J., Castillo, E., … Vilanova, S. (2014). Location of chlorogenic acid biosynthesis pathway and polyphenol oxidase genes in a new interspecific anchored linkage map of eggplant. BMC Plant Biology, 14(1). doi:10.1186/s12870-014-0350-zGramazio, P., Blanca, J., Ziarsolo, P., Herraiz, F. J., Plazas, M., Prohens, J., & Vilanova, S. (2016). Transcriptome analysis and molecular marker discovery in Solanum incanum and S. aethiopicum, two close relatives of the common eggplant (Solanum melongena) with interest for breeding. BMC Genomics, 17(1). doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2631-4Gramazio, P., Prohens, J., Borràs, D., Plazas, M., Herraiz, F. J., & Vilanova, S. (2017). Comparison of transcriptome-derived simple sequence repeat (SSR) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for genetic fingerprinting, diversity evaluation, and establishment of relationships in eggplants. Euphytica, 213(12). doi:10.1007/s10681-017-2057-3Dempewolf, H., Eastwood, R. J., Guarino, L., Khoury, C. K., Müller, J. V., & Toll, J. (2014). Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: A Global Initiative to Collect, Conserve, and Use Crop Wild Relatives. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 38(4), 369-377. doi:10.1080/21683565.2013.870629Prohens, J., Gramazio, P., Plazas, M., Dempewolf, H., Kilian, B., Díez, M. J., … Vilanova, S. (2017). Introgressiomics: a new approach for using crop wild relatives in breeding for adaptation to climate change. Euphytica, 213(7). doi:10.1007/s10681-017-1938-9Eshed, Y., & Zamir, D. (1994). A genomic library of Lycopersicon pennellii in L. esculentum: A tool for fine mapping of genes. Euphytica, 79(3), 175-179. doi:10.1007/bf00022516Zamir, D. (2001). Improving plant breeding with exotic genetic libraries. Nature Reviews Genetics, 2(12), 983-989. doi:10.1038/35103590Eduardo, I., Arús, P., & Monforte, A. J. (2005). Development of a genomic library of near isogenic lines (NILs) in melon (Cucumis melo L.) from the exotic accession PI161375. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 112(1), 139-148. doi:10.1007/s00122-005-0116-yEshed, Y., & Zamir, D. (1995). An introgression line population of Lycopersicon pennellii in the cultivated tomato enables the identification and fine mapping of yield-associated QTL. Genetics, 141(3), 1147-1162. doi:10.1093/genetics/141.3.1147Alonso-Blanco, C., Koornneef, M., & van Ooijen, J. W. (s. f.). QTL Analysis. Arabidopsis Protocols, 79-100. doi:10.1385/1-59745-003-0:79Gur, A., & Zamir, D. (2015). Mendelizing all Components of a Pyramid of Three Yield QTL in Tomato. Frontiers in Plant Science, 6. doi:10.3389/fpls.2015.01096Tanksley, S. D., & Nelson, J. C. (1996). Advanced backcross QTL analysis: a method for the simultaneous discovery and transfer of valuable QTLs from unadapted germplasm into elite breeding lines. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 92(2), 191-203. doi:10.1007/bf00223376Ashikari, M., & Matsuoka, M. (2006). Identification, isolation and pyramiding of quantitative trait loci for rice breeding. Trends in Plant Science, 11(7), 344-350. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2006.05.008Calafiore, R., Aliberti, A., Ruggieri, V., Olivieri, F., Rigano, M. M., & Barone, A. (2019). Phenotypic and Molecular Selection of a Superior Solanum pennellii Introgression Sub-Line Suitable for Improving Quality Traits of Cultivated Tomatoes. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10. doi:10.3389/fpls.2019.00190Eshed, Y., & Zamir, D. (1996). Less-Than-Additive Epistatic Interactions of Quantitative Trait Loci in Tomato. Genetics, 143(4), 1807-1817. doi:10.1093/genetics/143.4.1807Jena, K. K., Kochert, G., & Khush, G. S. (1992). RFLP analysis of rice (Oryza sativa L.) introgression lines. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 84-84(5-6), 608-616. doi:10.1007/bf00224159Pestsova, E. G., Börner, A., & Röder, M. S. (2004). Development of a Set of Triticum Aestivum-Aegilops Tauschii Introgression Lines. Hereditas, 135(2-3), 139-143. doi:10.1111/j.1601-5223.2001.00139.xSzalma, S. J., Hostert, B. M., LeDeaux, J. R., Stuber, C. W., & Holland, J. B. (2007). QTL mapping with near-isogenic lines in maize. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 114(7), 1211-1228. doi:10.1007/s00122-007-0512-6Eshed, Y., Abu-Abied, M., Saranga, Y., & Zamir, D. (1992). Lycopersicon esculentum lines containing small overlapping introgressions from L. pennellii. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 83(8), 1027-1034. doi:10.1007/bf00232968Monforte, A. J., & Tanksley, S. D. (2000). Development of a set of near isogenic and backcross recombinant inbred lines containing most of the Lycopersicon hirsutum genome in a L. esculentum genetic background: A tool for gene mapping and gene discovery. Genome, 43(5), 803-813. doi:10.1139/g00-043Chetelat, R. T., Qin, X., Tan, M., Burkart‐Waco, D., Moritama, Y., Huo, X., … Pertuzé, R. (2019). Introgression lines of Solanum sitiens , a wild nightshade of the Atacama Desert, in the genome of cultivated tomato. The Plant Journal, 100(4), 836-850. doi:10.1111/tpj.14460Schauer, N., Semel, Y., Roessner, U., Gur, A., Balbo, I., Carrari, F., … Fernie, A. R. (2006). Comprehensive metabolic profiling and phenotyping of interspecific introgression lines for tomato improvement. Nature Biotechnology, 24(4), 447-454. doi:10.1038/nbt1192Rigano, M. M., Raiola, A., Tenore, G. C., Monti, D. M., Del Giudice, R., Frusciante, L., & Barone, A. (2014). Quantitative Trait Loci Pyramiding Can Improve the Nutritional Potential of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Fruits. