Cytogenetic and cytological analysis of advanced genetic material of cape gooseberry Physalis peruviana for use in plant breeding

Abstract

The cape gooseberry, Physalis peruviana L., is a crop that is transitioning from a semi-wild rural food source to becoming an international export commodity fruit deserving of greater attention from the scientific community, producers, policy makers and opinion makers. Despite its importance, the crop has serious technological development challenges, mainly associated with the limited supply of genetically improved materials for producers and consumers. In the present study, the level of ploidy of 100 genotypes of gooseberry from a working collection was determined by counting the number of chromosomes and chloroplasts, to include them in the breeding program. The number of chromosomes in dividing cells of root-tip meristems, as well as the number of chloroplasts per guard cell, from plants grown in vitro and ex vitro conditions were determined. Haploid with 24 chromosomes, doubled haploid-tetraploid with 48 chromosomes, aneuploid (44 and 49 chromosomes) and mixoploid genotypes with 36 to 86 chromosomes were found. The number of chloroplasts / cell guard ranged from 4-8, 6-16, 7-16 and 9-21 for the haploid, aneuploid, doubled haploid-tetraploid and mixoploid genotypes, respectively. Evidence of a high cytogenetic diversity in the evaluated genotypes.

Nuclear DNA content and comparative FISH mapping of the 5s and 45s rDNA in wild and cultivated populations of Physalis peruviana L.

“…For DAPI fluorophore, BP 340/30 excitation and BP 510/90 emission filters were used; for Oregon Green 488, BP 470/40 excitation and BP 540/50 emission filters were used; and for Rhodamine, BP 560/40 excitation and BP 630/75 emission filters were used. We specifically worked with cells in metaphase that contained 48 recognizable chromosomes to avoid variation in the results attributable to any somatic aneuploidy present in the meristematic tissue of the root of the species, a phenomenon already observed in prior studies (Carbajal et al 2021;Franco et al 2021). The following programs were utilized: GIMP 2.10.14 was used for picture overlaying and chromosomal individualization; IdeoKar1.2 (Mirzaghaderi and Marzangi 2015) for morphological measurements of chromosomes and the production of ideograms; and ImageJ for fluorescence quantification of probe signals.…”

Genotype-by-environment interaction and selection of superior Physalis peruviana L. genotypes

“…Several studies have been carried out to identify genetic resources useful for the cape gooseberry breeding program. Some of these investigations include the study of ploidy level and genetic diversity, agronomic characterization, the development of haploid and dihaploid lines via anther culture, and the generation of F1 populations (Suescún et al, 2011;Liberato et al, 2014;García-Arias et al, 2018;Mayorga-Cubillos et al, 2019;Franco-Florez et al, 2021;Sánchez-Betancourt and Nuñez, 2022). From these studies, nine promising materials with desirable attributes of yield and fruit quality were chosen for evaluation across multiple locations to assess G×E interaction and select genotypes with specific or broad adaptation in Colombia.…”