Genetic identification and characterization of Armenian grapevine cultivars

Abstract

Armenia is an important area of crop origins including grapes. The objectives of this study were the molecular characterization of 38 Armenian grape genotypes and the detection of the genetic relationships between the accessions. In total, 164 alleles were obtained at 18 SSRs loci. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 5 to 15 with a mean number of 9.17 alleles per locus. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.514 (VVIN73) to 0.90 (VVS2) and the observed heterozygosity from 0.417 (VVIV37) to 0.947 (VVMD7 and VMC1B11). In our research the highest values of polymorphic information content (PIC) were obtained using markers VVS2, VRZAG62 and VRZAG79, while the least informative ones were VVIN73 and VVIB01. A high level of gene diversity was observed between ancient and new bred cultivars. Higher values were recorded for the new grape varieties, (He = 0.792) and lower values for ancient cultivars (He = 0.739). The mean number of alleles (MNA) for all loci per population ranged from 7.39 in ancient to 8,00 in new crosses. A clear separation was observed for the groups of ancient aboriginal cultivars, Vitis vinifera L. xVitis vinifera L. and Vitis vinifera L. x Vitis amurensis Rupr .crosses, which were bred in Armenia and seedless cultivars. Very close relationships with high similarity were determined for 5 pairs of cultivars. Two cases of possible homonymy were also detected. Our results are the basis for future MAS selection and target breeding.

Genetic Diversity of Armenian Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) Germplasm: Molecular Characterization and Parentage Analysis

“…According to the parentage analysis Sultanina as genitor of Nazeli was confirmed. Some authors referred Nazeli as new bred cultivar [ 69 ], which is not correctly interpreted, since Nazeli is one of the well-known old autochthonous raisin grape varieties described in detail by Tumanyan [ 44 ].…”

“…According to the parentage analysis Sultanina as genitor of Nazeli was confirmed. Some authors referred Nazeli as new bred cultivar[69], which is not correctly interpreted, since Nazeli is one of the well-known old autochthonous raisin grape varieties described in detail by Tumanyan[44].Two main groups were formed with new bred cultivars sharing common parents and unknown genotypes for which no genetic relationships were unraveled. Karmrahyut…”

SSR and SNP genetic profiling of Armenian grape cultivars gives insights into their identity and pedigree relationships

“…The identification of local Armenian grapevines is the first step in their study and eventual use; however, recent reports have shown that many have not been properly identified (Dallakyan et al, 2020;Margaryan et al, 2019;Nebish et al, 2017). In the present study, the analysis of 37 grapevine local accessions by means of SNP and SSR markers resulted in the identification of 27 unique genotypes, of which 24 were already recorded in the VIVC database, most of them as Armenian cultivars (Table 1).…”

“…Nowadays, some of these varieties are exclusively found in private vineyards or gardens, where owners preserve old vines for their own consumption. Other cultivars can still be found in old viticultural areas and are at risk of extinction (Dallakyan et al, 2020;Margaryan et al, 2019;Nebish et al, 2017). Attempts have been made to minimise the loss of these local genetic resources, including the establishment of a series of grapevine collections.…”

“…When this information is combined with chloroplast genotype profiling, the maternal lineage of any cultivar can be determined, thus enabling its historical origin to be tracked down (Arroyo-García et al, 2006). Despite recent efforts to characterise the genetic diversity of Armenian cultivars (Dallakyan et al, 2020;Margaryan et al, 2019;Nebish et al, 2017), local grapevine collections still hold a high number of synonyms, homonyms and misnames (Dallakyan et al, 2020), which hinders their efficient conservation, characterisation, evaluation and eventual utilisation. In addition, the genetic relationships between the Armenian cultivars have been little explored, and information regarding their pedigree and likely origin is scarce.…”