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 62(47), 11519-11527. doi:10.1021/jf502573nAlseekh, S., Tohge, T., Wendenberg, R., Scossa, F., Omranian, N., Li, J., … Fernie, A. R. (2015). Identification and Mode of Inheritance of Quantitative Trait Loci for Secondary Metabolite Abundance in Tomato. The Plant Cell, 27(3), 485-512. doi:10.1105/tpc.114.132266Krause, K., Johnsen, H. R., Pielach, A., Lund, L., Fischer, K., & Rose, J. K. C. (2017). Identification of tomato introgression lines with enhanced susceptibility or resistance to infection by parasitic giant dodder ( Cuscuta reflexa ). Physiologia Plantarum, 162(2), 205-218. doi:10.1111/ppl.12660Salvi, S., Corneti, S., Bellotti, M., Carraro, N., Sanguineti, M. C., Castelletti, S., & Tuberosa, R. (2011). Genetic dissection of maize phenology using an intraspecific introgression library. BMC Plant Biology, 11(1), 4. doi:10.1186/1471-2229-11-4Ma, X., Fu, Y., Zhao, X., Jiang, L., Zhu, Z., Gu, P., … Tan, L. (2016). Genomic structure analysis of a set of Oryza nivara introgression lines and identification of yield-associated QTLs using whole-genome resequencing. Scientific Reports, 6(1). doi:10.1038/srep27425Qiu, X., Chen, K., Lv, W., Ou, X., Zhu, Y., Xing, D., … Li, Z. (2017). Examining two sets of introgression lines reveals background-independent and stably expressed QTL that improve grain appearance quality in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 130(5), 951-967. doi:10.1007/s00122-017-2862-zDe Leon, T. B., Linscombe, S., & Subudhi, P. K. (2017). Identification and validation of QTLs for seedling salinity tolerance in introgression lines of a salt tolerant rice landrace ‘Pokkali’. PLOS ONE, 12(4), e0175361. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0175361Honsdorf, N., March, T. J., & Pillen, K. (2017). QTL controlling grain filling under terminal drought stress in a set of wild barley introgression lines. PLOS ONE, 12(10), e0185983. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185983Qin, G., Nguyen, H. M., Luu, S. N., Wang, Y., & Zhang, Z. (2018). Construction of introgression lines of Oryza rufipogon and evaluation of important agronomic traits. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 132(2), 543-553. doi:10.1007/s00122-018-3241-0Zhao, X., Daygon, V. D., McNally, K. L., Hamilton, R. S., Xie, F., Reinke, R. F., & Fitzgerald, M. A. (2015). Identification of stable QTLs causing chalk in rice grains in nine environments. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 129(1), 141-153. doi:10.1007/s00122-015-2616-8Ranil, R. H. G., Niran, H. M. L., Plazas, M., Fonseka, R. M., Fonseka, H. H., Vilanova, S., … Prohens, J. (2015). Improving seed germination of the eggplant rootstock Solanum torvum by testing multiple factors using an orthogonal array design. Scientia Horticulturae, 193, 174-181. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2015.07.030Balakrishnan, D., Surapaneni, M., Mesapogu, S., & Neelamraju, S. (2018). Development and use of chromosome segment substitution lines as a genetic resource for crop improvement. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 132(1), 1-25. doi:10.1007/s00122-018-3219-yWang, J.-X., Gao, T.-G., & Knapp, S. (2008). Ancient Chinese Literature Reveals Pathways of Eggplant Domestication. Annals of Botany, 102(6), 891-897. doi:10.1093/aob/mcn179Page, A., Gibson, J., Meyer, R. S., & Chapman, M. A. (2019). Eggplant Domestication: Pervasive Gene Flow, Feralization, and Transcriptomic Divergence. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(7), 1359-1372. doi:10.1093/molbev/msz062Kaushik, P., Prohens, J., Vilanova, S., Gramazio, P., & Plazas, M. (2016). Phenotyping of Eggplant Wild Relatives and Interspecific Hybrids with Conventional and Phenomics Descriptors Provides Insight for Their Potential Utilization in Breeding. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7. doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.00677Prohens, J., Plazas, M., Raigón, M. D., Seguí-Simarro, J. M., Stommel, J. R., & Vilanova, S. (2012). Characterization of interspecific hybrids and first backcross generations from crosses between two cultivated eggplants (Solanum melongena and S. aethiopicum Kumba group) and implications for eggplant breeding. Euphytica, 186(2), 517-538. doi:10.1007/s10681-012-0652-xFrary, A., Nesbitt, T. C., Frary, A., Grandillo, S., Knaap, E. van der, Cong, B., … Tanksley, S. D. (2000). fw2.2  : A Quantitative Trait Locus Key to the Evolution of Tomato Fruit Size. Science, 289(5476), 85-88. doi:10.1126/science.289.5476.85Schouten, H. J., Tikunov, Y., Verkerke, W., Finkers, R., Bovy, A., Bai, Y., & Visser, R. G. F. (2019). Breeding Has Increased the Diversity of Cultivated Tomato in The Netherlands. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10. doi:10.3389/fpls.2019.01606Kearsey, M. J., & Farquhar, A. G. L. (1998). QTL analysis in plants; where are we now? Heredity, 80(2), 137-142. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2540.1998.00500.xFrary, A., Doganlar, S., Daunay, M. C., & Tanksley, S. D. (2003). QTL analysis of morphological traits in eggplant and implications for conservation of gene function during evolution of solanaceous species. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 107(2), 359-370. doi:10.1007/s00122-003-1257-5Fassio, C., Cautin, R., Pérez-Donoso, A., Bonomelli, C., & Castro, M. (2016). Propagation Techniques and Grafting Modify the Morphological Traits of Roots and Biomass Allocation in Avocado Trees. HortTechnology, 26(1), 63-69. doi:10.21273/horttech.26.1.63Chen, K.-Y., & Tanksley, S. D. (2004). High-Resolution Mapping and Functional Analysis of se2.1. Genetics, 168(3), 1563-1573. doi:10.1534/genetics.103.022558Xu, J., Driedonks, N., Rutten, M. J. M., Vriezen, W. H., de Boer, G.-J., & Rieu, I. (2017). Mapping quantitative trait loci for heat tolerance of reproductive traits in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Molecular Breeding, 37(5). doi:10.1007/s11032-017-0664-2Portis, E., Barchi, L., Toppino, L., Lanteri, S., Acciarri, N., Felicioni, N., … Rotino, G. L. (2014). QTL Mapping in Eggplant Reveals Clusters of Yield-Related Loci and Orthology with the Tomato Genome. PLoS ONE, 9(2), e89499. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089499Grandillo, S., Ku, H. M., & Tanksley, S. D. (1999). Identifying the loci responsible for natural variation in fruit size and shape in tomato. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 99(6), 978-987. doi:10.1007/s001220051405Illa-Berenguer, E., Van Houten, J., Huang, Z., & van der Knaap, E. (2015). Rapid and reliable identification of tomato fruit weight and locule number loci by QTL-seq. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 128(7), 1329-1342. doi:10.1007/s00122-015-2509-xCambiaso, V., Gimene

