Essentially Derived Varieties in Ornamentals

The concept of Essentially derived varieties (EDVs) was introduced in the UPOV 1991 act to protect the interests of the breeder of the initial variety. When a variety is considered as an EDV, authorisation for commercial exploitation is needed from the breeder of the initial variety. There is considerable debate going on about which approaches to use for determining essential derivation and also which thresh-olds should be used in the different plant species. For determining whether a variety should be considered essentially derived from an existing variety two conceptually different approaches can be taken. The first one is based on genetic conformity, the second is more a forensic approach. For the implementation of the EDV concept using the conformity approach it is important that similarities between unrelated varieties can clearly be separated from essentially derived varieties. In the forensic approach the high genetic similarity between original variety and mutant is taken as a starting point. The basic idea is to calculate the probability that a second, putatively derived, variety would have a profile identical to the initial variety, given an independent breeding history. Both approaches will be illustrated and ways to implement the EDV concept will be discusse

Resistenties beperken insectenschade

Tot een paar jaar geleden was wittevlieg geen probleem in kool in Nederland. Nu duikt het insect overal op in savooiekool, boerenkool en spruitjes. Wageningen UR, Plant Breeding werkt aan resistente rassen

Analysis of a database of DNA profiles of 734 hybrid tea rose varieties

Over 10,000 Hybrid Tea rose varieties have been described. The large number of varieties and the size of the reference collections may cause problems in DUS (Distinctiveness, Uniformity, and Stability) testing. Molecular markers may help to solve these problems by providing high power to identify and recognise seedling-derived varieties based on unique genotypes, while grouping mutants into groups with identical marker scores. Here we describe the use of a set of 11 rose microsatellite markers to generate a database of molecular profiles of Hybrid Tea varieties. The data were analysed with respect to reproducibility, discriminative power, genetic (sub) structure, and correlation between molecular and DUS characteristics. The use of the markers in the DUS context is discussed with respect to the options 2 and 3 as they were formulated by the UPOV-BMT working group. It is concluded that an option 3 approach (granting of PBR based on distinctness observed with molecular markers) is feasible for ros

Diversity between and within farmers’ varieties of tomato from Eritrea

Tomato yields in Eritrea are low (15 Mg/ha) compared with 19 Mg/ha in Africa and 27 Mg/ha worldwide. This is partly caused by poor quality of varieties used. This study analysed the diversity among and heterogeneity within farmers’ varieties of tomato from Eritrea and compared these varieties with other African and Italian varieties. Fifteen simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used for the genetic analysis. Genetic similarities among the varieties were calculated and an Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean analysis was performed. Furthermore, individual plants of varieties were genotyped to evaluate uniformity within varieties. A high degree of diversity was observed among the Eritrean varieties. Thirteen out of the 15 SSRs were polymorphic, with 2 to 5 alleles per marker. The dendrogram showed two major types of varieties: San-Marzano and Marglob. Eritrean varieties were closely related to old Italian varieties in both types. Analysis of the within-variety variation showed that the Eritrean tomato genotypes were less uniform than the other varieties, probably because of deliberate mixing. A survey among farmers showed that some of them purposely mixed seeds to prolong the harvesting period, for yield stability and stress tolerance. Farmers value ‘new material’ as a source of influ

The utility of NBS profiling for plant systematics: a first study in tuber-bearing Solanum species

Systematic relationships are important criteria for researchers and breeders to select materials. We evaluated a novel molecular technique, nucleotide binding site (NBS) profiling, for its potential in phylogeny reconstruction. NBS profiling produces multiple markers in resistance genes and their analogs (RGAs). Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a crop with a large secondary genepool, which contains many important traits that can be exploited in breeding programs. In this study we used a set of over 100 genebank accessions, representing 49 tuber-bearing wild and cultivated Solanum species. NBS profiling was compared to amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Cladistic and phenetic analyses showed that the two techniques had similar resolving power and delivered trees with a similar topology. However, the different statistical tests used to demonstrate congruency of the trees were inconclusive. Visual inspection of the trees showed that, especially at the lower level, many accessions grouped together in the same way in both trees; at the higher level, when looking at the more basal nodes, only a few groups were well supported. Again this was similar for both techniques. The observation that higher level groups were poorly supported might be due to the nature of the material and the way the species evolved. The similarity of the NBS and AFLP results indicate that the role of disease resistance in speciation is limite

Standardization and application of microsatellite markers for variety identification in tomato and wheat

