Development of a Multipurpose Core Collection of New Promising Iranian Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Genotypes Based on Morphological and Pomological Traits

Abstract

Establishment of a core collection, of limited size and better representation of the whole germplasm phenotypic diversity, is fundamental for fruit tree breeding programs from an economic and management points of view. To achieve this goal with pomegranate fruit trees, 221 genotypes were evaluated for 25 morphological and pomological traits during two successive years. Using the maximization strategy in Power Core software, 12 out of 221 pomegranate genotypes were selected for the new core collection, reducing the population size to 5.42% of the entire collection. Variance difference (VD%) and mean difference (MD%) were calculated as 42.68% and 7.03% in core collection, respectively. This indicates an excellent diversity amongst genotypes within the core collection. The Shannon’s diversity index (H′) in the formed collection suggested that 19 out of 25 phenotypic variables were of high diversity. Results showed that core collection genotypes are equally presented in all three population groups formed by cluster analysis through the original collection. The current research is the first in using phenotypic data to establish a core collection of Iranian pomegranate germplasm. The formation of this core collection will be an effective step towards examining the diversity of the original population and breeding prospects.

First assessment of Iranian pomegranate germplasm using targeted metabolites and morphological traits to develop the core collection and modeling of the current and future spatial distribution under climate change conditions

“…Previously developed pomegranate core collection size by Razi et al [33] with 25 morphological traits was 5.6% of the entire collection (225 genotypes) which is lower in size than the core collection obtained in this study. Kazemi et al [26] also developed a core collection of pomegranate based on the data of 12 SSR markers on 738 accessions, which comprised 34 accessions (about 4.61% of the total collection).…”

“…The results of PCA of 100 pomegranate genotypes from Iran using 40 morphological descriptors indicated that the first three components explained 22.24% of the variance [31] which was less than our study. Principal factor analysis of 25 morphological traits on 221 Iranian pomegranate genotypes classified traits in seven main groups which the first three principal components explained about 48.58% of the cumulative variance [33]. Among the traits used in that study, fruit skin color, fruit shape, flower position, and fruitful flower percentage appeared as the best traits to differentiate the pomegranate genotypes.…”

“…which is in agreement with the present results. Razi et al [33] evaluated the morphological characteristics of 221 Iranian pomegranate genotypes, and the genotypes were divided into three subpopulations according to the K-means partitioning and cluster analysis.…”

Establishment of DNA Molecular Fingerprint of Caladium Core Collections

“…In the 1980s, Frankel (1984) and Brown (1989) proposed the concept of core collection to maximize the genetic information of a population with a small number of resources [25,26]. Genetic diversity is enriched, and the number of resources and management costs are reduced in this concept [27,28]. The construction of core resource banks at an early stage is based on phenotypic trait evaluation, which is simple and operable, but low in accuracy due to its vulnerability to environmental influences [29].…”

Genetic Diversity Analysis and Core Germplasm Collection Construction of Camellia oleifera Based on Fruit Phenotype and SSR Data

“…Both morphological and molecular markers can be used to construct a core collection. The construction of core collections based on morphological, physiological, and biochemical traits has been reported for pomegranate ( Punica granatum L.) [ 9 ], Huangxinzimu ( Catalpa fargesii f.duclouxii ) [ 10 ], and Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. [ 11 ].…”