Potential In Vitro Inhibition of Selected Plant Extracts against SARS-CoV-2 Chymotripsin-Like Protease (3CLPro) Activity

[EN] Antiviral treatments inhibiting Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) replication may represent a strategy complementary to vaccination to fight the ongoing Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Molecules or extracts inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 chymotripsin-like protease (3CLPro) could contribute to reducing or suppressing SARS-CoV-2 replication. Using a targeted approach, we identified 17 plant products that are included in current and traditional cuisines as promising inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 3CLPro activity. Methanolic extracts were evaluated in vitro for inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 3CLPro activity using a quenched fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay. Extracts from turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes, mustard (Brassica nigra) seeds, and wall rocket (Diplotaxis erucoides subsp. erucoides) at 500 ug mL-1 displayed significant inhibition of the 3CLPro activity, resulting in residual protease activities of 0.0%, 9.4%, and 14.9%, respectively. Using different extract concentrations, an IC50 value of 15.74 ug mL-1 was calculated for turmeric extract. Commercial curcumin inhibited the 3CLPro activity, but did not fully account for the inhibitory effect of turmeric rhizomes extracts, suggesting that other components of the turmeric extract must also play a main role in inhibiting the 3CLPro activity. Sinigrin, a major glucosinolate present in mustard seeds and wall rocket, did not have relevant 3CLPro inhibitory activity; however, its hydrolysis product allyl isothiocyanate had an IC50 value of 41.43 ug mL-1. The current study identifies plant extracts and molecules that can be of interest in the search for treatments against COVID-19, acting as a basis for future chemical, in vivo, and clinical trials.Guijarro-Real, C.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Rodríguez Burruezo, A.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Fita, A. (2021). Potential In Vitro Inhibition of Selected Plant Extracts against SARS-CoV-2 Chymotripsin-Like Protease (3CLPro) Activity. Foods. 10(7):1-12. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071503S11210

Association of Heterotic Groups with Morphological Relationships and General Combining Ability in Eggplant

[EN] The identification of heterotic groups may provide an important advantage for hybrid eggplant (Solanum melongena) breeding. In this study, we evaluated the combining ability and heterotic patterns of eggplant lines in order to develop improved eggplant cultivars resistant to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melongenae (FOM). A set of 62 inbred lines was evaluated with 32 morphological descriptors and their relationships were analyzed through a multivariate cluster analysis. A subset of 39 inbred lines was selected and, together with 15 sister lines, they were crossed with two testers to investigate their general combining ability (GCA) and to establish heterotic groups. Twenty selected inbred lines with high GCA were intercrossed using a half-diallel mating design. Eighty-two hybrids were obtained and evaluated for yield and yield components. We found no association between morphological distance and membership to specific heterotic groups. However, heterosis for yield was found in hybrids among parents from different heterotic groups or that were included in all heterotic groups. Among the hybrids evaluated, some were found to be highly productive and resistant to FOM, being candidates for the registration of new cultivars with dramatically improved characteristics.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey financially supported this study with Project No: 107G027. Mariola Plazas gratefully acknowledges financial support from Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for a post-doctoral grant (APOSTD/2018/014).Boyaci, HF.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Unlu, A.; Gumrukcu, E.; Oten, M.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO. (2020). Association of Heterotic Groups with Morphological Relationships and General Combining Ability in Eggplant. Agriculture. 10(6):1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10060203S113106Chapman, M. A. (2019). Introduction: The Importance of Eggplant. The Eggplant Genome, 1-10. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99208-2_1Gisbert, C., Prohens, J., Raigón, M. D., Stommel, J. R., & Nuez, F. (2011). Eggplant relatives as sources of variation for developing new rootstocks: Effects of grafting on eggplant yield and fruit apparent quality and composition. Scientia Horticulturae, 128(1), 14-22. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2010.12.007Sabatino, L., Iapichino, G., D’Anna, F., Palazzolo, E., Mennella, G., & Rotino, G. L. (2018). Hybrids and allied species as potential rootstocks for eggplant: Effect of grafting on vigour, yield and overall fruit quality traits. Scientia Horticulturae, 228, 81-90. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2017.10.020Sabatino, Iapichino, Rotino, Palazzolo, Mennella, & D’Anna. (2019). Solanum aethiopicum gr. gilo and Its Interspecific Hybrid with S. melongena as Alternative Rootstocks for Eggplant: Effects on Vigor, Yield, and Fruit Physicochemical Properties of Cultivar ′Scarlatti′. Agronomy, 9(5), 223. doi:10.3390/agronomy9050223Barchi, L., Toppino, L., Valentino, D., Bassolino, L., Portis, E., Lanteri, S., & Rotino, G. L. (2018). QTL analysis reveals new eggplant loci involved in resistance to fungal wilts. Euphytica, 214(2). doi:10.1007/s10681-017-2102-2Altinok, H. H., Can, C., & Altinok, M. A. (2017). Characterization of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melongenae isolates from Turkey with ISSR markers and DNA sequence analyses. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 150(3), 609-621. doi:10.1007/s10658-017-1305-7Eljounaidi, K., Lee, S. K., & Bae, H. (2016). Bacterial endophytes as potential biocontrol agents of vascular wilt diseases – Review and future prospects. Biological Control, 103, 62-68. doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2016.07.013Kumar, A., Sharma, V., Jain, B. T., & Kaushik, P. (2020). Heterosis Breeding in Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.): Gains and Provocations. Plants, 9(3), 403. doi:10.3390/plants9030403Kaushik, P., Plazas, M., Prohens, J., Vilanova, S., & Gramazio, P. (2018). Diallel genetic analysis for multiple traits in eggplant and assessment of genetic distances for predicting hybrids performance. PLOS ONE, 13(6), e0199943. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0199943LI, X., YU, H., LI, Z., LIU, X., FANG, Z., LIU, Y., … ZHANG, Y. (2018). Heterotic Group Classification of 63 Inbred Lines and Hybrid Purity Identification by Using SSR Markers in Winter Cabbage (Brassica Oleracea L. var. capitata). Horticultural Plant Journal, 4(4), 158-164. doi:10.1016/j.hpj.2018.03.010Melchinger, A. E., & Gumber, R. K. (2015). Overview of Heterosis and Heterotic Groups in Agronomic Crops. CSSA Special Publications, 29-44. doi:10.2135/cssaspecpub25.c3Larièpe, A., Moreau, L., Laborde, J., Bauland, C., Mezmouk, S., Décousset, L., … Charcosset, A. (2016). General and specific combining abilities in a maize (Zea mays L.) test-cross hybrid panel: relative importance of population structure and genetic divergence between parents. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 130(2), 403-417. doi:10.1007/s00122-016-2822-zJin, L., Zhao, L., Wang, Y., Zhou, R., Song, L., Xu, L., … Zhao, T. (2019). Genetic diversity of 324 cultivated tomato germplasm resources using agronomic traits and InDel markers. Euphytica, 215(4). doi:10.1007/s10681-019-2391-8Longin, C. F. H., Utz, H. F., Melchinger, A. E., & Reif, J. C. (2006). Hybrid maize breeding with doubled haploids: II. Optimum type and number of testers in two-stage selection for general combining ability. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 114(3), 393-402. doi:10.1007/s00122-006-0422-zMohammadi, S. A., & Prasanna, B. M. (2003). Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Crop Plants—Salient Statistical Tools and Considerations. Crop Science, 43(4), 1235-1248. doi:10.2135/cropsci2003.1235Muñoz-Falcón, J. E., Prohens, J., Vilanova, S., & Nuez, F. (2009). Diversity in commercial varieties and landraces of black eggplants and implications for broadening the breeders’ gene pool. Annals of Applied Biology, 154(3), 453-465. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.2009.00314.xCericola, F., Portis, E., Toppino, L., Barchi, L., Acciarri, N., Ciriaci, T., … Lanteri, S. (2013). The Population Structure and Diversity of Eggplant from Asia and the Mediterranean Basin. PLoS ONE, 8(9), e73702. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073702Kaushik, P., Prohens, J., Vilanova, S., Gramazio, P., & Plazas, M. (2016). Phenotyping of Eggplant Wild Relatives and Interspecific Hybrids with Conventional and Phenomics Descriptors Provides Insight for Their Potential Utilization in Breeding. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7. doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.00677Swarup, V. (1995). GENETIC RESOURCES AND BREEDING OF AUBERGINE (SOLANUM MELONGENA L.). Acta Horticulturae, (412), 71-79. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1995.412.6KALLOO, G. (1993). Eggplant. Genetic Improvement of Vegetable Crops, 587-604. doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-040826-2.50047-3Qian, W., Sass, O., Meng, J., Li, M., Frauen, M., & Jung, C. (2007). Heterotic patterns in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.): I. Crosses between spring and Chinese semi-winter lines. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 115(1), 27-34. doi:10.1007/s00122-007-0537-xBenchimol, L. L., de Souza jr, C. L., Garcia, A. A. F., Kono, P. M. S., Mangolin, C. A., Barbosa, A. M. M., … de Souza, A. P. (2000). Genetic diversity in tropical maize inbred lines: heterotic group assignment and hybrid performance determined by RFLP markers. Plant Breeding, 119(6), 491-496. doi:10.1046/j.1439-0523.2000.00539.xMiranda, G. V., de Souza, L. V., Galvão, J. C. C., Guimarães, L. J. M., de Melo, A. V., & dos Santos, I. C. (2007). Genetic variability and heterotic groups of Brazilian popcorn populations. Euphytica, 162(3), 431-440. doi:10.1007/s10681-007-9598-

Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Salt Stress in Cultivated Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and in S. insanum L., a Close Wild Relative

[EN] Eggplant (Solanum melongena) has been described as moderately sensitive to salinity. We characterised the responses to salt stress of eggplant andS. insanum, its putative wild ancestor. Young plants of two accessions of both species were watered for 25 days with an irrigation solution containing NaCl at concentrations of 0 (control), 50, 100, 200, and 300 mM. Plant growth, photosynthetic activity, concentrations of photosynthetic pigments, K+, Na+, and Cl(-)ions, proline, total soluble sugars, malondialdehyde, total phenolics, and total flavonoids, as well as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione reductase specific activities, were quantified. Salt stress-induced reduction of growth was greater inS. melongenathan inS. insanum.The photosynthetic activity decreased in both species, except for substomatal CO2 concentration (Ci) inS. insanum, although the photosynthetic pigments were not degraded in the presence of NaCl. The levels of Na+ and Cl(-)increased in roots and leaves with increasing NaCl doses, but leaf K(+)concentrations were maintained, indicating a relative stress tolerance in the two accessions, which also did not seem to suffer a remarkable degree of salt-induced oxidative stress. Our results suggest that the higher salt tolerance ofS. insanummostly lies in its ability to accumulate higher concentrations of proline and, to a lesser extent, Na(+)and Cl-. The results obtained indicate thatS. insanumis a good candidate for improving salt tolerance in eggplant through breeding and introgression programmes.This work was undertaken as part of the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing CropWild Relatives", which is supported by the Government of Norway and managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust. For further information, see the project website: http://cwrdiversity.org/. Funding was also received from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant RTI-2018-094592-B-100 from MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 677379 (Linking genetic resources, genomes, and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops; G2P-SOL) and Vicerrectorado de Investigacion, Innovacion y Transferencia de la Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Ayuda a Primeros Proyectos de Investigacion; PAID-06-18). Mariola Plazas is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for a post-doctoral grant (APOSTD/2018/014). Marco Brenes is indebted to the Faculty of Biology of the Costa Rica Institute of Technology for partially supporting his stay in Valencia ("Fondo Solidario y Desarrollo Estudiantil").Brenes, M.; Solana, A.; Boscaiu, M.; Fita, A.; Vicente, O.; Calatayud, Á.; Prohens Tomás, J.... (2020). Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Salt Stress in Cultivated Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and in S. insanum L., a Close Wild Relative. Agronomy. 10(5):1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10050651S119105Daliakopoulos, I. N., Tsanis, I. K., Koutroulis, A., Kourgialas, N. N., Varouchakis, A. E., Karatzas, G. P., & Ritsema, C. J. (2016). The threat of soil salinity: A European scale review. Science of The Total Environment, 573, 727-739. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.177Ünlükara, A., Kurunç, A., Kesmez, G. D., Yurtseven, E., & Suarez, D. L. (2008). Effects of salinity on eggplant (Solanum melongenaL.) growth and evapotranspiration. Irrigation and Drainage, n/a-n/a. doi:10.1002/ird.453Mennella, G., Lo Scalzo, R., Fibiani, M., D’Alessandro, A., Francese, G., Toppino, L., … Rotino, G. L. (2012). Chemical and Bioactive Quality Traits During Fruit Ripening in Eggplant (S. melongena L.) and Allied Species. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 60(47), 11821-11831. doi:10.1021/jf3037424Plazas, M., López-Gresa, M. P., Vilanova, S., Torres, C., Hurtado, M., Gramazio, P., … Prohens, J. (2013). Diversity and Relationships in Key Traits for Functional and Apparent Quality in a Collection of Eggplant: Fruit Phenolics Content, Antioxidant Activity, Polyphenol Oxidase Activity, and Browning. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 61(37), 8871-8879. doi:10.1021/jf402429kPlazas, M., Vilanova, S., Gramazio, P., Rodríguez-Burruezo, A., Fita, A., Herraiz, F. J., … Prohens, J. (2016). Interspecific Hybridization between Eggplant and Wild Relatives from Different Genepools. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 141(1), 34-44. doi:10.21273/jashs.141.1.34Gramazio, P., Prohens, J., Plazas, M., Mangino, G., Herraiz, F. J., & Vilanova, S. (2017). Development and Genetic Characterization of Advanced Backcross Materials and An Introgression Line Population of Solanum incanum in a S. melongena Background. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8. doi:10.3389/fpls.2017.01477García-Fortea, E., Gramazio, P., Vilanova, S., Fita, A., Mangino, G., Villanueva, G., … Plazas, M. (2019). First successful backcrossing towards eggplant (Solanum melongena) of a New World species, the silverleaf nightshade (S. elaeagnifolium), and characterization of interspecific hybrids and backcrosses. Scientia Horticulturae, 246, 563-573. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2018.11.018Knapp, S., & Vorontsova, M. (2016). A revision of the «African Non-Spiny» Clade of Solanum L. (Solanum sections Afrosolanum Bitter, Benderianum Bitter, Lemurisolanum Bitter, Lyciosolanum Bitter, Macronesiotes Bitter, and Quadrangulare Bitter: Solanaceae). PhytoKeys, 66, 1-142. