A broad germplasm bank collection containing most of the autochthonous Spanish grapevine cultivars was analyzed using six sequence-tagged microsatellite site (STMS) loci: VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, ssrVrZAG47, ssrVrZAG62, and ssrVrZAG79. The number of alleles obtained ranged from 9 in ssrVrZAG47 to 13 in VVS2, and the observed genotypes per locus varied between 24 (ssrVrZAG47) and 41 (VVSS2). A total of 57 unique genotypes were obtained considering all 6 loci, and 40 varieties presented at least 1 of these specific genotypes. The genotypic combinations for the 6 loci have generated 163 different profiles in the 176 cultivars. Ten pairs of accessions and one group of four Garnacha's cultivars can not be differentiated. The observed heterozygosity varied between 75.6 (VVMD7) and 90.9% (VVMD5), without significant differences from the expected values for any loci. The VVMD5 locus was the most informative, and also showed the highest discrimination power. The cumulative discrimination power for all six loci was practically 1; however, in fact, these STMS loci have differentiated only about 93% of the accessions, probably owing to high relatedness of the plant material. Usefulness of this STMS set for characterization of a Spanish grapevine collection is emphasized, as well as the elaboration of databases with these molecular markers.

1993. Effect of salinity on growth, ion content and CO2 assimilation rate in lemon varieties on different rootstocks. -Physiol. Plant. 89: 427^32.Citrus rootstocks as well as lemon scions differ in their ability to restrict sodium and chloride ions and in their sensitivity to saline stress. To determine the behaviour of different rootstock-scion combinations, 3 lemon cultivars on 3 different rootstocks were grown in containers in a greenhouse and irrigated with 5, 25 and 50 mM NaCl. Growth of the plants and foliar contents of sodium and chloride as well as physiological parameters including transpiration rate, gas exchange, stomatal conductance and chlorophyll content were evaluated. Shoot length of the plants on sour orange and on C. volkameriana showed a greater reduction with salinity than those on C. macrophylla. Accumulation of salt in the leaves was also scion dependent, cv. 'Eureka' having higher concentrations of sodium and chloride than the others. Assimilation rate of CO2 and stomatal conductance were greatly reduced by salinity in the leaves of Vema and Eureka on sour orange. Gas exchange in the leaves was highly correlated with chloride and sodium contents in all lemon-rootstock combinations. C. macrophylla showed a higher resistance to salinity than C. volkameriana and sour orange. Inferences on the mechanisms of action of salt on lemon trees are discussed.

A germplasm set of twenty-five grapevine accessions, forming eleven groups of possible berry skin color mutants, were genotyped with twelve microsatellite loci, being eleven of them identified as true color mutants. The polyphenolic profiling of the confirmed mutant cultivars revealed a total of twenty-four polyphenols, comprising non-colored compounds (phenolic acids, flavan-3-ols, flavonols and a stilbene) and anthocyanins. Results showed differences in the contribution of malvidin-3-O-glucoside to the characteristic Pinot Noir anthocyanins profile. Regarding the two Pique-Poul colored variants, the lighter variant was richer than the darker one in all classes of compounds, excepting anthocyanins. In Moscatel Galego Roxo the F3'H pathway seems to be more active than F3'5'H, resulting in higher amounts of cyanidin, precursor of the cyanidin derivatives. As far as we are aware, this is the first time that a relationship between the content of polyphenolic compounds is established in groups of grape berry skin color mutant cultivars.

Nine sweet cherry and eight sour cherry varieties located in a germplasm bank at Fundão, Portugal, were studied from the viewpoint of characterization. Most of them were autochthonous cultivars that have a high risk of extinction since at the present they are markedly minor varieties. Morphological characteristics were evaluated in different organs: crown and trunk of the trees, leaves, flowers and fruits, over a three consecutive years period. Statistical analyses were carried out in order to detect similarities between cultivars as well as the existence of synonymies. Qualitative characteristics of the fruits were scored in order to carry out the multivariate analysis. A dendrogram of the evaluated characters shows the marked differentiation between sour and sweet cherries and suggests the existing synonymies. Conservation of the autochthonous cultivars in the future is highly recommended.

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