Distinct intraspecific variations of garlic (Allium sativum L.) revealed by the exon–intron sequences of the alliinase gene

Abstract

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) has been used worldwide as a food and for medicinal purposes since early times. Garlic cultivars exhibit considerable morphological diversity despite the fact that they are mostly sterile and are grown only by vegetative propagation of cloves. Considerable recombination occurs in garlic genomes, including the genes involved in secondary metabolites. We examined the genomic DNAs (gDNAs) from garlic, encoding alliinase, a key enzyme involved in organosulfur metabolism in Allium plants. The 1.7-kb gDNA fragments, covering three exons (2, 3, and 4) and all four introns, were amplified from total DNAs prepared from garlic samples produced in Asia and Europe, leading to 73 sequences in total: Japan (JPN), China (CHN), India (IND), Spain (ESP), and France (FRA). The exon sequences were highly conserved among all the sequences, probably reflecting the fully functional alliinase associated with the flavor quality. Distinct intraspecific variations were detected for all four intron sequences, leading to the haplotype classifications. A close relationship between JPN and CHN was observed for all four introns, whereas IND showed a more divergent distribution. ESP and FRA afforded clearly different variants compared with those from Asian sequences. The present study provides information that could be useful in the development of an additional molecular marker for garlic authentication and quality control.

Genetic diversity of garlic (Allium sativum L.) germplasm from China by fluorescent‐based AFLP, SSR and InDel markers

“…The nuclear genome of Allium plants, such as garlic and onion, is relatively large (approximately 15 000 Mbp) compared with that of other monocot plants (Ohri and Pistrick , Endo et al. ,). Due to the limited genome information available for garlic, AFLP, ISSR and SSR markers are most applicable to analysis of garlic diversity.…”

Reduction of cholesterol and fasting blood sugar levels by one month supplementation of fresh garlic in diabetic Libyan patients: A double blind, baseline controlled study

“…Systematic reviews and recent studies provide evidence that garlic intake exhibited no significant effect on blood level of cholesterol [26,27]. The heterogenicity of the results are partly due to the variety of garlic preparations used, poor standardization of products tested, the diversity of study designs employed and/or not publishing little effects or no effects observed [28,29].…”

Garlic (A. sativum L.) alliinase gene family polymorphism reflects bolting types and cysteine sulphoxides content

“…Jovan, which we investigated in more detail. Because previous studies have not focused on the first exon of the alliinase gene [ 24 , 25 ], we compared our sequences to complete sequences available in databases. Only the first ATG of sequence [GenBank: Z12622], which was used as a reference, was located in the same position as in our sequences.…”

“…This finding could be expected for a protein with high substrate specificity participating in a catalytic process. Endo et al [ 24 ] reported that only functional copies of this gene occur in analysed genotypes garlics, probably reflecting the use of commercial garlic samples with fully functional enzymes to ensure the metabolism of flavor precursors. They also found the exon sequences highly conserved among all the clones studied.…”