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.66.8457Ranil, R. H. G., Prohens, J., Aubriot, X., Niran, H. M. L., Plazas, M., Fonseka, R. M., … Knapp, S. (2016). Solanum insanum L. (subgenus Leptostemonum Bitter, Solanaceae), the neglected wild progenitor of eggplant (S. melongena L.): a review of taxonomy, characteristics and uses aimed at its enhancement for improved eggplant breeding. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 64(7), 1707-1722. doi:10.1007/s10722-016-0467-zDavidar, P., Snow, A. A., Rajkumar, M., Pasquet, R., Daunay, M.-C., & Mutegi, E. (2015). The potential for crop to wild hybridization in eggplant (Solanum melongena; Solanaceae) in southern India. American Journal of Botany, 102(1), 129-139. doi:10.3732/ajb.1400404Akinci, I. E., Akinci, S., Yilmaz, K., & Dikici, H. (2004). Response of eggplant varieties (Solanum melongena) to salinity in germination and seedling stages. New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 32(2), 193-200. doi:10.1080/01140671.2004.9514296Ranil, R. H. G., Niran, H. M. L., Plazas, M., Fonseka, R. M., Fonseka, H. H., Vilanova, S., … Prohens, J. (2015). Improving seed germination of the eggplant rootstock Solanum torvum by testing multiple factors using an orthogonal array design. Scientia Horticulturae, 193, 174-181. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2015.07.030Weimberg, R. (1987). Solute adjustments in leaves of two species of wheat at two different stages of growth in response to salinity. Physiologia Plantarum, 70(3), 381-388. doi:10.1111/j.1399-3054.1987.tb02832.xLICHTENTHALER, H. K., & WELLBURN, A. R. (1983). Determinations of total carotenoids and chlorophylls a and b of leaf extracts in different solvents. Biochemical Society Transactions, 11(5), 591-592. doi:10.1042/bst0110591Bates, L. S., Waldren, R. P., & Teare, I. D. (1973). Rapid determination of free proline for water-stress studies. Plant and Soil, 39(1), 205-207. doi:10.1007/bf00018060DuBois, M., Gilles, K. A., Hamilton, J. K., Rebers, P. A., & Smith, F. (1956). Colorimetric Method for Determination of Sugars and Related Substances. Analytical Chemistry, 28(3), 350-356. doi:10.1021/ac60111a017Hodges, D. M., DeLong, J. M., Forney, C. F., & Prange, R. K. (1999). Improving the thiobarbituric acid-reactive-substances assay for estimating lipid peroxidation in plant tissues containing anthocyanin and other interfering compounds. Planta, 207(4), 604-611. doi:10.1007/s004250050524Blainski, A., Lopes, G., & de Mello, J. (2013). Application and Analysis of the Folin Ciocalteu Method for the Determination of the Total Phenolic Content from Limonium Brasiliense L. Molecules, 18(6), 6852-6865. doi:10.3390/molecules18066852Zhishen, J., Mengcheng, T., & Jianming, W. (1999). The determination of flavonoid contents in mulberry and their scavenging effects on superoxide radicals. Food Chemistry, 64(4), 555-559. doi:10.1016/s0308-8146(98)00102-2Gil, R., Bautista, I., Boscaiu, M., Lidon, A., Wankhade, S., Sanchez, H., … Vicente, O. (2014). Responses of five Mediterranean halophytes to seasonal changes in environmental conditions. AoB PLANTS, 6(0), plu049-plu049. doi:10.1093/aobpla/plu049Aebi, H. (1984). [13] Catalase in vitro. Oxygen Radicals in Biological Systems, 121-126. doi:10.1016/s0076-6879(84)05016-3Beyer, W. F., & Fridovich, I. (1987). Assaying for superoxide dismutase activity: Some large consequences of minor changes in conditions. Analytical Biochemistry, 161(2), 559-566. doi:10.1016/0003-2697(87)90489-1Connell, J. P., & Mullet, J. E. (1986). Pea Chloroplast Glutathione Reductase: Purification and Characterization. Plant Physiology, 82(2), 351-356. doi:10.1104/pp.82.2.351Del Rio, D., Stewart, A. J., & Pellegrini, N. (2005). A review of recent studies on malondialdehyde as toxic molecule and biological marker of oxidative stress. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 15(4), 316-328. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2005.05.003Hannachi, S., & Van Labeke, M.-C. (2018). Salt stress affects germination, seedling growth and physiological responses differentially in eggplant cultivars (Solanum melongena L.). Scientia Horticulturae, 228, 56-65. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2017.10.002Foolad, M. R. (2004). Recent Advances in Genetics of Salt Tolerance in Tomato. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 76(2), 101-119. doi:10.1023/b:ticu.0000007308.47608.88Plazas, M., Nguyen, H. T., González-Orenga, S., Fita, A., Vicente, O., Prohens, J., & Boscaiu, M. (2019). Comparative analysis of the responses to water stress in eggplant (Solanum melongena) cultivars. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 143, 72-82. doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2019.08.031Hanachi, S., Labeke, M. C., & Mehouachi, T. (2014). Application of chlorophyll fluorescence to screen eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) cultivars for salt tolerance. Photosynthetica, 52(1), 57-62. doi:10.1007/s11099-014-0007-zRICHARDS, L. A. (1954). Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils. Soil Science, 78(2), 154. doi:10.1097/00010694-195408000-00012Al Hassan, M., López-Gresa, M. del P., Boscaiu, M., & Vicente, O. (2016). Stress tolerance mechanisms in Juncus: responses to salinity and drought in three Juncus species adapted to different natural environments. Functional Plant Biology, 43(10), 949. doi:10.1071/fp16007González-Orenga, S., Ferrer-Gallego, P. P., Laguna, E., López-Gresa, M. P., Donat-Torres, M. P., Verdeguer, M., … Boscaiu, M. (2019). Insights on Salt Tolerance of Two Endemic Limonium Species from Spain. Metabolites, 9(12), 294. doi:10.3390/metabo9120294Al Hassan, M., Morosan, M., López-Gresa, M., Prohens, J., Vicente, O., & Boscaiu, M. (2016). Salinity-Induced Variation in Biochemical Markers Provides Insight into the Mechanisms of Salt Tolerance in Common (Phaseolus vulgaris) and Runner (P. coccineus) Beans. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 17(9), 1582. doi:10.3390/ijms17091582Al Hassan, M., Pacurar, A., López-Gresa, M. P., Donat-Torres, M. P., Llinares, J. V., Boscaiu, M., & Vicente, O. (2016). Effects of Salt Stress on Three Ecologically Distinct Plantago Species. PLOS ONE, 11(8), e0160236. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160236Jamil, M., Rehman, S. ur, Lee, K. J., Kim, J. M., Kim, H.-S., & Rha, E. S. (2007). Salinity reduced growth PS2 photochemistry and chlorophyll content in radish. Scientia Agricola, 64(2), 111-118. doi:10.1590/s0103-90162007000200002Shrivastava, P., & Kumar, R. (2015). Soil salinity: A serious environmental issue and plant growth promoting bacteria as one of the tools for its alleviation. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 22(2), 123-131. doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2014.12.001Acosta-Motos, J., Ortuño, M., Bernal-Vicente, A., Diaz-Vivancos, P., Sanchez-Blanco, M., & Hernandez, J. (2017). Plant Responses to Salt Stress: Adaptive Mechanisms. Agronomy, 7(1), 18. doi:10.3390/agronomy7010018Wu, X., Zhu, Z., Li, X., & Zha, D. (2012). Effects of cytokinin on photosynthetic gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and antioxidative system in seedlings of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) under salinity stress. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 34(6), 2105-2114. doi:10.1007/s11738-012-1010-2Shaheen, S., Naseer, S., Ashraf, M., & Akram, N. A. (2013). Salt stress affects water relations, photosynthesis, and oxidative defense mechanisms inSolanum melongenaL. Journal of Plant Interactions, 8(1), 85-96. doi:10.1080/17429145.2012.718376Shahbaz, M., Mushtaq, Z., Andaz, F., & Masood, A. (2013). Does proline application ameliorate adverse effects of salt stress on growth, ions and photosynthetic ability of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)? Scientia Horticulturae, 164, 507-511. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2013.10.001Volkov, V. (2015). Salinity tolerance in plants. Quantitative approach to ion transport starting from halophytes and stepping to genetic and protein engineering for manipulating ion fluxes. Frontiers in Plant Science, 6. doi:10.3389/fpls.2015.00873Flowers, T. J., & Colmer, T. D. (2008). Salinity tolerance in halophytes*. New Phytologist, 179(4), 945-963. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02531.xMunns, R., & Tester, M. (2008). Mechanisms of Salinity Tolerance. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 59(1), 651-681. doi:10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092911Wu, H., Zhang, X., Giraldo, J. P., & Shabala, S. (2018). It is not all about sodium: revealing tissue specificity and signalling roles of potassium in plant responses to salt stress. Plant and Soil, 431(1-2), 1-17. doi:10.1007/s11104-018-3770-yAssaha, D. V. M., Ueda, A., Saneoka, H., Al-Yahyai, R., & Yaish, M. W. (2017). The Role of Na+ and K+ Transporters in Salt Stress Adaptation in Glycophytes. Frontiers in Physiology, 8. doi:10.3389/fphys.2017.00509Almeida, D. M., Oliveira, M. M., & Saibo, N. J. M. (2017). Regulation of Na+ and K+ homeostasis in plants: towards improved salt stress tolerance in crop plants. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 40(1 suppl 1), 326-345. doi:10.1590/1678-4685-gmb-2016-0106Flowers, T. J., Troke, P. F., & Yeo, A. R. (1977). The Mechanism of Salt Tolerance in Halophytes. Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 28(1), 89-121. doi:10.1146/annurev.pp.28.060177.000513Greenway, H., & Munns, R. (1980). Mechanisms of Salt Tolerance in Nonhalophytes. Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 31(1), 149-190. doi:10.1146/annurev.pp.31.060180.001053Verbruggen, N., & Hermans, C. (2008). Proline accumulation in plants: a review. Amino Acids, 35(4), 753-759. doi:10.1007/s00726-008-0061-6Gupta, B., & Huang, B. (2014). Mechanism of Salinity Tolerance in Plants: Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Characterization. International Journal of Genomics, 2014, 1-18. doi:10.1155/2014/701596Sarker, B. C., Hara, M., & Uemura, M. (2005). Proline synthesis, physiological responses and biomass yield of eggplants during and after repetitive soil moisture stress. Scientia Horticulturae, 103(4), 387-402. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2004.07.010Gil, R., Boscaiu, M., Lull, C., Bautista, I., Lidón, A., & Vicente, O. (2013). Are soluble carbohydrates ecologically relevant for salt tolerance in halophytes? Functional Plant Biology, 40(9), 805. doi:10.1071/fp12359Apel, K., & Hirt, H. (2004). REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES: Metabolism, Oxidative Stress, and Signal Transduction. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 55(1), 373-399. doi:10.1146/annurev.arplant.55.031903.141701Bose, J., Rodrigo-Moreno, A., & Shabala, S. (2013). ROS homeostasis in halophytes in the context of salinity stress tolerance. Journal of Experimental Botany, 65(5), 1241-1257. doi:10.1093/jxb/ert43

