A Mesoamerican origin of cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.): Implications for the conservation of plant genetic resources

Abstract

Knowledge on the structure and distribution of genetic diversity is a key aspect to plan and execute an efficient conservation and utilization of the genetic resources of any crop as well as for determining historical demographic inferences. In this work, a large data set of 1,765 accessions of cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill, Annonaceae), an underutilized fruit tree crop native to the Neotropics and used as a food source by pre-Columbian cultures, was collected from six different countries across the American continent and amplified with nine highly informative microsatellite markers. The structure analyses, fine representation of the genetic diversity and an ABC approach suggest a Mesoamerican origin of the crop, contrary to previous reports, with clear implications for the dispersion of plant germplasm between Central and South America in pre-Columbian times. These results together with the potential distribution of the species in a climatic change context using two different climate models provide new insights for the history and conservation of extant genetic resources of cherimoya that can be applied to other currently underutilized woody perennial crops.

Phylogenetics of Annona cherimola (Annonaceae) and some of its closest relatives

“…This situation of high phenotypic but low genetic diversity is common in other crops and it is considered a paradox of domestication (van Zonneveld et al, ). The results obtained in the consensus trees are in concordance with results recently obtained based on nuclear molecular markers (Larranaga et al, ). On the one hand, although the two accessions of A. pruinosa [species only reported from Costa Rica and Nicaragua according to Schatz () and GBIF] and all A. cherimola accessions appear in one cluster, the cherimoya accessions from Mexico and Honduras seem to be closer to A. pruinosa (Fig.…”

“…Most authors have considered the Andean region as the center of origin of the species because of the high phenotypic diversity found in the area (Popenoe, ; Bonavia et al, ). Nevertheless, a recent biogeographical study with SSR markers with a large data set of cherimoya accessions, covering the entire distribution range of cherimoya, showed higher genetic diversity values in accessions from Mesoamerica and an important genetic bottleneck in the establishment of the populations in South America, supporting the hypothesis of a Central American origin of the species (Larranaga et al, ). This situation of high phenotypic but low genetic diversity is common in other crops and it is considered a paradox of domestication (van Zonneveld et al, ).…”

“…In addition to plastid DNA analyses, additional molecular studies have been carried out in Annona mainly for germplasm fingerprinting and genetic diversity studies; those include isozymes (Ellstrand & Lee, ; Pascual et al, ; Perfectti & Pascual, , , ), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA or RAPDs (Ronning et al, ), amplified fragment length polymorphism or AFLPs (Rahman et al, ), and, more recently, microsatellites (Escribano et al, , , , ; Pereira et al, ; van Zonneveld et al, ; Larranaga et al, ).…”

Bridging molecular genetics and participatory research: how access and benefit‐sharing stimulate interdisciplinary research for tropical biology and conservation

“…, Larranaga et al . ). Furthermore, DNA barcoding helps define management units to conserve populations of sub‐taxa of a species or gene pool (Cavers et al .…”

“…, Larranaga et al . ). These international studies allow to cover extensive geographic ranges to set priorities for conservation of genetic diversity of plant species.…”