No abstract

The Andean mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum Kunth) grows wild in the northern paramos of South América. The berries present potential opportunities for agribusiness, but an efficient technology for the production of plants and berries is required. On the other hand, the development of plant production methods from mortiño seeds will allow the plants’ accessibility and its potential use in breeding programs. The objective of this study was to develop an efficient in vitro protocol for accelerated production using seeds. We carried out the research in four phases: seed germination, plant multiplication, rooting, and acclimatization in the greenhouse. For in vitro seed germination, we studied the effect of two culture media [woody plant medium (WPM) and Murashige and Skoog medium (MS], two photoperiods (16 and 24 hours of light), and two temperatures (18 and 28 °C). The best treatment was found to be WPM + 24 h light + 18 °C. In the micropropagation of seedlings, the effect of two concentrations of three cytokinines [(trans-zeatin riboside (TZR), zeatin (ZEA), and 2-isopentenyl adenine (2iP)], and two photoperiods (16 and 0 h light) was evaluated, whereby the concentration of 0.5 mg L−1 of TZR was the best treatment. For rooting, two doses of three auxins [indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)] were evaluated, resulting in the 2 mg·L−1 concentration of IBA giving the best root induction. Finally, the in vitro rooted plants were acclimatized in a greenhouse. We found that peat was the best substrate. These results show that the technology developed here is useful for in vitro production of V. floribundum using seeds.

A microsatellite‐enriched library was constructed in the Andean root crop arracacha (Arracacia xanthorriza B). Of 18 loci tested, 14 were found to be polymorphic after screening for diversity in different cultivars and related wild forms. Allelic diversity in the crop was low but the transferability of the primers to closely related wild forms was good. The loci reported here are the first genetic markers to be published for this species and will be useful for future germplasm characterization and studies of genetic diversity.

Andean blackberry (Rubus glaucus Benth.) is an emerging fruit crop with significant commercial potential. Despite its growing popularity, basic research about its genetic resources and breeding remains insufficient. The aim of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of Andean blackberry cultivars and related berries species from the main production areas in Ecuador. We analysed a total of 106 samples and performed DNA screening with different molecular markers: random-amplified polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) and a set of representative samples with amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). The tested RAPD primers did not reveal any differentiation among accessions identified as R. glaucus, however one ISSR primer was useful to find polymorphisms allowing the selection of 29 accessions for the analysis with AFLP markers. AFLP-M13 technology was used for screen genetic variations among these accessions and eight wild Rubus accessions. We scored 203 bands using five primer combinations; out of these 152 were informative in R. glaucus. AFLP markers clearly distinguish R. glaucus from the screened wild Rubus species, also an unexpected genetic structure was revealed among R. glaucus cultivars. This genetic differentiation and detection of admixed genotypes suggest a possible introgression of wild Rubus species in R. glaucus. Our findings are relevant for blackberry genetic breeding and use of these genetic resources.