Newly Developed MAGIC Population Allows Identification of Strong Associations and Candidate Genes for Anthocyanin Pigmentation in Eggplant

[EN] Multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross (MAGIC) populations facilitate the genetic dissection of complex quantitative traits in plants and are valuable breeding materials. We report the development of the first eggplant MAGIC population (S3 Magic EGGplant InCanum, S3MEGGIC; 8-way), constituted by the 420 S3 individuals developed from the intercrossing of seven cultivated eggplant (Solanum melongena) and one wild relative (S. incanum) parents. The S3MEGGIC recombinant population was genotyped with the eggplant 5k probes SPET platform and phenotyped for anthocyanin presence in vegetative plant tissues (PA) and fruit epidermis (FA), and for the light-insensitive anthocyanic pigmentation under the calyx (PUC). The 7,724 filtered high-confidence single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) confirmed a low residual heterozygosity (6.87%), a lack of genetic structure in the S3MEGGIC population, and no differentiation among subpopulations carrying a cultivated or wild cytoplasm. Inference of haplotype blocks of the nuclear genome revealed an unbalanced representation of the founder genomes, suggesting a cryptic selection in favour or against specific parental genomes. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) analysis for PA, FA, and PUC detected strong associations with two myeloblastosis (MYB) genes similar to MYB113 involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, and with a COP1 gene which encodes for a photo-regulatory protein and may be responsible for the PUC trait. Evidence was found of a duplication of an ancestral MYB113 gene with a translocation from chromosome 10 to chromosome 1 compared with the tomato genome. Parental genotypes for the three genes were in agreement with the identification of the candidate genes performed in the S3MEGGIC population. Our new eggplant MAGIC population is the largest recombinant population in eggplant and is a powerful tool for eggplant genetics and breeding studies.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant RTI2018-094592-B-I00 from MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) and European Unions Horizon, 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement no. 677379 (G2P-SOL project: Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops). AA is grateful to Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades for a pre-doctoral (FPU18/01742) contract. MP is grateful to Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion for a post-doctoral grant (IJC2019-039091-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). PG is grateful to Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion for a post-doctoral grant (FJC2019-038921-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). Funding for open access charge: Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.Mangino, G.; Arrones-Olmo, A.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Pook, T.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Gramazio, P.; Vilanova Navarro, S. (2022). Newly Developed MAGIC Population Allows Identification of Strong Associations and Candidate Genes for Anthocyanin Pigmentation in Eggplant. Frontiers in Plant Science. 13:1-15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.8477891151

Diallel genetic analysis for multiple traits in eggplant and assessment of genetic distances for predicting hybrids performance

[EN] Evaluation and prediction of the performance of hybrids is important in eggplant (Solanum melongena) breeding. A set of 10 morphologically highly diverse eggplant parents, including nine inbred S. melongena and one weedy S. insanum accessions, were intercrossed according to a half-diallel mating design without reciprocals to obtain 45 hybrids. Parents and hybrids were evaluated for 14 morphological and agronomic conventional descriptors and 14 fruit morphometric traits using Tomato Analyzer. Genetic distances among parents were estimated with 7,335 polymorphic SNP markers. Wide ranges of variation and significant differences were observed in the set of 55 genotypes for all traits, although the hybrids group had significantly higher vigour and yield than parents. General and specific combining abilities (GCA and SCA) were significant for most (GCA) or all (SCA) traits, although a wide variation was obtained for GCA/SCA ratios. Many relevant traits associated to vigour and yield had low GCA/SCA ratios and narrow-sense heritability (h(2)) values, while the reverse occurred for most fruit shape descriptors. Broad-sense heritability (H-2) values were generally high, irrespective of GCA/SCA ratios. Significant correlations were found between traits related to size of leaf, flower and fruit, as well as among many fruit morphometric traits. Genetic distances (GD) among parents were coherent with their phylogenetic relationships, but few significant and generally low correlations were found between GD and hybrid means, heterosis or SCA. The results provide relevant information for developing appropriate strategies for parent selection and hybrid development in eggplant and suggest that GD among parents have limited value to predict hybrid performance in this crop.This work has been funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 677379 (G2P-SOL project: Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops) and from Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant AGL2015-64755R from MINECO/FEDER). Funding has also been received from the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives" (internal contract reference CROP/SC-310-03), which is supported by the Government of Norway. The project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes around the world. For further information see the project website: http://www.cwrdiversity.org/. Prashant Kaushik is grateful to ICAR for a pre-doctoral grant. Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a pre-doctoral (Programa FPI de la UPV-Subprograma 1/2013 call) contract. Mariola Plazas is grateful to Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad for a post-doctoral grant within the Juan de la Cierva programme (FCJI-2015-24835). Authors also thank the Italian Eggplant Genome Sequencing Consortium for providing access to an improved version of the eggplant genome. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Kaushik, P.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Gramazio, P. (2018). Diallel genetic analysis for multiple traits in eggplant and assessment of genetic distances for predicting hybrids performance. PLoS ONE. 13(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199943Se019994313

