Morphological and genetic diversity of European cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos L., Ericaceae) clones in Lithuanian reserves

Abstract

The wild-harvested fruit of <em>Vaccinium oxycoccos</em> (European cranberry) is used medicinally in many European and North American countries; the plant, however, is seldom cultivated. In order to optimize the collection strategy and improve the horticulturally important characters of <em>V. oxycoccos</em> clones, comprehensive investigations of the species are necessary. In the present study we investigated the phenological, morphological and genetic diversity of 29 clones originating from two wild populations growing in two strictly protected Lithuanian reserves, Čepkeliai and Žuvintas. During an ex situ collection at Kaunas Botanical Garden, we observed great phenological variation between the collected <em>V. oxycoccos</em> clones. The following morphological traits most clearly distinguished our study clones: leaf size, berry shape, berry size and fruit colour at full maturity. The genetic variation of <em>V. oxycoccos</em> clones from the two populations was assessed using RAPD and SSR. RAPD analysis conducted with 9 primers resulted in 146 polymorphic loci for the total sample, and SSR analysis with 5 primers revealed 29 alleles for the total sample. A greater degree of polymorphism was demonstrated for the Čepkeliai population than for the Žuvintas population. The study allowed the selection of several clones having promising morphological traits for further testing in the field

The Genetic Diversity of Cranberry Crop Wild Relatives, Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton and V. oxycoccos L., in the US, with Special Emphasis on National Forests

“…The PCA obtained showed good separation among samples from the different geographical areas, although the grouping was closer than for V. macrocarpon (Figure 7). Similar results were obtained in a study of European V. oxycoccos, in which great genetic variability among two populations was observed [48]. Studies of wild populations of V. oxycoccos in Wisconsin and Minnesota also observed comparable levels of heterozygosity, ranging from 0.7 to 1, and low levels of inbreeding [23].…”

Propagation Methods Affect Fruit Morphology and Antioxidant Properties but Maintain Clonal Fidelity in Lowbush Blueberry

“…Microsatellite markers selected for this study were found to be a reliable technique to differentiate the types, cultivars, clones of Vaccinium spp. (Boches et al, 2006;Cesonien_ e et al, 2013;Gajdo sov a et al, 2006), and used to develop phylogenetic relationships among lowbush blueberry clones collected from different provinces of Canada (Debnath, 2014). In this study, polymorphic banding pattern at nine out of 20 SSR loci detected for 'QB 9C' compared with 'Fundy' confirmed the diversification between the wild clone and named cultivar studied, and confirmed the utility of using EST-SSR markers to control the clonal fidelity of micropropagated blueberry plants.…”

Bioactive Compounds, Antioxidant Activity, and Biological Effects of European Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos)

“…It occurs in forest areas in Europe, Asia, and North America. The species of this shrub are widely commercially cultivated in Russia and Estonia, and also Lithuania [7]. It is an evergreen shrub with creeping stems that grows on peat in low drained sites.…”

“…Cranberries ripen during late August and through September and can persist on plants until spring. The berries have pink, red or dark red color, strong acidic flavor and can be pear- or egg-shaped, round, oval, oblate or cylindrical [4,7,8].…”