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Molecular and morpho-physiological characterization of sea, ruderal and cultivated beets

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Abstract

Beta vulgaris genetic resources are essential for broadening genetic base of sugar beet and developing cultivars adapted to adverse environmental conditions. Wild beets (sea beets, B. vulgaris spp. maritima and their naturalized introgressions with cultivated beets known as ruderal beets) harbor substantial genetic diversity that could be useful for beet improvement. Here, we compared molecular and morpho-physiological traits of wild beets collected on the Adriatic coast of Italy with sugar beet using eight primer-pairs amplifying 194 polymorphic fragments and four root traits (glucose and fructose content in the root tip, root elongation rate, number of the of root tips, total root length and its distribution among diameters ranges). Genetic diversity was higher in the sea beet accession, which may be due to the highly variable selection pressures that occur in heterogeneous ecological niches, compared with the ruderal and cultivated beets. Sea and sugar beet accessions showed contrasting root patterns in response to sulfate deprivation: sugar beet showed an increase of reducing sugars in the root tips and higher root elongation rate, and the sea beet accession showed an increase in root tip number, total root length and fine root length (average diameter < 0.5 mm). The ruderal beet showed intermediary responses to sea and sugar beet accessions. AFLP and morpho-physiological cluster analyzes showed sea, ruderal and cultivated beets to be genetically distinct groups. The results of this study indicate variability in response to sulfate deprivation is present in undomesticated beets that could be deployed for sugar beet improvement.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by Veneto Region through the Biotech Action II.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Agrarie, Università degli Studi di Padova, viale dell’Università 16, 35020, Legnaro (PD), Italy

    Massimo Saccomani & Piergiorgio Stevanato

  2. Keygene N.V., Agro Business Park 90, 6708 PW, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Daniele Trebbi

  3. USDA-ARS Sugar Beet and Bean Research, Michigan State University, 494 PSSB, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1325, USA

    J. Mitchell McGrath

  4. CRA-CIN Centro di Ricerca per le Colture Industriali, viale Amendola 82, 45100, Rovigo, Italy

    Enrico Biancardi

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  1. Massimo Saccomani
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  4. J. Mitchell McGrath
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Correspondence to Piergiorgio Stevanato.

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Saccomani, M., Stevanato, P., Trebbi, D. et al. Molecular and morpho-physiological characterization of sea, ruderal and cultivated beets. Euphytica 169, 19–29 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-009-9888-5

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