Drought tolerance among accessions of eggplant and related species

[EN] Adapting eggplant (Solanum melongena) cultivars to climate change requires the development of drought tolerant cultivars. In order to identify sources of variation for drought tolerance we have characterized nine accessions of eggplant and six of related species for tolerance to drought using a control with optimum irrigation and a drought treatment with a 50% reduction of irrigation. Many differences were found in the materials studied for the four parameters measured (leaf length and width, plant height and dry biomass). The materials with better performance have been S. elaeagnifolium and one accession of eggplant, while the most discriminant traits have been plant height and dry biomass. Overall, the results indicate that there is a large diversity in the germplasm of eggplant and related species for tolerance to drought.This work was completed as part of the initiative “Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives”, which is supported by the Government of Norway. The project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and is implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes.Fita Fernández, AM.; Fioruci, F.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Rodríguez Burruezo, A.; Prohens Tomás, J. (2015). Drought tolerance among accessions of eggplant and related species. Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca : Horticulture. 72(2):461-462. doi:10.15835/buasvmcn-hort:11600S46146272

Introducción al software TASSEL para el análisis masivo de datos de genotipado

Un paso esencial en muchos proyectos de investigación genética es el genotipado de las muestras humanas, animales, vegetales o microbianas que se están estudiando. Las tecnologías de genotipado se basan en la identificación de diferencias entre las secuencias genómicas que puedan dar lugar a cambios importantes en el fenotipo. Como resultado, las plataformas de genotipado de alto rendimiento generan una enorme cantidad de información, para cuyo correcto análisis se requieren algunos fundamentos de bioinformática y Big Data. Existen diferentes programas informáticos para el análisis masivo de datos brutos, pero a menudo se basan en líneas de comandos, que distan mucho de ser intuitivas. En este artículo vamos a utilizar el software Trait Analysis by aSSociation, Evolution and Linkage (TASSEL), ya que es una herramienta muy útil y fácil de usar que permite un análisis visual de las secuencias genotipadas.Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Arrones Olmo, A.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Gramazio, P.; Prohens Tomás, J. (2023). Introducción al software TASSEL para el análisis masivo de datos de genotipado. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/19356

Evaluation of advanced backcrosses of eggplant with Solanum elaeagnifolium introgressions under low N conditions

[EN] Selection and breeding of eggplant (Solanum melongena) materials with good performance under low nitrogen (N) fertilization inputs is a major breeding objective to reduce environmental degradation, risks for human health, and production costs. Solanum elaeagnifolium, an eggplant wild relative, is a potential source of variation for introgression breeding in eggplant. We evaluated 24 plant, fruit, and composition traits in a set of genotyped advanced backcrosses (BC2 and BC3) of eggplant with S. elaeagnifolium introgressions under low N conditions. Significant differences were found between the two parents for most traits, and a wide phenotypic diversity was observed in the advanced backcrosses, with some individuals with a much higher yield, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and phenolics content than the S. melongena parent. In general, the lower the proportion of S. elaeagnifolium genome introgressed in the advanced backcrosses, the higher was the general phenotypic resemblance to S. melongena. Putative QTLs were detected for stem diameter (pd4), presence of prickles in stem (ps6), leaf (pl6) and fruit calyx (pc6), fruit width (fw7), chlorogenic acid content (cg5), total phenolic acid peaks area (ph6), chlorogenic acid peak area (ca1), and phenolic acids pattern (cp1). Our results reveal that introgression breeding of eggplant with S. elaeagnifolium has a great interest for eggplant breeding, particularly for adaptation to low N conditions. These materials can potentially contribute to the development of improved eggplant varieties for a more sustainable agriculture.This work was supported by the project SOLNUE in the framework of the H2020 call SusCrop-ERA-Net (ID#47) and funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PCI2019-103375) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigación and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant RTI2018-094592-B-I00 from MCIU/AEI/ FEDER, UE). The Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, and Fondo Social Europeo funded a predoctoral fellowship to Gloria Villanueva (PRE2019-103375). The Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, and Fondo Social Europeo funded a predoctoral fellowship to Elena Rosa-Martínez (BES-2016-077482) and a postdoctoral fellowship to Mariola Plazas (IJC2019-039091-I).Villanueva-Párraga, G.; Rosa-Martínez, E.; Sahin, A.; García-Fortea, E.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Vilanova Navarro, S. (2021). Evaluation of advanced backcrosses of eggplant with Solanum elaeagnifolium introgressions under low N conditions. Agronomy. 11(9):1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091770S11811

Genomic tools for the enhancement of vegetable crops: a case in eggplant

[EN] Dramatic advances in genomics during the last decades have led to a revolution in the field of vegetable crops breeding. Some vegetables, like tomato, have served as model crops in the application of genomic tools to plant breeding but other important crops, like eggplant (Solanum melongena), lagged behind. The advent of next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and the continuous decrease of the sequencing costs have allowed to develop genomic tools with a greatly benefit for no-model plants such as eggplant. In this review we present the currently available genomic resources in eggplant and discuss their interest for breeding. The first draft of eggplant genome sequence and the new upcoming improved assembly, as well as the transcriptomes and RNA-based studies represent important genomic tools. The transcriptomes of cultivated eggplant and several wild relatives of eggplant are also available and have provided relevant information for the development of markers and understanding biological processes in eggplant. In addition, a historical overview of the eggplant genetic mapping studies, performed with different types of markers and experimental populations, provides a picture of the increase over time of the precision and resolution in the identification of candidate genes and QTLs for a wide range of stresses, and morphoagronomic and domestication traits. Finally, we discuss how the development of new genetic and genomic tools in eggplant can pave the way for increasing the efficiency of eggplant breeding for developing improved varieties able to cope with the old and new challenges in horticultural production.This work has been funded in part by the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives", which is supported by the Government of Norway. This project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes around the world. For further information see the project website: http://www.cwrdiversity.org/. Funding has also been received from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 677379 (G2P-SOL project: Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops) and from Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant AGL2015-64755-R from MINECO / FEDER). Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a pre-doctoral (Programa FPI de la UPV-Subprograma 1/2013 call) contract. Mariola Plazas is grateful to Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad for a post-doctoral grant within the Juan de la Cierva programme (FCJI-2015-24835). Giulio Mangino is grateful to Conselleria d'Educacio, Investigacio, Cultura i Esport de la Generalitat Valenciana for a pre-doctoral grant within the Santiago Grisolia programme (GRISOLIAP / 2016/012).Gramazio, P.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Mangino, G.; Herraiz García, FJ.; García-Fortea, E.; Vilanova Navarro, S. (2018). Genomic tools for the enhancement of vegetable crops: a case in eggplant. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca. 46(1):1-13. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha46110936S11346