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Genetic diversity of Spanish Cucurbita pepo landraces: an unexploited resource for summer squash breeding

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution volume 59, pages 1169–1184 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Cucurbita pepo is a worldwide cultivated vegetable of American origin. Most of the widely grown commercial types are known as summer squashes and belong to the elongated forms of C. pepo ssp. pepo (Cocozelle, Vegetable marrow and Zucchini groups). These forms were developed in Europe after the arrival of the first American landraces through a process of selection and fixation that led to a loss of genetic diversity. Part of the genetic variability of the first American cultigens remains intact in diverse landraces that are still cultivated for self-consumption and sale in local markets. Using the first collection of genomic and EST-derived microsatellites that has just become available for the species, we compared the natural variation present in a collection of Spanish landraces with that of a set of commercial varieties and hybrids, representing current summer squash market offerings. A total of 194 alleles allowed us to distinguish all the genotypes, even those that were closely related. In general, Cocozelle and Vegetable marrow, groups with considerably long histories, were more variable than the Zucchini group, of more recent origin. We found significant genetic diversity among landraces. The variation present among landraces belonging to the Zucchini group was larger than that of the commercial cultivars. Cluster, principal coordinate and population structure results suggested that the variation of the Spanish landraces has not been extensively used in breeding. Commercial summer squashes can therefore benefit from this underexploited variability, especially from certain landraces that already display favourable commercial traits.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by Projects INIA (RTA2008-00035-C02-02 and RTA2011-00044-C02-2) of the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria. G. Formisano was supported by the Italian Doctorate School in Agrobiology and Agrochemistry of the University of Naples “Federico II”. Authors want to thank E. Martínez Pérez her technical assistance for fruit characterization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil, Plant, Environmental and Animal Production Sciences, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy

    Gelsomina Formisano & Maria Raffaella Ercolano

  2. Institute for the Conservation and Breeding of Agricultural Biodiversity (COMAV-UPV), Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación, CPI, Edificio 8E, Escalera J, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain

    Cristina Roig, Cristina Esteras, Fernando Nuez & Maria Belen Picó

  3. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación (CPI), Ed. 8E, C/Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain

    Antonio Jose Monforte

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  1. Gelsomina Formisano
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  2. Cristina Roig
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  3. Cristina Esteras
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  4. Maria Raffaella Ercolano
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  5. Fernando Nuez
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  7. Maria Belen Picó
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Correspondence to Maria Belen Picó.

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Gelsomina Formisano and Cristina Roig have contributed equally to this work.

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Formisano, G., Roig, C., Esteras, C. et al. Genetic diversity of Spanish Cucurbita pepo landraces: an unexploited resource for summer squash breeding. Genet Resour Crop Evol 59, 1169–1184 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-011-9753-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-011-9753-y

Keywords

  • Breeding
  • Cucurbita pepo
  • Landraces
  • Microsatellites
  • Summer squash
  • Zucchini