The present study is part of a EU project that aims to demonstrate the technical viability of STMS markers for variety identification. As examples two important European crop species, tomato and wheat were chosen. Initially, about 30-40 STMS markers were used to identify a set of 20 good markers per crop and to standardise the methodology and the interpretation of the results in different laboratories. Several systems were used for the detection of STMS polymorphisms. The selected STMS markers are being tested on 500 varieties of each species and databases are being constructed. The first comparisons of data generated by the different laboratories revealed a high degree of agreement. The causes of discrepancies between duplicate samples analysed in different laboratories and precautions to prevent them, are discussed

Allele mining in solanum: conserved homologues of Rpi-blb 1 are identified in Solanum stoloniferum

Allele mining facilitates the discovery of novel resistance (R) genes that can be used in breeding programs and sheds light on the evolution of R genes. Here we focus on two R genes, Rpi-blb1 and Rpi-blb2, originally derived from Solanum bulbocastanum. The Rpi-blb1 gene is part of a cluster of four paralogues and is flanked by RGA1-blb and RGA3-blb. Highly conserved RGA1-blb homologues were discovered in all the tested tuber-bearing (TB) and non-tuber-bearing (NTB) Solanum species, suggesting RGA1-blb was present before the divergence of TB and NTB Solanum species. The frequency of the RGA3-blb gene was much lower. Interestingly, highly conserved Rpi-blb1 homologues were discovered not only in S. bulbocastanum but also in Solanum stoloniferum that is part of the series Longipedicellata. Resistance assays and genetic analyses in several F1 populations derived from the relevant late blight resistant parental genotypes harbouring the conserved Rpi-blb1 homologues, indicated the presence of four dominant R genes, designated as Rpi-sto1, Rpi-plt1, Rpi-pta1 and Rpi-pta2. Furthermore, Rpi-sto1 and Rpi-plt1 resided at the same position on chromosome VIII as Rpi-blb1 in S. bulbocastanum. Segregation data also indicated that an additional unknown late blight resistance gene was present in three populations. In contrast to Rpi-blb1, no homologues of Rpi-blb2 were detected in any material examined. Hypotheses are proposed to explain the presence of conserved Rpi-blb1 homologues in S. stoloniferum. The discovery of conserved homologues of Rpi-blb1 in EBN 2 tetraploid species offers the possibility to more easily transfer the late blight resistance genes to potato varieties by classical breeding

Development of Sequence Tagged Microsatellite Site (STMS) markers in Azalea

A genomic library was constructed from DNA of two azalea genotypes: a Belgian pot azalea R. simsii hybrid Mevr. Van Belle and a Chinese R. simsii from Daoxian. An enrichment of microsatellite containing sequences was performed as in Van de Wiel et al. (1999). Fragments were sequenced and primers were designed that allow the amplification of the microsatellite repeat. About 220 microsatellite containing clones were selected from the enrichment procedure. Mainly dinucleotide repeats and some trinucleotide repeats were found. The selected primers were tested in a small set of reference varieties to check their value (specificity and polymorphic rate) and to set up the PCR-conditions. Five primer pairs have been tested, two of them gave a specific and polymorphic pattern. They were further screened by radioactive PCR on a selection of 5 plants from the azalea breeders gene pool which included the two genotypes used library construction. These 2 STMS markers uniquely identified the 5 plants

Natural hybridization between Populus nigra L. and P. x canadensis Moench. Hybrid offspring competes for niches along the Rhine river in the Netherlands

Black poplar (Populus nigra L.) is a major species for European riparian forests but its abundance has decreased over the decades due to human influences. For restoration of floodplain woodlands, the remaining black poplar stands may act as source population. A potential problem is that P. nigra and Populus deltoides have contributed to many interspecific hybrids, which have been planted in large numbers. As these Populus x canadensis clones have the possibility to intercross with wild P. nigra trees, their offspring could establish themselves along European rivers. In this study, we have sampled 44 poplar seedlings and young trees that occurred spontaneously along the Rhine river and its tributaries in the Netherlands. Along these rivers, only a few native P. nigra L. populations exist in combination with many planted cultivated P. x canadensis trees. By comparison to reference material from P. nigra, P. deltoides and P. x canadensis, species-specific AFLP bands and microsatellite alleles indicated that nearly half of the sampled trees were not pure P. nigra but progeny of natural hybridisation that had colonised the Rhine river banks. The posterior probability method as implemented in NewHybrids using microsatellite data was the superior method in establishing the most likely parentage. The results of this study indicate that offspring of hybrid cultivated poplars compete for the same ecological niche as native black poplars