Assessment of Genetic Relationships between Streptocarpus x hybridus V. Parents and F1 Progenies Using SRAP Markers and FT-IR Spectroscopy

Abstract

The genetic relationship among three Streptocarpus parents and twelve F1 hybrids was assessed using sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) molecular markers and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Both methods were able to discriminate F1 hybrids and parents as revealed by cluster analysis. For hybrid identification, the type III SRAP marker was the most effective due to the presence of male-specific bands in the hybrids. Different behaviors in the biochemical variability of DNA samples have been observed by FT-IR spectral analysis, which might be attributed to the inherent nature of the genomic DNA from parents and their F1 progenies. Mantel test was also carried out to compare morphological, SRAP, and FT-IR results based on genetic distances. The highest correlation coefficient was found between morphological and SRAP marker distances (R = 0.607; p ≤ 0.022). A lower correlation was observed between the morphological and FT-IR distance matrix (R = 0.231; p ≤0.008). Moreover, a positive correlation was found between the distances generated with SRAP and FT-IR analyses (R = 0.026) but was not statistically significant. These findings show that both SRAP and FT-IR techniques combined with morphological descriptions can be used effectively for nonconventional breeding programs for Streptocarpus to obtain new and valuable varieties.

Molecular and phytochemical characterization of F1 Streptocarpus hybrids and antioxidant potential of their flower extracts

“…Interesting is the fact that in this study none of the F1 Streptocarpus hybrids presented white colour of flowers. A possible explanation for this phenomenon could be that 'Snow White' (P3) used for the second parental cross is a diploid X-ray irradiated mutant from 'Maassen's White' -a mutation of the 'Constant Nymph' which has violet-blue flowers (Hârţa et al, 2020). Moreover, according to Lawrence and Sturgess (1957) the evolution of white flower colour seemed to be controlled by the mutation of successive genes becoming thus dominant and finally epistatic to their predecessors.…”

“…The anthocyanins and flavones were identified and quantified in H12 flower extract. This hybrid presented the highest polyphenolic content and the most valuable flower characters from ornamental point of view as previously reported by Hârţa et al (2020). The ESI-MS (Electrospray ionization coupled with mass spectrometry) analysis was performed on an Agilent 1200 system that was equipped with a binary pump delivery system LC-20 AT (Prominence), a degasser DGU-20 A3 (Prominence) and a diode array SPD-M20 UV-VIS detector (DAD).…”

“…The hybrids resulted from the following two crosses: P1 x P2 and P1 x P3. The plant material was obtained as described by Hârţa et al (2020). Based on the flower colour, which was considered to be an important indicator for the ornamental value, six F1 Streptocarpus hybrids from each cross were selected for RAPD and phytochemical analyses (Table 1).…”

“…Based on the flower colour, which was considered to be an important indicator for the ornamental value, six F1 Streptocarpus hybrids from each cross were selected for RAPD and phytochemical analyses (Table 1). Meanwhile, the hybrids were propagated by leaf cuttings as well and grown in greenhouse conditions (Hârţa et al, 2020) to ensure the complete data set for genetic and phytochemical analyses.…”

“…The ornamental value of Streptocarpus hybrids has been usually assessed using different morphological descriptors for flowers, such as flower size, shape and colour (Dibley, 2008), which were the main traits chosen by plant breeders in artificial selections. Breeding programs that combine morphological descriptors with molecular markers could enable a more precise and effective characterization of the hybrids (Hârţa et al, 2020). In many ornamental plants, several types of molecular markers, such as random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP), inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and microsatellites (SSRs), have been used successfully to evaluate the genetic relationships between hybrids and their genitors (Abe et al, 2002;Rout and Mohapatra, 2006;Conceição et al, 2011;Röper et al, 2015;Ramzan et al, 2018, Aros et al, 2019.…”